Revive the Legendary 1981 Animated Adventure…

In 2010, when Cartoon Network revealed plans to reboot the cherished 1985 animated series Thundercats, my immediate reaction was, “That’s awesome! How about rebooting Blackstar next?” Then, in 2014, after Boat Rocker Media announced its revival of Danger Mouse from 1981, my thought was again, “That’s intriguing, but still… Blackstar?” When Disney unveiled its reboot of Duck Tales in 2016, it was the same story: “Cool, but can we get Blackstar?”

The pattern continued over the years with announcements about Netflix’s reboot of She-Ra: Princess of Power in 2018, the 2021 adaption of He-Man titled Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the CG version of Inspector Gadget, updates of Voltron with Voltron: Legendary Defender, multiple new iterations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a less successful second series of Thundercats, and numerous Smurfs movies. I understand that the children of the ’80s are now the writers and producers of today, successfully translating their nostalgic favorites into modern shows. However, it seems no one has chosen to spotlight Blackstar, arguably one of the standout animated series of the ’80s, centered around an incredibly unique sword.

The success of 1977’s Star Wars directly influenced a surge of space-fantasy cartoons that soon followed. Star Wars inspired ABC’s popular Thundarr the Barbarian, a post-apocalyptic tale of a brawny hero combating oppressive mystical foes while donning a fur skirt, accompanied by a sorceress in a leotard, and wielding a lightsaber-like weapon while befriending a creature resembling a Wookiee. Thundarr influenced Blackstar, CBS’s counterpart about a strong hero similarly fighting magical villains while dressed similarly (albeit without a Wookiee, as he rides a dragon instead).

Both series epitomized the surge of dark fantasy following Star Wars, leading to films such as Excalibur, Conan the Barbarian, and Dragonslayer. However, unlike many of the fantasy narratives of the ’80s (with Flash Gordon as an exception), Thundarr and Blackstar retained a connection to Star Wars‘ sci-fi roots, championing worlds where technology and mysticism intertwined. While Thundarr garnered more attention, Blackstar offered a far more imaginative universe that was richer and darker, with a distinctly unique sword that was more creative than a mere rehashed lightsaber. Despite only airing for one season with 13 episodes (compared to Thundarr’s two-year, 21-episode run), the potential of