Lucky Luke Series Review
Lucky Luke is a French television Western comedy series, directed by Benjamin Rocher from a screenplay by Mathieu Leblanc and Thomas Mansuy. The series is loosely adapted from the 1946 Lucky Luke comic by Morris and René Goscinny. It debuted on Disney+ on 23 March 2026 and is currently available only in European countries.
The premise of the story follows Lucky Luke as he teams up with Louise, a lady searching for her missing mother, leading to an adventure that could change the course of American history.
The Good
The man who shoots faster than his shadow, has always been one of my favourite gunslingers. Growing up, I wanted to be a cowboy after watching the 90s Lucky Luke series starring Terence Hill.
Alban Lenoir as Lucky Luke isn’t a cartoonish cowboy hero, but gritty and vulnerable, shaped by the dust, violence, and loneliness of the West and a resolute code of honour.
Effort was put into giving it an authentic Western feel, from costumes, to the set design and landscape. It was filmed in Spain, where the natural landforms complemented the dusty towns and sunburnt landscapes.
The series unfolds as part buddy-movie, part road trip, rich in adventures and familiar wild west characters such as the Daltons, Billy The Kid and Calamity Jane.
The Bad
Its originally in French, if you are not fluent in the language, you will either need either subtitles or the English dub. I found the English dub is disconcerting.
Some of the nuance is lost in translation, and at times I felt as if the subtitles overly simplified dialogue. I need someone who can parlez-vous the lingo to confirm some things as I suspect sometimes the translation was like a comedian saying oh look it’s a lion instead of proclaiming the king…. Too soon?
The series’ most persistent flaw is its indecision in balancing out how serious it takes itself versus its absurdist humour and slapstick comedy; you cannot swing between laughs and heavy thematic plots without giving tonal whiplash… *whip cracks*
The Ugly
Its less a Lucky Luke story and more of a Louise story, perhaps they should have rebooted it as such instead of having a legacy character elbowed out of the plot. Understandably, they wanted room for the strong female leads but sidelining the titular character is kinda catfishy.
Final Thoughts
Lucky Luke ambitiously tries to honour the past while appealing to modern audiences, to be gritty yet funny, nostalgic yet new, resulting in a brave but uneven ride into the wild wild west.
Are you a fan of western shows? Does this sound like something you would watch?
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