Paramount Has Officially Found Its Critical Role Replacement Franchise

Published Sep 4, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. While Paramount’s Critical Role replacement faced criticism when the show released its first trailer, this animated series may well defeat the odds and become the streaming service’s answer to The Mighty Nein or The Legend of Vox Machina. Fantasy comedy is tough to get right. For every classic self-aware entry into the genre like 1987’s The Princess Bride, there are plenty of swords and sorcery spoofs that are critically indefensible, like 2011’s risible Your Highness. Since Game of Thrones season 1’s success opened the floodgates to endless imitators in 2011, there have been a slew of big-budget fantasy shows that treated their stories with varying levels of seriousness in terms of tone. On the more dour end of the scale, there are shows like Netflix’s The Witcher or Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power, which are too busy with their epic fantasy stories to find much time for humor. On the funnier side of things is The Legend of Vox Machina, Prime Video’s first animated adaptation of the popular actual play podcast Critical Role. Like the podcast it is based on, The Legend of Vox Machina is a fantasy story replete with stakes, tragic moments, and some horrifying violence, but the series is far funnier and less grim than Game of Thrones. Its Terry Pratchett-esque spinoff The Mighty Nein is similarly playful, and now Paramount looks to get in on the action with its divisive upcoming animated comedy Golden Axe. Golden Axe Can Be Paramount's Answer To The Critical Role Franchise Paramount+ Based on Sega’s famous side-scrolling arcade game franchise of the same name, 2026’s upcoming Golden Axe is a comedic fantasy adventure series starring Danny Pudi, Lisa Gilroy, Carl Tart, and Matthew Rhys. Originally developed for Comedy Central, the series is set to arrive on Paramount+ on September 16, and already, its first trailer has provoked a maelstrom of debate among fans of the games online. The original Golden Axe games follow the barbarian hero Ax Battler, the Amazon Tyris Flare, and the dwarf Gilius Thunderhead, who wields the eponymous axe itself, in their battle against the giant villain Death Adder. As the hero’s name implies, the game franchise isn't one that takes itself overly seriously, but Golden Axe also shouldn’t be mistaken for a self-parody. Like the soon-to-be adapted Warhammer 40,000, the game affectionately exaggerates some of the silliest excesses of fantasy tropes, but isn’t inherently comedic. The same can’t be said for its streaming series adaptation, which, judging by its trailer, is aiming for the sort of light-hearted comedic tone found in earlier fantasy cartoon comedies like Disenchantment or Krapopolis. While not all the reception for Golden Axe’s trailer has been outright negative, fans are seemingly split on whether the show’s adoption of a self-aware sense of humor is a wise tonal choice. Prime Video's Critical Role Has Set An Extremely High Bar For Golden Axe Paramount+ To be fair to the critics and the creators, there are reasonable defenses on both sides of this debate. On one hand, playful fantasy comedy movies like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and 2026’s Masters of the Universe reboot succeeded with reviewers precisely because they introduced this winking sense of meta humor to proceedings. On the other hand, both of those movies were also box office underperformers. The most robust defense for Golden Axe’s lighter tone comes from the existence of Prime Video’s two Critical Role shows, both of which have been met with flawless reviews throughout their runs. However, just because The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein can balance chaotic, warm character comedy with intense fantasy stakes doesn’t mean that Paramount’s Golden Axe will be able to thread this proverbial needle without the show feeling too self-referential and silly for its own good. Release Date September 16, 2026 Network Paramount+ Showrunner Joe Chandler Writers Joe Chandler, Mike McMahan, Taylor Cox Cast Matthew Rhys Gilius Thunderhead (voice) Lisa Gilroy Tyris Flare (voice) Liam McIntyre Ax Battler (voice) Creator(s) Joe Chandler, Mike McMahan