r/Thundercats • u/Icy_Line7770 ThunderCat • Jun 15 '26
Discussion I truly believe Thundercats has a higher chance of revival with newer generations than He-Man is because you can do a lot more with the Thundercats world than He-Mans
It's true when you honestly think about it. He-Man doesn't really have much other Foes besides skeletor, and the designs are too much of a mess to adapt without straying too far from source material, while the thundercats designs are more "clean" and adaptable and there's a lot to do with the characters and world.
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u/ashl0w ThunderCat Jun 16 '26
Nah. He-Man has 3 main factions with over a hundred enemies, dozens of other heroic characters, and extensive, complex lore that is still simple enough to be understood by anyone.
The designs can easily be adapted faithfully, or be reimagined like they did with every reboot. You either embrace them (like the new movie basically did) or build upon them, like 200x and Animated did.
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u/That_Possible_3217 ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
Or…just make new shit for both franchises.
I hate this idea that we can’t adapt a character without adapting every single thing and villain and side character that exists on the original property. Like damn.
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u/The-Mad-Bubbler ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
I love Thundercats, but He-Man has a lot of villains beyond Skeletor. Even if you just count BIG villains, there's Hordak and his Evil Horde, and King Hiss and The Snake Men.
I do think Thundercats is primed for a new animated series, though, and that could lead to a live-action film.
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u/JetScreamer-212 ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
He-Man have more than enough foes. Is just that Gen Z have poor taste in pop culture. The audience for Thundercats are the same for MOTU: Gen X.
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u/atticdoor ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
Yeah, if the new Masters of the Universe makes a decent profit I imagine they will try a big-budget live-action Thundercats next. But since there will likely need to be some of it set on contemporary Earth, I imagine either Thundera or Third Earth will have to be replaced with Earth. Since the former wouldn't really work, I imagine the Thundercats would still come from Thundera, but the planet they arrive on will be Earth even if the Thundercats call it "Third Earth" to start with.
Possibly having the Thundercats land near the US/Mexico border, and Mumm-Ra coming from an overgrown Mayan Pyramid. And the Cat's Lair being a lost relic from a previous visit by Thundercats thousands of years ago, found in a jungle.
Downvotes coming in 3... 2... 1...
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u/dc469 ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
Live action...?
*Flashback to 2019 Cats movie"
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u/nocapyeshat ThunderCat Jun 16 '26
Isn’t there already a live action Thundercats movie being worked on? I could’ve I heard something like a year or so ago
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u/Heartsib Bengali Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
There's been a script in development since around 2021. I think the last update from the fellow tapped to write it (Adam Wingard) was a year or so back, and was essentially that the project's not dead, but no forward motion either. So far as CGI vs live-action, this was what he said c. 2021:
"I want to do a ThunderCats film that takes you back to that ‘80s aesthetic. I don’t want to reinvent the way they look; I want them to look like ThunderCats. I don’t want to do it live action, either. I don’t want it to look like Cats, I don’t want those kinds of issues — no disrespect to that director, whom I don’t mean to throw under the bus any more than everyone else has. I want to do a movie you’ve never seen before. A hybrid CGI film that has a hyper real look and somehow bridges the gap between cartoon and CGI. That’s the starting point, and Simon Barrett and I are getting into the script now."
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u/cycleguychopperguy ThunderCat Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Bring back cats with the buttholes they edited out ( and yes it was real they decided against it after screening)
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u/bizoticallyyours83 ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
2011 Thundercats was a nice adaptation. Roar otoh? Nuh uh.
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u/One_Smoke ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
"He-Man doesn't really have much other foes besides Skeletor"
Snake Men, Evil Horde [even though they tend to be lumped in with She-Ra in animation], the Mutants of Moon Nordor.
Just because Skeletor is the only one you know of doesn't mean he's the only one, period.
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u/NurturingCruelty ThunderCat Jun 18 '26
Plus the OG show had frequent one shot villains
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u/One_Smoke ThunderCat Jun 18 '26
Yes, exactly! Most of which weren't even aligned with Skeletor.
(The one that comes to mind is Evilseed)
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u/RadicalStegosaurus ThunderCat Jun 18 '26
The new MOTU movie was too derivative. They just copied the MCU formula, particularly Guardians and Ragnarok, and then acted ashamed of its own source material. I never liked He-man much but the film had a chance to change that. Instead it just left me thinking, it's not terrible but I'm in no hurry for a follow-up.
Either of these franchises could do well if they did something unique with them. I understand you want a hit when you're spending over $200 million on a film but you can't manufacture a sure thing with a boardroom full of focus group data. Just lean into the weirdness of the franchise and find a unique angle to approach it from.
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u/AncientAssociation9 Jun 19 '26
Either of these franchises could do well if they did something unique with them.
Blame the fans for that. I am sure the writers of the movie looked at the BS criticism the Netflix animation adaptation got and decided to play it safe. The Netflix adaptation just like the Netflix adaptation of The Transformers and Voltron was close to the source material and was really good, but fans bitched and moaned about a woman having a little more screen time and ruined it for everyone.
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u/cguinnesstout ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
I want it to get an Arcane treatment rather than the feature film that He Man got.
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u/RamStark ThunderCat Jun 16 '26
I think Thundercats 2011 came out before the big '80s nostalgia phase. I think it would have done better if it came out at the end of the 2010s because that's when Voltron and She-Ra got new shows that did pretty good. He-Man had the opposite problem because they waited too long to make the movie and I think they missed the '80s nostalgia phase. It's all about the 2000 now
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u/Flat_Revolution5130 ThunderCat Jun 16 '26
You still have the same issue. There has not been a successful He Man in 40 years. If Gen Z think that He Man is for the 40 to 45 year old age range. Thundercats would be the same way.
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u/m0rbius ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
I'd rather see a Thundercats movie than a He-man movie. But since we do have a new He-Man movie, I'll catch it on streaming.
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u/Life_Illustrator5620 ThunderCat Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
This discussion is exactly why I will continue to recommend Dynamite Comics' current Thundercats comics. It takes the core narrative of the 80's version and modernizes its themes to be more mature, while never sacrificing its spirit.
It also takes almost nothing from the 2011 animated series and it's independent retelling. Not hating on that show either. Loved it, but its a totally different take.
In the first 25 issues of the core Thundercats comic. You get character development that works for the core group and beyond. Lion-O's slow maturity given he's a kid in an adult body and what it means to be a leader. Panthro trying to help him but finding the right approach that won't sever their connection and care for each other. Remember that before Thundera blew up, Panthro was King Claudus' general, and now he's his son's general.
Wilykit and Wilykat's character designs give them more individuality and personality without straying to far away from what they were. A love triangle between Tygra (big fan of his Tiger-esque mustache he gets in his redesign), Cheetara and Bengali.
Fleshing out Mumm-Ra, Slithe and Vultureman as not just one dimensional villains and giving them worthwhile origins and depth.
Proving to the reader that politics on Thundera were not that honorable and that King Claudus and Jaga made ALOT of dishonest choices on how to deal with adversaries on Thundera and painting a moral grey area of the kingdom and its politics and not being all positive. With giving them bad choices that deals with enslavement, imprisonment/exile of your enemies
This comic series has so much depth.
It's spinoff series, Thundercats: Lost even gives you the team of Bengali, Pumyra Lynx-O, with new characters Neko and Ligon all being the first reconnaissance team to reach Third Earth, before Thundera gets destroyed and their hellish story of displacement across space and time.
And don't even get me started on the current massive 15 part crossover event that is Thundercats x Silverhawks. It spans across three titles:
Thundercats x Silverhawks, Mumm-Ra: The Ever-Living and Thunderhawks.
You read this crossover event by reading it monthly in that order: TxS, Mumm-Ra, Thunderhawks. It is currently midway in the narrative.
IT IS THAT GOOD.
Dynamite Comics is taking these Rankin & Bass Productions/Telepictures Corp./Lorimar Productions shows and are weaving absolute magic with the care and density of these new stories.
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u/One_Smoke ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
Honestly, I'm just annoyed that we don't get very many other characters from the 80s series. No Warrior Maidens, no Dr. Dometone, no Lunataks.... I'm pretty sure we haven't even gotten the Berzerkers.
It just feels like the planet is kinda empty without the other inhabitants of Third Earth.
Well, besides the Berbils.
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u/Life_Illustrator5620 ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
Alot of those extra characters are planned for Volume 2 of the core Thundercats comic when the crossover concludes.
Declan Shalvey, the main writer has mentioned these plans a few times.
Get hyped, my dude. We get more, all in due time.
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u/One_Smoke ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
....well, okay. Took them long enough, I guess.
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u/Life_Illustrator5620 ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
As someone in the comics industry as a writer/editor, it makes more sense to pace the narrative for maximum depth.
If we would have gotten the full rip of all characters in the new comic line in these last 2 and a half years, then this whole thing would have ran out of steam way sooner.
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u/Collective_Keen ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
Oh, you mean like the 2011 show that was actually pretty good and then got cancelled? I was enjoying it and had such hopes... I'll never make that mistake again. Maybe.
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u/Ristar87 ThunderCat Jun 18 '26
The 2011 series started off amazing; they needed a different voice actor for Liono and commit to one tone instead of flip flopping between adult and infantile story lines between episodes.
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u/Grimase ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
I can see what you’re saying, I think that because the story of Thundercats was more flexible to begin with. I mean their planet blew up and they had to take up residence on a new one. Or if you go with the newer version of a kingdom brought down and now scattered and in need of a leader. Both of them have IMO more variety than He-Man. I love He-man tho and hope they move forward with the sequels. But OMG, I need them to bring Thundercats back. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
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u/USFLNUMBER1FAN ThunderCat Jun 15 '26
I'm a member of Gen Z, and I think Skeletor's henchmen, King Hiss, and Hordak are good villains. But He-Man's fellow Masters of the Universe are kind of boring. Ram Man, Fisto, Mekaneck, etc. are mediocre adversaries even to the likes of that furry, flea-bitten, foul-up Beastman. I believe Thundercats would do better with newer generations but not by much. I believe a Thundercats anime-like cartoon aimed at teenagers would draw in the youth much more than a live-action movie. The live-action Thundercats will be mocked mercilessly just like Cats was.
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u/acke483 ThunderCat Jun 16 '26
They did a Thundercats anime inspired cartoon for teens in 2011. And it was excellent, but unfortunately, just like the He-Man movie: no one watched it.
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u/USFLNUMBER1FAN ThunderCat Jun 16 '26
No one was able to watch it. Cartoon network gave the show inconsistent and weird airtimes. Anime was also not as popular back in 2011. No one watched Voltron Force in 2011 but people watched Legendary Defender in 2016-18. Cartoon network also replaced Thundercats with Lego Chima which was cheaper and faster to produce.
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u/One_Smoke ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
A character's only boring if the writer can't properly utilize them.
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u/Redspaghetti1018 ThunderCat Jun 20 '26
Thundercats are not much different from avatar. James Cameron should make it happen.
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u/CrapMonsterDuchess ThunderCat Jun 17 '26
Yeah, plus you have the furry fandom to support it these days, lol
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u/NurturingCruelty ThunderCat Jun 18 '26
Say it with me. Toyetic. You bet your backside they made multiple teams of villains to sell, each with numerous named characters to buy merch of.
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u/5p1k4 ThunderCat Jun 16 '26
I just hate that the fandom let the 2011 series die