Henry Cavill’s days as the Man of Steel and Geralt of Rivia may be behind him, but he’s got his next franchise lined up. Cavill has signed on to star in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Voltron from Amazon MGM Studios.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cavill is only the second member of the Voltron cast to be announced. Daniel Quinn-Toye, a relative unknown, was also cast in a leading role after he won accolades for performing as Tom Holland’s understudy in a Romeo & Juliet production in London’s West End.
No details about Cavill’s role were disclosed, but if the film is staying close to the source material then he’s likely playing Keith Kogane, the leader of a group of five space explorers who were sent by the Galaxy Alliance to the planet Arus. After their arrival, the team discovers the lost robot lions that let them combine and form Voltron in order to oppose King Zarkon and his Drule empire. Voltron is the only force in the universe that can stand up to Zarkon’s monstrous robeasts and his plans to conquer Arus.
The first season of the original Voltron series from 1984 was a dubbed and edited version of the 1981 anime series, Beast King GoLion, while the second season–which introduced Vehicle Voltron–was taken from the unrelated series, Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV. Because of Voltron’s popularity in America, new episodes were created with the Lion Force Voltron and there was an eventual crossover special with both versions of Voltron.
In 2016, DreamWorks Animation produced a reboot animated series, Voltron: Legendary Defender, which had a 78 episode run on Netflix. It’s unclear if the new feature film will include any aspects from this version of the series.
Rawson Marshall Thurber is slated to direct Voltron from a script he co-wrote with Ellen Shanman. The film doesn’t currently have a release date.
