New Thundercats

Alright. I just got finished watching the DVR'd pilot, which was actually the first two episodes, according to the opening credits. I do have quite a bit to say, so this will take awhile.

Before we start, I'll say right away that I thought it was pretty good. It had alot of action, drama and even felt like it was on a more epic scale than most cartoons. Now, this will have spoilers of the first two episodes in it, so don't read any further if you have't seen it and plan to watch it DVR'd like I did.

Spoiler

The plot actually puts us on Third Earth in the beginning, which immediately led me to believe that this was an alternate storyline. The city is called 'Thundara', and it is a full blown kingdom. However, when Claudius mentioned that the original Thundercats used the Sword of Omens to defeat Mumm-Ra centuries ago, I realized that this wasn't an alternate storyline, but a continuation with a new generation of Thundercats far into the future beyond the original series. So that means that all bets are off and anything goes now, which is fine. Alot of shows and movies have done that, and they've been pretty successful overall. I always find it funny that in shows like this, the characters all have the same names as their ancestors, and they all happen to be around the same ages as their ancestors too. I guess it's the King Arthur and the Knights of Justice Effect, I don't know.

Anyway, we find out from one of Claudius' friends, Grune, that Panthro was apparently killed while they were out looking for some of the Thundaran treasures of old (specifically the Book of Omens). Anyway, there's a huge banquet and Lion-O and his brother Tygra (adopted) are arguing over the succession rights. They have a contest and Tygra beats Lion-O, because the arrogant prince hasn't learned the fine art of prioritizing the bell over the opponent's face in a race. Wily Kit and Wily Kat are introduced on the streets of 'Thundara' (I'll always call it New Thundara). This Kit and Kat are two orphans that go around stealing food to survive. I'm assuming they'll meet up with Lion-O in the next episode, but you only see them a little bit in the 1-hour pilot.

Likewise, the new Cheetara is known as a member of the Order of Clerics, a mystical group of cheetahfolk who all have the ability to use magic and run at super speeds (like on the level of a certain blue hedgehog some of you here might know). The original Cheetara could do this too, but it was always assumed that it was her garments that did this.

Anyway, just like the original series, Grune turns out to be evil (big surprise there...), and has Panthro strung up as a hostage. In a SatAM-esque coup, New Thundara is attacked and overthrown by the lizardfolk (aka the Mutants), and their leader Slythe, who is commanded by, you guessed it, Mumm-Ra the Everliving (disguised as what we thought was Panthro). Lion-O, Tygra and Cheetara escape with Snarf, while Claudius and Jaga are killed (Claudius by Mumm-Ra and Jaga by a group of Lizardmen). Wily Kit and Wily Kat narrowly avoid being killed by a blast and escape in a different direction while soldiers and civilians are being killed left and right (Disney Death, of course). Jaga tells Lion-O to look for the Book of Omens, which apparently holds the key to the Thundercats' true power.

So, that's a summary of the two episodes in a nutshell. Overall, pretty good plot so far. As for the characters.

This Snarf is a silent protagonist who only says his name in Pokemon-esque style. He actually reminds me largely of the monkey creature from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Overall though, I really don't have a huge problem with this. Some people might, but I didn't.

As I said, Lion-O is kind of a cowboy. He's a little bit arrogant. But at the same time, he is very tech-savvy, which the current Thundara empire lacks for some unexplained reason. But as I said before, he's unpredictable. So that could end up becoming a factor later on. And you know who does his voice? Will Friedle. The same Will Friedle that voiced Terry in Batman Beyond. What's funny is you hear it a bit in his voice in certain scenes.

Tygra was awesome. I'll just say that. I really felt for him when we first saw how impulsive Lion-O can get. Matt Mercer definitely did a fantastic job here.

Cheetarah, I'm not sure about yet. She only had a small part in the pilots, so I really can't give an accurate opinion on her yet. But s far she seems alright. She's voiced by someone named Emmanuelle Chirqui, who I really don't know alot of information about yet. But she sounds pretty good nonetheless. I really can't complain.

Corey Burton was great as Jaga. You could hear a little bit of his Count Dooku from the Clone Wars series in the voice, but it actually works for the character.

The one I was really surprised about though (this topped when I found out that Kate Mulgrew of Star Trek Voyager fame was in NTSF: SD: SUV), was Claudius. He was voiced by none other than Larry Kenney. Larry Kenney of course, voiced Lion-O in the original Thundercats series (and I think they deliberately made him sound like his original counterpart from that series, because I could hear it in his voice, even before I knew for sure that was him). Needless to say, great homage to the original series there.

I think that about covers the major characters of the hour-long pilot. I didn't mention Kitt and Kat, because they simply didn't have enough screen time for me to give an accurate opinion on them. But I do like their back story, so that's one thing going for them.

Anyway, overall I think this might be a pretty good series. I'm definitely going to watch it for awhile after that epic opening plot.