Adi Shankar’s new Netflix superhero series The Guardians of Justice will arrive on streaming platforms globally on March 1, 2022 with seven episodes.
It’s almost impossible to describe The Guardians of Justice (Will Save You!), and that’s by design. A manic, satirical superhero opera that’s been called “a kaleidoscope of pop art insanity, The Guardians of Justice will be a mixed format animation. It will feature stop-motion, live-action hybrid, pixel art, and other media. Adi has talked about there are 8 types of 2D animations featured in the series. The project itself has been in development in some for more than six years.
The series is extremely personal for Shankar, and one he’s been laboring over for the better part of a decade. In an interview over email, he was immediately candid about where he found the inspiration for Guardians. “I was incredibly clinically depressed,” he said.
“I thought career success would be the cure, and it wasn’t. The success I experienced in the first act of my career dug me deeper and deeper into a hole I didn’t have the tools to crawl out of.” After being prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft in 2014, Shankar explained that as his brain chemistry was being altered, he imagined what would become the opening scene for the series—a stark moment of reckoning for Earth regarding its superheroes.
Adi Shankar, for those who aren’t aware, is a famous producer, director, actor, and writer who is perhaps best known for serving as an executive producer on Netflix’s Castlevania series. He is also working on another upcoming animated series on Netflix called Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.
The show, also known as Adi Shankar’s The Guardians of Justice (Will Save You!), is a satire of the superhero genre and will debut at the Cannes film festival competing for the coveted Palme d’Or award in October. Following that, it will come to Netflix at an unspecified date. “I will have a lot more to say about this project and the journey that gave birth to it in the upcoming months and I have a lottt of people to thank for helping bring this to life,” he said
Adi describes the series as a love letter to American pop culture from the 90s while challenging conceptions of what the superhero genre is all about.
Among the directors involved in the project include Adi himself, Stewart Yost, Luis Pelayo Junquera, Enol Junquera and Kenlon Clark.
If you’re looking for a comparison of what to expect, think Love, Death, and Robot meets Jupiter’s Legacy and Justice League.
What is The Guardians of Justice about?
Here’s how Netflix describes the new series:
“As their seemingly fearless leader self-destructs, a troubled team of superheroes must confront the evil that festers in the world — and within themselves.”
An extended synopsis was revealed last November:
“The alien superhero MARVELOUS MAN has kept Earth at peace for 40 years. But when a devastating secret and its tragic consequences throw our world into chaos, it’s up to Marvelous Man’s bitter and ruthless KNIGHT HAWK lieutenants and the idealistic THE SPEED to stop nuclear war. As a dark satire of the superhero genre, Guardians of Justice blends live action with traditional animation, claymation, papercut animation, and 8-bit video game footage in a kaleidoscope of pop art frenzy.”
Allison Keene previewed the show in November for Paste Magazine saying it was impossible to pin down and describe the new series talking to Adi about the new show. Adi told them “Experiencing this show is like living in my mind,” adding “this project is a black comedy social satire inspired by Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Bombs.”
ScreenRant received exclusive concept art for some of the main characters you’ll see throughout the series:
Who will be starring in Netflix’s The Guardians of Justice
Among the voices you’ll hear throughout the series include Diamond Dallas Page, Sharni Vison, RJ Mitte, Hal Ozsan, Christopher Judge, Jane Seymour, Denise Richards, Derek Mears, and Andy Milonakis.
First look at The Guardians of Justice coming to Netflix
We also got our first glimpse of this new series through an interview at Canneseries 2021 featuring an interview with Adi Shankar.
