Paramount's Reboot Of 37-Year-Old Fantasy Franchise Is Dungeons & Dragons Meets Conan The Barbarian

1 week ago 13

Published Aug 31, 2026, 11:23 AM EDT

Ben is a Senior Writer on the New TV team at Screen Rant. He graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class B.A. Degree in English Literature and History.

Born and raised in Ireland, Ben has always had a love for storytelling in all forms of media and operates multiple projects under the name Benjamin Blogs. Ben is a comic book writer and podcast host, in addition to his work as an entertainment journalist. He has worked as both a writer and editor for Screen Rant, Collider, and other media outlets across various departments, including features, news, reviews, and interviews.

Paramount has been delivering some incredible hits lately, with another franchise revival just around the corner. Paramount is home to the Taylor Sheridan universe of stories, along with the entire Star Trek saga, and other massive IPs like Mission: Impossible, Top Gun, and even SpongeBob SquarePants.

However, audiences looking for something a little more medieval fantasy will be delighted to learn that Paramount is about to release a brand-new adult animated series titled Golden Axe, which is based on a 37-year-old video game from Sega. The series follows three core characters as they battle through various foes to defeat their ultimate rival, the Death Adder.

Liam McIntyre, the voice of Wolverine in Marvel and Insomniac's new game, is joined by comedian Lisa Gilroy and Matthew Rhys, who is actively becoming a major force on TV, to voice the central cast, and they are joined by talented performers such as Danny Pudi and Carl Tart, to name a few. But the thrill of this new series stems from the exciting world that it will bring back to the screen for the first time in decades.

Golden Axe Is Perfect For Dungeons & Dragons Fans

Golden Axe is a fantasy story, full of magical monsters, mystical creatures that the heroes can mount, and three spectacular heroes who each have their own abilities and traits to bring to the table. Similar to a Dungeons and Dragons story, these heroes must use their unique skills to create a path through obstacles and ultimately save the world from impending evil.

Unfortunately, Dungeons and Dragons stories have not enjoyed the success that they deserve when adapted for the screen, aside from a few remarkable entries like the Baldur's Gate video game and the animated Critical Role shows that transform their extensive campaigns into fully fledged animated stories.

But Golden Axe has the potential to take off thanks to its unique blend of humor, fantasy content, and a non-stop beat-em-up style storyline that will see these heroes fight back a huge number of rivals in order to finally take on the ultimate force of evil and create a safer, better future for everyone.

Golden Axe Needs To Be More Than Just Video Game Nostalgia

Player character heroes do battle with various bad guys in the classic Golden Axe arcade game.

All of that being said, there are some aspects of this adaptation that Paramount will need to be careful with how they handle. For instance, the series is based on a video game series from Sega, which included three mainline games available for consoles. But before that, the Golden Axe game was an arcade exclusive.

As a game based on an arcade machine, the game operated on a simple 2D side-scrolling mechanic as heroes battled a series of monsters. Of course, this leaves the door wide open to interpret much of the content and build a story that fits this narrative while still being a fun and engaging series for audiences to follow along with each new installment.

But if the show hopes to have a future and continue to resonate with audiences, it needs to do more than just hook older audiences with nostalgia, instead building a narrative that makes sense and works for a wide variety of audiences. After all, there are likely a lot of people who will tune in who have never played the nearly 40-year-old video game series.

From early trailers of the show, it does feel as though they are ticking all of these boxes, elevating this show above just being another Conan the Barbarian remake or a Dungeons and Dragons spin-off, and making this something with a distinct voice and sense of humor. All of that taken into consideration, Golden Axe is a show that could be a potential hit and the start of another franchise for Paramount.