Last week it was reported that MTV was putting a live action remake of their animated series Aeon Flux into development with Jeff Davis writing and producing. With studios going back to older IP to cash in on the nostalgia crowd (and that sweet sweet merchandising cash), it got me thinking ... If I ran Hollywood what older animated series should be turned into live action properties for film or TV? Here are three properties that could be both artistically rewarding and commercially successful.
 
Thundarr the Barbarian — An animated series created by comic book writer Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions that ran from 1980-81. Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, the story followed Thundarr, a muscular warrior, and his friends, the young sorceress Princess Ariel and his Chewbacca-esque side kick, Ookla the Mok, as they traveled the world and fighting evil. The show was notable at the time because of its dark tone and designs by famous comic book artists Jack Kirby and Alex Toth. This would be a perfect series to develop into a live action property; a Mad Max meets Conan the Barbarian, with a dash of Star Wars concept. Give it to a director like Neil Marshall or Patty Jenkins — someone who can do grounded action with fantasy elements. Alternatively you could do a more comedic take on the material, and give it to someone like Taika Waititi.
 
The Maxx — Another MTV animated series. The Maxx aired on the animated anthology series Oddities, the successor to Liquid Television (which is where Aeon Flux first started airing). Based on Sam Kieth’s cult comic book series of the same name, The Maxx follows Maxx, a homeless man who lives in a box on the street in one reality, but in another reality lives in a fantastical version of the Australian outback where he protects a woman known only as The Jungle Queen, who in the real world is Julie Winters, his social worker. The series explored how humans deal with trauma amidst all the action and adventure subplots. This would be the perfect type of thing for someone like Guillermo Del Toro or Denis Villeneuve to adapt. Directors who can lean into the human emotion behind the more fantastical stuff.
 
Space Ghost Coast to Coast — This might sound totally insane, but hear me out on this one. This is the series that created the Adult Swim programming block on Cartoon Network. The premise of the show was that Space Ghost – a character from the 1960s animated series Space Ghost – had captured two of his most infamous villains and forced them to be the director and bandleader for his talk show. The show was mostly comprised of repurposed and redubbed animation from the 1960s series with unrelated celebrity interviews. The show was hilarious, surreal and completely whacked out of its head. With the prevalence of superhero content this could make a really fun live action series about the trials and tribulations a former superhero has to go through in making a talk show. Cast Patrick Warburton as Space Ghost and make it like The Tick meets 30 Rock — with a dash of Entourage for good measure.