Death Adder is back, and this time he's a cartoon. Sega's 1989 arcade hack-and-slash is now a 10-episode animated comedy on Paramount+, and it's streaming here in Australia too.
What it is
Golden Axe landed on Paramount+ on 16 September 2026, with all ten episodes dropping on the same day. It's an adult animated fantasy sitcom, so think crude jokes and cartoon gore, not a Saturday morning show.
It comes from Mike McMahan, who made Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Joe Chandler, who wrote for American Dad! and runs this show. The animation is by Titmouse.
It took a while to get here, with Comedy Central ordering ten episodes a way back in April 2024. The show then moved to Paramount+ in August 2026, a few weeks before it premiered.
The story, and who's who
Ax Battler, Tyris Flare and Gilius Thunderhead have already beaten Death Adder before. The trouble is that he won't stay dead. So the veteran team of adventurers head out to save Yuria once again.
Along the way they pick up the unlikely Hampton Squib, an original character who is a keen young adventurer whose idea of being a hero is well ahead of his actual skills.
The voice cast:
Liam McIntyre as Ax Battler. He's from Adelaide, and you'll know him from Spartacus.
Lisa Gilroy as Tyris Flare.
Matthew Rhys as Gilius Thunderhead.
Danny Pudi (AKA Abed from Community) as Hampton Squib.
Carl Tart as Chronos "Evil" Lait.
SungWon Cho narrates.
Where it came from
The original Golden Axe hit arcades in January 1989, running on Sega's System 16 board. It was made by Team Shinobi, with Makoto Uchida leading the design.
You picked one of three heroes. Gilius was the dwarf with the battle axe. Ax was the barbarian with a broadsword. Tyris was the Amazon with a longsword. Then you walked right and hit things until Death Adder was dead.
The bits everyone remembers are still the good bits. Little blue gnomes ran past with sacks of potions, and you kicked them until the potions fell out (something portrayed hilariously in the show). More potions meant bigger magic. You could also knock an enemy off one of the beasts and ride it yourself, from the beaky Cockatrice to the fire-breathing dragons.
It came home fast. The Mega Drive version was out in Japan in December 1989. Ports followed for the Master System, PC Engine CD, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and more. It was the highest-earning arcade game in the US in January 1990.
Sequels followed too. There was Golden Axe II in 1991, then The Revenge of Death Adder, Golden Axe III and, much later, Beast Rider. There were spin-offs as well, like Golden Axe Warrior and The Duel.
The show leans on all of that, with no shortage of mentions and callbacks to bosses from the arcade games, and there are Easter eggs everywhere for anyone who has spent time with the games.
Is it worth watching?
ABSOLUTELY. It's a bit odd-ball and left field to begin with and the first couple of episodes will have you hanging around out of curiosity more than anything; but the deeper you go the more madcap it gets and even if you've only button mashed your way through the original Golden Axe, there's enough to keep you chuckling. Episodes aren't too long and they (sometimes barely) avoid over-cooking any particular joke or storyline / arc.
It's not exactly a non-stop laugh out loud sort of show, but has a few bangers mixed with self-aware pop culture silliness and only lightly sprinkles in the 'proper' adult stuff.
Where to watch
All ten episodes are on Paramount+ in Australia. It's also on the Paramount+ channel through Prime Video, if that's where you've already got it.
Photo credits: Sega Mega Drive photo by Evan-Amos (public domain). Sourced via Wikimedia Commons. Images are used for editorial purposes only and not for profit. If you own an image used here and have any concerns, email contact@playtopia.com.au and we'll happily credit or remove it.