Following up on Sonic's success, Sega is adapting a legendary 1989 Genesis game with help from Rick & Morty and Community talent

Golden Axe
(Image credit: SEGA)

We can’t say we expected this news today: Sega is following up on the success of the pair of Sonic the Hedgehog movies with an animated series adaptation of Genesis side-scrolling classic Golden Axe.

As per Variety, Comedy Central has ordered 10 episodes of the series – which comes from co-creators Mike McMahan (Star Trek: Lower Decks, Rick and Morty) and Joe Chandler (American Dad).

The voice cast is similarly packed with talent as The Americans’ Matthew Rhys is joined by Danny Pudi (Community), Liam McIntyre (Spartacus: Vengeance) and Lisa Gilroy (Jury Duty). Carl Tart will play Chronos, a villain first seen in Golden Axe 3.

The show’s description states that Golden Axe will "follow veteran warriors Ax Battler (McIntyre), Tyris Flare (Gilroy), and Gilius Thunderhead (Rhys) as they once again battle to save Yuria from the evil giant Death Adder who just won’t seem to stay dead. Fortunately, this time they have the inexperienced and underprepared Hampton Squib (Pudi) on their side."

First debuting on the Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive in the UK) and arcades, Golden Axe spawned several sequels including Golden Axe 2, Golden Axe 3, Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder, and 2008’s tepidly-received title Golden Axe: Beast Rider.

Sega recently announced the intention to revive Golden Axe alongside other notable franchises such as Streets of Rage, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi, and Jet Set Radio during the 2023 Game Awards.

For more, check out the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox Series X games coming your way, plus the new TV shows to look out for in 2024.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.