GOLDEN AXE Trailer Unleashes SEGA’s Classic Warriors for a Bonkers Fun Fantasy Adventure

Battle dwarves, sword-wielding skeletons, mutant creatures, a villain who refuses to stay dead, and a warrior screaming “SEGA!” before running headfirst into combat. Yeah, Golden Axe knows exactly what kind of show it wants to be.

The first trailer for SEGA’s classic fantasy brawler turned animated comedy has arrived, giving us an awesome first look at the ridiculous adventure coming to Paramount+. Rather than playing its sword-and-sorcery world completely straight, the series is embracing the absurdity of the original arcade game and mixing it with plenty of self-aware comedy.

Mike McMahan, known for Star Trek: Lower Decks and Solar Opposites, co-created the series with Joe Chandler, whose credits include American Dad and the animated Napoleon Dynamite series. The two are taking the basic ingredients of SEGA's 1989 side-scrolling beat-'em-up and turning them into what looks like a very funny fantasy quest.

The original Golden Axe let players choose between three warriors and hack their way across the fantasy land of Yuria, fighting increasingly nasty enemies on a mission to defeat Death Adder and claim the Golden Axe.

The new show isn't pretending that formula was particularly complicated, either. Tyris Flare lays out the game plan perfectly in the trailer:

“We’re going to do what we do best,” Tyris starts off before laying out exactly how the show works: “Face a series of progressively harder enemies until we have a big final battle with Death Adder. And then we kill him for good.”

Of course, killing Death Adder “for good” apparently isn't as easy as it sounds. The story reunites Gilius Thunderhead, Ax Battler, and Tyris Flare after Death Adder once again turns up very much alive.

The trio heads out to put him back in the ground, only to have their mission complicated by Hampton Squib, an enthusiastic wannabe adventurer who has spent his life dreaming about going on a quest but is hilariously unprepared to actually survive one.

Matthew Rhys, currently enjoying another hit with Widow’s Bay, voices Gilius Thunderhead, who is described as “a grumpy battle dwarf with exceptionally poor hygiene and a chip on his shoulder.”

Liam McIntyre, the Spartacus star who is also playing Wolverine in the Marvel’s Wolverine video game, voices Ax Battler. Ax is described as “a barbarian warrior with a strict code of honor and sweet golden retriever demeanor.”

Lisa Gilroy of Jury Duty voices Tyris Flare, who is “deadly in a fight and even deadlier with her sharp wit.” Gilius, Ax, and Tyris make up the three playable heroes fans will remember from the original arcade game.

Then there's Danny Pudi as Hampton Squib, “a naive, inexperienced first-time adventurer who has dreamt of questing his entire life.”

Adding an overeager rookie to a group of seasoned warriors feels like a great way to cause all kinds of fantasy chaos, especially when the other characters are trying to deal with a resurrected Death Adder.

The trailer also digs into some of the wonderfully strange stuff that made the Golden Axe games so fun. Sword-wielding skeletons are here, along with the headless golden Death Armor and the Chicken Legs creatures, which are now affectionately referred to as “trusty purple mutant thingys.”

Carl Tart joins the voice cast as Chronos “Evil” Lait, an “uncomfortably cheesy humanoid panther.” That's exactly why this adaptation looks like it could be so much fun.

Golden Axe comes from an era of video games where you didn't need pages of mythology to get started. You picked a warrior, grabbed a weapon, started attacking some bizarre creature, and started beating the hell out of whatever wandered onto the screen.

The animated series seems to understand the appeal of that simplicity while also recognizing how funny the whole thing can be when translated into a modern TV comedy.

Instead of trying to turn Golden Axe into an overly serious fantasy epic, McMahan and Chandler appear to be having a blast with the monsters, characters, game mechanics, and general insanity of its world.

It's also been a long road getting Golden Axe onto the screen. Attempts to adapt the SEGA franchise stretch back to 2014. The project finally gained serious momentum in 2024 when the animated series received a 10-episode season order for Comedy Central.

Plans have since changed, and the series will now make its debut exclusively on Paramount+ beginning Wednesday, September 16.

McMahan and Chandler co-wrote the first episode and both serve as executive producers, with Chandler serving as showrunner.

Based on this first trailer, Golden Axe looks like it could be a great fit for fans of irreverent adult animation, fantasy adventures, and old-school SEGA games.

More importantly, it looks like the people making it understand that Golden Axe should be fun. Give us barbarians, filthy dwarves, skeleton warriors, mutant Chicken Legs, terrible decisions, and Death Adder getting killed for the hundredth time. We're in.