Netflix renews Skylanders Academy for third season
David Farnor | On 03, Feb 2017
Netflix has already renewed Skylanders Academy for a third season, before its second run has even premiered.
Based on the Activision Blizzard game franchise, it is the first TV series developed and produced by Activision Blizzard Studios, which launched last year to create original content to boost the reach of its intellectual properties.
Co-President Nick van Dyk said in a statement that the show has “introduced new people to the franchise”, which is enough for it to be considered a success. Netflix’s animated series is co-exec produced by co-president Stacey Sher and van Dyk, alongside Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. Sure enough, the studio is already developing other TV projects, including live-action titles.
“What we do is look at each franchise IP and decide whats the best matchup of format to property would be,” Sher told Deadline.
“If it lacks The LEGO Movie’s self-aware approach to corporate sponsorship, Skylanders Academy does share its constant barrage of witty one-liners,” we wrote in our review of Season 1. “Those come courtesy of Eric Rogers, whose experience writing for Futurama makes him a neat fit for this colourful animated universe, where he can throw in post-modern gags about theme tunes playing in the background and quips about laughable villain Kaos (Richard Steven Horvitz) having anxiety issues… The result is a semi-successful attempt to evolve the Skylanders franchise, even if it never quite manages to grow its plastic figures into three-dimensional characters.”
Season 2 will premiere later this year, with Felicia Day playing a new cadet at the Academy, joining a voice cast that includes Justin Long as Spyro, Ashley Tisdale as Stealth Elf, Jonathan Banks as Eruptor and Norm Macdonald as Glumshanks. Season 3 is set for release in 2018.