'Legends Of The Hidden Temple' Reboot Brings Back Original Voice Of Olmec

Let's rock! The Legends of the Hidden Temple reboot over at The CW will bring back the original voice of Olmec, Dee Bradley Baker. It has been more than 20 years since the original series' first run, but the kids who watched back then are sure to tune in to the adult version now. (Go Blue Barracudas!)

The news was first reported by Deadline. Olmec was a giant talking Mayan head that served as the series' co-host and logo. He made game announcements, explained challenge rules, and asked trivia questions. Cristela Alonzo will host the reboot, replacing '90s host Kirk Fogg. It should be noted that in the years since Baker voiced Olmec, he has become one of Hollywood's most prolific voice actors, with 627 credits and counting to his name, including voicing the entire main cast on Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Legends of the Hidden Temple ran from 1993 to 1995 on Nickelodeon and was one of the highlights of my afternoons. Each episode, six pairs of kids dressed in Reebok athletic gear and bright yellow helmets would complete a series of mental and physical tests to try to earn the right to enter Olmec's temple. They would cross a moat, answer trivia on the Steps of Knowledge, and then compete in head-to-head physical challenges that usually involved putting something in a bucket. Only one team could make it to the final temple run. There, they had three minutes to make it through the obstacle course of the temple, avoid the temple guards, and retrieve the episode's treasure.

The new take on the series will take the adventure outside, into a "mysterious jungle" setting with more adult-appropriate challenges and bigger prizes. (That's good, because the original series sometimes gave out Nerds candy and Hershey's chocolate milk mix as consolation prizes.) The team names, moat crossings, steps of knowledge, and temple run have all been confirmed to return, and Olmec returning with his original voice is just icing on the cake.

"When we asked Dee Bradley Baker to return as the one and only Olmec – our giant talking stone head, and he said, 'Let's Rock,' that was all I had to hear...Olmec lives," executive producer Scott Stone told Deadline.

The reimagining of the series comes from Stone & Company, the company that produced the original series on Nickelodeon. There hasn't been any word on the temple itself, but I'm hoping for fan favorite rooms to return. I want to see the somehow challenging Shrine of the Silver Monkey and The Wheel Room, which is just an excuse to see people run on a giant hamster wheel.

The adult reboot of Legends of the Hidden Temple is set to debut October 10, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the CW.