After 30 years of failed attempts, misfires and plain, old dust-collecting, Voltron is ready to return. And it's all thanks to Netflix.
The streaming giant's newly expanded multi-year deal with DreamWorks Animation includes a "reimagining" of the 1980s cartoon about a giant humanoid robot made up of five, smaller robot lions, as well as the Guillermo del Toro-conceived Trollhunters. Both are pegged for 2016 debuts.
Voltron: Defender of the Universe was a popular cartoon series for a hot minute in the mid-'80s. It was actually an import from Japan, with scenes from two different anime series -- Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV -- stitched together using English voiceovers to tell a new stories.
The giant, sword-swinging space robot was introduced alongside the original Transformers TV series, and it was a hit for the two seasons it ran. Multiple attempts have been made to revive Voltron over the years, but they've all failed. The most recent movement came in 2012, when DreamWorks acquired rights-holder Classic Media.
There's not a lot of detail on what shape this Voltron reimagining will take, but a Netflix deal is the best chance it's had in years of coming back and actually sticking the landing.
Meanwhile, Trollhunters (not to be confused with the 2010 Norwegian mock-doc Trollhunter) is based on a 2015 book that del Toro co-wrote with Daniel Kraus.
Both series fall under the DreamWorks Animation banner, which is also responsible for Netflix's How to Train Your Dragon spin-off, Dragons: Race to the Edge. Voltron and Trollhunters are two pieces of a much larger deal that will bring additional DreamWorks productions to the streaming service, per The Hollywood Reporter.
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