You know how Crunchyroll is starting to do their own shows now? Well, here comes another one called Dark Star Squadron. The premise is as cool as the name sounds.

Crunchyroll 5 million subscriber key art.
Quite the subscriber gift indeed.

You may be wondering by now why Crunchyroll is making this announcement. Well, as of August 3, 2021; this anime streaming service surpassed 5 million subscribers, with 120 million registered users overall. That’s 120 million people worldwide using it to get their daily anime fix.

To celebrate this milestone, Crunchyroll announces the development of their own original series: Dark Star Squadron. They will work in partnership with Zoe Saldana, Cisely Saldana, and Mariel Saldana of Cinestar Pictures to develop this “epic animated space opera” and “fantasy adventures series”. Admittedly, there isn’t much info available on this upcoming series. We have no release date, no cast, and not even key art to show you. The only thing we have is that Todd Ludy (Voltron: Legendary Defender) will co-write the series alongside the Saldanas. Oh, and we have the official synopsis here:

“Dark Star Squadron” follows the journey of four failing cadets who return from a joyride with a stolen starship to find their academy in ruins and everyone vanished. Now on their own, the ill-equipped heroes embark for the far side of the galaxy to find the missing and prove their worth. 

Dark Star Squadron: The New Crunchyroll Flagship Series?

Zoe Saldana.
I’m expecting great things from Neytiri and Gamora.

The premise of Dark Star Squadron sounds really interesting. A science-fantasy space opera starring a group of misfits trying to save their fellow students and teachers by journeying across the galaxy? Sounds like a mix of Stargate SG-1, Lost in Space, and Astra Lost in Space. And of course, don’t forget about Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy. Zoe Saldana played Neytiri and Gamora respectively, so we can expect something pretty good to come out of this project. Crunchyroll just might have their new flagship series.

Conclusion

Crunchyroll just reached 5 million subscribers, with 120 million users overall. To celebrate, they announce the development of Dark Star Squadron in partnership with Zoe Saldana and her company Cinestar Pictures. This will be a science-fantasy space opera animated (and possibly anime too) series. Beyond that, we don’t know much about it. Tune in later for more news as we learn more about this project.

Source: Crunchyroll