Alain Chabat returns to Astérix: we saw the first stunning images of the series Le Combat des Chefs

Certainly the event of the day at the Annecy Animation Festival. Here's everything we learned about this Netflix project which will be broadcast next year.

It was strangely in the very small room of the Bonlieu cultural center in Annecy that the presentation ofAsterix and Obelix, the battle of the leaderswhich will see Alain Chabat return to the world of the Gaul more than two decades later Cleopatra Mission. In this configuration, there was obviously not something for everyone: those less well off waited anxiously at the side of the line, hoping to find a last minute place.

For an hour and wheelbarrows, Chabat and a good part of his team (his co-writer Benoît Oullion, but also his co-director Fabrice Joubert, as well as animators from the Toulouse studio TAT) detailed the process of creating this series extremely anticipated, adaptation in five thirty-minute episodes of the album The Battle of the Leaders by Goscinny and Uderzo, published in 1966. Between two well-felt jokes, the ex-Nuls improvised as master of ceremonies and explained that he had “not never broke off dialogue with Hachette » and the rights holders since its previous adaptation of Asterix. And if he hesitated for a long time about the right format and the right angle to restart the machine, it was always clear in his mind that he wanted “ stay in the same universe but do something different “.

Absurd humor

It was therefore the meeting with Netflix that was decisive: the platform itself was already seeking to transpose the adventures of the Gaul. An alignment of the planets which seems to have allowed Chabat to benefit from a very comfortable budget to carry out its ambitious project. Visually, The Battle of the Leaders is inspired by Uderzo's character designs from the late 60s, early 70s, “ between Asterix at the Olympic Games And Caesar's Laurels. All the work around 3D required a lot of research (even having the characters modeled by a sculptor, a step which generally only exists for a feature film). Chabat freely admits to feeling lost by the long-term animation process, and to having had a pressing need for a co-director to sort through his ideas and desires.

On arrival, a lot of absurd humor, visual gags on all levels and a use of onomatopoeia and flat colors which is reminiscent of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Moreover, taking the magic potion (which we were able to see in a trailer broadcast at the very end of this work in progress) was reminiscent of the moments when Miles Morales' spider-sense goes into alert, with quite a few psychedelic effects.

Production designer Aurélien Predal also wanted the textures of the sets and clothing to be “ tactile », contrasting with the skin of the characters shaped much more simply. The result is truly astonishing.

Amazing voice casting

And the story, then? It seems to respect the plot of the album: Panoramix receives a blow on the head which makes him forget the recipe for the magic potion, just as Abraracourcix has to challenge another Gallic chef in combat… But Alain Chabat and Benoît Oullion adds some of their obsessions, notably a chef's battle like ” MMA in Las Vegas » and the important presence of Caesar, from whom we learn that the misdeeds are linked… to his desire to impress his mother (” Caesar as a girl », assures Chabat)! A character invented specifically for the series, and who will be voiced by a Jérôme Commandeur who is visibly very fit.

The rest of the vocal cast is dizzying: Anaïs Demoustier, David Marsais, Grégoire Ludig, Fred Testot, Gilles Lellouche (who reprises the role of Obélix after his live performance in Guillaume Canet's film), Alain Chabat ( Astérix), Jean-Pascal Zadi, Alexander Astier (Ordralfabétix), Laurent Lafitte (César), Géraldine Nakache (Bonemine), Grégory Gadebois, Thierry Lhermitte (Panoramix) and Jeanne Balibar. Alain Chabat also promises surprises.

See you in the first half of 2025 on Netflix to discover Asterix and Obelix, the battle of the leaders. We can't wait to dive back into the magic potion.