You truly can’t keep a good giant-robot-lions-that-become-a-gianter-robot-guy series down for long. A couple of years following the conclusion of Voltron: Legendary Defender, a live-action movie from Red Notice director Rawson Marshall Thurber began development in 2022. Several studios were in a bidding war for rights to the film with Amazon MGM emerging victorious. Two years later, we have some casting news and it is big. Henry Cavill will star in the upcoming live-action Voltron movie. And joining him are Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora and John Kim.
Cavill will star opposite newcomer Daniel Quinn-Toye, who leads the film and will presumably play Keith, the pilot of the Black Lion and leader of the Voltron Force. We don’t know who Cavill is playing for sure, but it is not likely another member of the Force considering that they are on the younger side. Perhaps he will be an antagonist of some sort or Samuel Holt, the father of Pidge. We do not have additional information on the roles of Sterling K. Brown, Rita Ora and John Kim either.
The day before Thanksgiving, 2024, Variety reported other cast members have joined the production. Laura Gordon (Late Night with the Devil) and Tim Griffin (True Detective season three) have been added to the list of undisclosed roles. Other previously announced cast members include Alba Baptista, Samson Kayo, and Tharanya Tharan.
A Voltron movie seemed like it was destined to happen eventually, given the nostalgia-driven market that has given rise to films in recent years like Netflix’s Gundam movie and the continued Transformers franchise. However, Voltron has much more in common with Power Rangers than either pure anime or pure American animation; in the early ’80s, Ted Koplar and World Events Productions obtained the rights to two completely separate Toei Animation series.
Beast King GoLion ran from 1981-1982. WEP edited, trimmed, and redubbed it to become the first season of Voltron in 1984. After the show proved a massive success but no more GoLion episodes existed, WEP then adapted the unrelated series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV which aired from ’82-’83. They were similar enough; GoLion had teens riding in giant robot lions which formed together to create a massive mecha warrior. Dairugger XV had teens driving in super cars that would then combine into a giant mecha warrior. The writers made season one take place way further in the future than season two; it made sense!
However, there was no denying the Lion Force season was the more popular with kids and especially toy shelves. After the 52-episodes of Vehicle Force finished airing in 1985, World Events Productions commissioned 20 more episodes of brand new Voltron episodes featuring the GoLion characters and mechas.
The series would come back a few times. First in 1998 until 2000 as Voltron: The Third Dimension, then as Voltron Force from 2011-2012. DreamWorks Animation and Netflix teamed up for Voltron: Legendary Defender in 2016 and the series found new life. Its fandom rivaled the popularity of the original series. Combining elements of both the original Voltron series and the excised elements of GoLion, Legendary Defender proved to be a space opera with heart, humor, and copious action.
No word on what elements Thurber will borrow from any of the various versions of Voltron over the years. But time has proven it’s the original series, the GoLion designs and the American-rewritten characters and story that are the most popular. Sorry to all you Vehicle Force fans out there, but when you say “Voltron,” people think lions.
Originally published on March 23, 2022.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
