via Variety: Here he comes, here comes “Speed Racer,” back on the smallscreen.

Lionsgate will announce today plans for its first animated series, a new version of the 1960s toon “Speed Racer.” Nickelodeon’s 24-hour cartoon channel, Nicktoons, is aboard to run the initial 26 episodes.

The new “Speed Racer” cartoon is set to launch next year, around the same time that Warner Bros.’ live-action “Speed Racer,” directed by the Wachowskis, hits theaters.

In the new franchise, young Speed Racer enters a racing academy for the fastest kids on Earth — and discovers that he’s the son of the legendary (and original series’) Speed Racer. He also finds out in the first few episodes that he has a brother — the new Racer X — whom he never knew existed.

Speed Racer wows the school with his Mach 6 (an updated version of the original show’s Mach 5) — the most advanced vehicle in the universe, which doesn’t run on gas. Speed and X team together to prevent villains from stealing the Mach 6 and to find out who’s behind the mysterious disappearance of their father.

Other characters returning include original Speed Racer’s younger brother Spritle, now headmaster of the racing academy. And chimpanzee Chim-Chim is now a mechanical robot.

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And yes they had a pic of the Mach 6. It makes me wonder how I feel about all this. They aren’t rebooting Speed. They’re moving forward. Which is a good thing, really. And yet… Chim-Chim is now a robot. Why? did Chim-Chim die and they moved his brain to a robot? Did they just surprise Chim-Chim and lock him in a robot shell? Can’t Spritle find a better name as an adult? Where’s Speed? Speed and Racer X are now on the same side from the get go? And in a school of the fastest racing kids? What? What is this school? Does it mean we’ll have episodes where the whole school races? Or gets involved in cases? Because you know as well as I do that is what it will mean.

But then, it might be fun!