Some purists have grumbled that removing the “Lord” from the title strips the character of her iconic identity. But as Chen noted in a recent Variety interview: “Tarzan was never about the crown. It was about the belonging. Kaya belongs to a world that’s burning. The question is—do we still belong to her?”
In an era where reboot fatigue has dulled audiences’ appetite for recycled nostalgia, NeonX’s 2024 original series Lady Tarzan arrives not as a remake, but as a reinvention. Eschewing the loincloth-and-vine tropes of the past, this neon-drenched, cyber-jungle thriller reimagines the archetypal “king of the apes” as a fierce, tech-savvy young woman fighting to protect a bioluminescent rainforest from corporate raiders and ecological collapse. The result is a surprisingly potent blend of coming-of-age drama, eco-action, and visual audacity that proves some legends simply need a new habitat to thrive. Lady Tarzan -2024- NeonX Original
Zara Montoya delivers a physically demanding, largely non-verbal performance that recalls Andy Serkis’s motion-capture work, but with raw, emotional transparency. Kaya’s arc is not about learning to be human—it’s about recognizing that humanity does not have a monopoly on intelligence or honor. In one wrenching scene, Kaya finds a recording of her late mother, a botanist, who whispers: “They will call you wild. That’s just their word for free.” Some purists have grumbled that removing the “Lord”
★★★★☆ (4/5) Recommended if you like: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind , Dora and the Lost City of Gold (but darker), Love, Death & Robots (season 3’s “Jibaro”) Lady Tarzan – 2024 – A NeonX Original. All eight episodes streaming now. Kaya belongs to a world that’s burning
Lady Tarzan (streaming now on NeonX) is not a perfect show. Early episodes struggle with pacing, and Echo the drone can feel like a plot crutch. But when it swings—and it swings often—it achieves a rare alchemy: respecting a century-old myth while setting it ablaze. For viewers tired of grimdark superheroes and cynical reboots, Kaya offers something radical: a heroine who protects not a city, not a nation, but a living, breathing world that has no voice but hers.