If you grew up during the golden age of Saturday morning cartoons, chances are you remember SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron, the gritty, high-octane, feline-fueled ’90s series that made He-Man look like child’s play. Cancelled after only two explosive seasons, the animated show, which was actually inspired by early Batman shows, quickly became a cult classic, the kind that fans build communities and fandoms around. Well, it looks like their loyalty is finally paying off all these years later. SWAT Kats: Revolution seems to be officially in the works, and Razor and T-Bone are gearing up for a new mission in Megakat City!
Created by animation duo Christian and Yvon Tremblay, SWAT Kats originally aired in the early ’90s and became the #1 syndicated animated show of 1994, according to Nielsen. The series followed former law enforcement officers Chance “T-Bone” Furlong and Jake “Razor” Clawson, two anthropomorphic cats turned heroes. Armed with an arsenal of weapons, quips, and their trusty Turbokat jet (inspired by the real-life F-14 Tomcat), they protected Megakat City from monsters, mutants, and corruption.
Despite its popularity, the show was abruptly cancelled, reportedly because Ted Turner didn’t like the level of violence in cartoons. “We don’t have to worry that we’re encouraging kids to kill each other – like some of the other cartoon programs do,” Turner famously said, which lumped SWAT Kats into a group with other violent shows of the ’90s.
The Tremblay brothers sparked excitement again in 2015 with a Kickstarter campaign that blew past its $50,000 goal, raising a total of $141,500 from 2,014 backers. Their message was simple: “Join the revolution.” Fans answered the call. In a heartfelt message, the brothers wrote: “We have been very receptive to your call to bring back the SWAT KATS. You have been loyal fans of the series we created more than 20 years ago… The wait is over. THIS IS NOW!”
Now, after years of setbacks, rejections, and false starts with streaming platforms, SWAT Kats: Revolution is finally picking up speed. The brothers have teamed up with Toonz Media Group and Studio 4°C from Japan to bring a fresh, anime-inspired look to the series.
Say goodbye to the classic 2D Hanna-Barbera visuals. SWAT Kats: Revolution is embracing modern 3D animation, and based on the teaser clips floating around online, the new designs are sleek, stylized, and faithful to the original. Razor and T-Bone have never looked sharper (literally).
While it’s not 100% confirmed if the latest teaser trailers (see here and here) are official or if they’re fan-made, the quality is high enough to keep die-hard fans intrigued. Expect nods to the original show with some high-tech upgrades. Plus, early reports suggest the new show will be targeting a younger 5–11 age demographic, so we might get a slightly more family-friendly Megakat City this time around, most probably in an effort to not get cancelled again.
If you think the road back to TV has been easy, think again. In a brutally honest Kickstarter update, Christian Tremblay detailed the show’s long struggle: “It’s not the 100s of NOs that count, it’s the one YES that allows everything to fall into place. We will make SWAT Kats happen, no matter how hard or how long it takes.”
At Mumbai Comic Con 2025, Christian and Yvon Tremblay made a surprise appearance at a special panel dedicated to the original show. They shared behind-the-scenes development updates, teased artwork, and hinted that SWAT Kats: Revolution is closer than ever.
In an interview with PTI News in April, the Tremblay brothers spoke about the show’s revival, complete with comics, games, and official merchandise, which will first launch in India before going global. “Our relaunching globally of SWAT Kats, like I said earlier this afternoon, I can confidently say that it will probably coming from India to the rest of the world… That’s all logical… We have the fans. We have the passion. We have the enthusiasm and also we’re in… advanced discussions with business partners. So it looks like that’s how it’s going to happen from SWAT [Kats]. From India to the world.”
And with new content popping up on the SWAT Kats 2025 TikTok account and the brothers showing up at Anime Matsuri 2025 in July, fans are hoping this is the year the jet finally takes off.
Doesn’t Warner still hold rights to the Swat Kats though?