Gladiators, ready! But will the cartoon violence translate in 2024?

Mention ‘Gladiators’ to any child of the 1990s, and watch the reaction. You’ll receive a misty-eyed nod, some muttering about how the uphill travelator was rigged, and then they will begin spouting seemingly-random words like ‘Storm’, ‘Flame’, ‘Tornado’, and ‘Glacier’, like some deranged weatherman.

Gladiators was a bona fide cultural sensation, with larger-than-life characters, and cartoonish battles on the ultimate padded playground. It was low stakes, gleefully violent, and seemed to merge the best bits from contact sport, video games, wrestling, and obstacle courses. It also inspired countless Gladiator battles in lounge rooms around the country, where couch arms became suspension bridges, end-pillows were weapons, and anything else served as a projectile to bat away.