I spent a couple of years living in Paris as a kid, and that time was full of (among other things) Asterix & Obelix. Reading these simple, joyful comics in their original French was a fabulous way for me to learn the language (Tintin also did its part). It's made me a lifelong fan of the characters, so when a new adaptation rolls around I'm always wary.
Netflix is the latest in the firing line, though, and I'm deeply reassured by the first trailer for Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight. From its animation style to its humour, it looks like it might completely nail the feeling of reading one of the source comics, transposed onto one of the biggest and best streaming services.
The show will arrive on Netflix at some point in 2025, according to the end of the teaser trailer embedded above, which leaves a pretty big release window open, but I'd assume it'll come in the first half of the year. Netflix very rarely trailer series much further in advance than that, after all.
The show will concern itself with a core part of the world of Asterix & Obelix – the Roman Empire's never-ending quest to conquer the small tribe of Gauls from which our heroes hail. That tribe, aided by a mysterious elixir cooked up by their healer, has superhuman abilities in combat that have repeatedly thwarted their opponents.
Now, though, it looks like Asterix and his rotund pal Obelix might accidentally be responsible for the incapacitation of that healer, which could level the playing field if the Romans manage to engineer a, well, big fight. Presumably, our heroes will have to come up with another way to win, and that might involve some hijinks.
It looks like a fun setup, but what really has me enthused is that the art style evidenced in that teaser trailer looks amazing, full of bold colours and even some of the impactful textural sounds that mark the source books out (like a big "TCHAC!" when someone gets thwacked). Animated movies aimed at families have levelled up a bit in the last few years, and ho-hum art styles are no longer really considered good enough, so I'm optimistic that The Big Fight can stand out from the crowd.
