The Weirdest Part of the Highlander Franchise Is Better Than Every Sequel Ever

Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published 1 hour ago

If you ask the average Highlander fan what the worst part of the series is, they'll say it Highlander II. If that's the answer, I guess they never saw it Highlander: The Sourcethe 2007 SyFy made-for-TV that should have known better. Both films made a disastrous mistake, but between the releases of each appeared a riot that, on paper, sounds completely insane: a Highlander cartoon set in the distant future of the apocalypse without blood but still including the implied beheading.

Highlander: The Animated Series aired for 40 episodes, and despite the contrary logic, it was ahead of its time with better acting than live-action movies.

Immortals After the Apocalypse

Highlander: The Animated Series follows Quentin Macleod (“Same family, different grapes,”) centuries after a meteor struck Earth and wiped out nearly all life, causing the Immortals to change their mission from fighting for the “Prize” to preserving human knowledge. Calling themselves the Jettators, they focused on various fields of knowledge, from history to nuclear power, that could be transmitted in a quick, bloodless system that wouldn't cut off heads. One of the Immortals, Kortan, refused the oath and ruled over the wasteland as a tyrant, ruling the other Immortals according to the ancient ways, but he was destined to be defeated by the Highlander.

This was not supposed to work; after all, the Highlander's body of rules says “There Can Only Be,” but Highlander: The Animated Series is based entirely on “What if we work for the greater good?” It works because even good guys aren't perfect, and most bad guys have sensitive backgrounds or end up being morally ambiguous. The cartoon doesn't stop at muddying the waters between good and bad.

Shades of Gray Cartoon Series

Malone, the striker who does not play in Kortan, is the one who has stayed with me because after watching him being annoying for many episodes, we finally see his origin and how crazy he is. It's a dark episode and it turns one of the most annoying characters and his annoying laugh into a sad person. Highlander: The Animated Series he never shies away from a sad backstory, right down to the Immortal Shepard, with knowledge of satellites, choosing a life of exile because he blames himself for a meteor that hit the planet.

The Rise and Fall of the Highlander

Highlander: The Animated Series it aired at the same time as the popular television series, starring Adrian Paul as Duncan Macleod, which we can now admit was the golden age of the adventure franchise. After Highlander: Endgame theater bombings, and The source Rejected by everyone involved, the franchise went into hibernation as soon as it aired. Until Henry Cavill, living the dream of nerds everywhere, was attached to a remake that has been in production for what feels like forever, and we still know nothing about it.

Although the franchise has seen better days, Highlander: The Animated Series is available on many streaming platforms today, including Peacock, Tubi, Pluto TV, and Amazon Freevee. No prior knowledge of the franchise is required to enjoy it as it discards all the rules of the original movie and live-action series, making it a great entry point for new fans.

If you're a die-hard fan of the franchise, it's also a bit of a breeze, showing that, if done right, the mythology of Immortals and The Source can be deep (for an after-school cartoon), with plenty of room for great characters. , and of course, the amazing soundtrack.