How the hell did I miss that Golden Axe — the first game I ever completed — is getting an animated series?!

And this isn’t some tiny production quietly being thrown together either.

The legendary Mike McMahan, creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the incredibly talented Joe Chandler, known for his work on American Dad!, co-wrote the first episode and co-created and executive produce the series, with Chandler also serving as showrunner.

For those of you who didn’t grow up repeatedly battering Death Adder with swords, axes and magic, Golden Axe is one of SEGA’s classic fantasy franchises and was a staple of the Mega Drive/Genesis era.

The original game follows Ax Battler — who, despite his name, uses a sword — Tyris Flare, an early fictional crush of mine, and Gilius Thunderhead, my personal main, as they fight to save Yuria from the evil Death Adder.

And Death Adder is one of those villains who just will not stay dead.

The animated series isn’t leaving our classic trio to fight alone, either. It looks like they’re getting some help from fan-favourite Chronos “Evil” Lait, alongside series newcomer Hampton Squib, an inexperienced and wildly hapless adventurer whose ambition appears to be considerably greater than his actual ability.

And damn, they’ve put together a hell of a cast.

Matthew Rhys plays Gilius Thunderhead, the grumpy battle dwarf; Liam McIntyre is Ax Battler, our barbarian warrior; Lisa Gilroy takes on Tyris Flare, the dangerous battle sorceress; Carl Tart plays Chronos “Evil” Lait, the wonderfully cheesy humanoid panther; and Danny Pudi joins the group as newcomer Hampton Squib.

That’s a seriously strong comedy cast.

Golden Axe is one of those classic gaming franchises that feels like it has been sitting dormant for far too long, so I’m genuinely excited to see SEGA giving it another lease of life on television.

Hopefully, it ends up closer to the success of Sonic the Hedgehog than the reception Amazon’s Like a Dragon: Yakuza received.

From what we’ve seen so far, though, the show is giving me some serious Critical Role vibes — just pushed much further towards outright comedy.

And I’m still not entirely sure whether that’s a good or bad thing.

Personally, I’d have loved something closer to the gloriously over-the-top fantasy cartoons of the 1980s and 1990s: muscles, monsters, ridiculous villains and that wonderfully sincere Conan the Barbarian energy.

But maybe that’s just nostalgia talking.

A comedic Golden Axe wasn’t necessarily what I expected, but with McMahan, Chandler and this cast behind it, there’s more than enough talent here to surprise me.

And considering Golden Axe was the first video game I ever finished, there’s absolutely no chance I’m missing this one.