Iyanu S1
Drawing on Nigerian culture, music, and mythology, Iyanu follows a brave young orphan living in the magical kingdom of Yorubaland. While studying history and ancient arts, she yearns for a normal life – until a looming threat awakens divine powers not seen since the legendary Age of Wonders. Accompanied by newfound friends Biyi and Toye, as well as a magical leopard named Ekun, Iyanu sets out to uncover the source of this evil, unlocking her destiny along the way.
The animated series is adapted from Nigerian creator Roy Okupe’s popular graphic novel series, Iyanu: Child of Wonder, published by Dark Horse Comics, the powerhouse behind the likes of The Umbrella Academy and Hellboy comics.
Award-winner Serah Johnson leads the all-African voice cast as Iyanu, alongside African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) winner and Vogue US cover star Adesua Etomi-Wellington, three-time AMAA nominee Stella Damasus, multi-award-winner Blossom Chukwujekwu, and Shaffy Bello from The Black Book, described by Wired as “Nigeria’s first runaway Netflix hit.”
Iyanu is produced by Lion Forge Entertainment, the Emmy-winning company behind the Oscar®-winning Hair Love. Story editor Brandon Easton (Transformers: War for Cybertron; Marvel’s Agent Carter) headed the Iyanu writers' room, which also featured Emmy winner Kerri Grant (Doc McStuffins; Ada Twist, Scientist).
Screenrant hails it as “The Last Airbender and Black Panther hybrid you didn’t know you needed.”
Since its US launch in April 2025, Iyanu ranked as the #1 series on Cartoon Network and in the top 10 kids and family series on Max.
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