Asterix and Obelix join Netflix

Asterix and Obelix will be coming to Netflix with a new animated series being developed in France.

The new 3D animated series is set to premiere in 2023 with an episode based on the 1966 comic Battle Of The Chiefs, the streaming service has announced.

Alain Chabat, a lifelong Asterix fan who directed the live-action 2002 film Mission Cleopatra, will take charge of the project.

Céleste Surugue, managing director of Éditions Albert René which owns the Asterix franchise, said the series will ‘reach a new generation of viewers’ while allowing old fans to ‘rediscover’ the cartoons.

Asterix and Obelix are being adapted into a new 3D animated series for Netflix which is due to launch in 2023 with an episode based on 1966 comic Battle Of The Chiefs (file image)

No further details about the series have been released, such as who will voice the Gallic heroes. 

Battle Of The Chiefs – or Le Combat des Chefs in the original French – tells the story of a fight between Abraracourcix, leader of Asterix’s village, and rival Aplusbégalix, with the winner set to assume control of the loser’s territory.

The Romans, in an attempt to bring Asterix’s irreducible tribe under their control, plan to fix the fight in favour of Aplusbégalix who will be loyal to them.

On the eve of battle, druid Getafix forgets the recipe for a magic potion to help Abraracourcix after being struck on the head by a menhir stone inadvertently dropped on his head by Obelix.

Dominique Bazay, Netflix’s director of original animation, told The Telegraph: ‘I’m not giving anything away when I tell you it doesn’t go as planned.’

It is unclear how faithful Netflix will be to the original comics, having come under fire in recent months for censoring older shows with content deemed ‘inappropriate’ for modern audiences.

Episodes from popular shows including the likes of Community and The Mighty Boosh have been removed from the streaming service due to use of ‘blackface’ or because of racist attitudes ascribed to the characters. 

Publishers of the Asterix series said the new animation will ‘reach a new generation of viewers’ while allowing old fans to ‘rediscover’ the cartoons

Speaking to Le Parisien as the announcement was made, Mr Chabat said: ‘Writing and directing an animated series has always been a dream. 

‘I am delighted to be able to do it with Asterix, of which I have been a fan for years! It looks like an extraordinary adventure.’

Asterix and Obelix began as a comic written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo, and was first printed in comics magazine Pilote in October 1959.

It went on to become one of the most successful French-Belgian cartoons ever, selling millions of books which have been translated into 111 languages.

Following Goscinny’s death in 1977, the comics were written and illustrated by Uderzo alone. 

He sold the franchise to Hachette in 2009, and retired in 2011.

In 2013 a new team was brought in to produce the comics, with Jean-Yves Ferri penning the script and Didier Conrad doing the illustrations.

Uderzo died in March last year at the age of 92, at his home near Paris.