The show follows Paul Cassidy, an average run-of-the-mill cop, who is transported to a brand-new world courtesy of Dr. Benign (James Urbaniak). In this alternate dimension, Paul gains a new persona in the form of Apollo Gauntlet (voiced by Langlois), and accepts the role of noble hero. With new magical abilities and powerful (talking) armor, he can finally do right and protect the world just as he’s always wanted.

Apollo Gauntlet is wise to adopt a quest-heavy structure to each episode. It adds a real sense of adventure that feels appropriate for the era and world that the show is set in.

The series also isn’t afraid to embrace its archaic setting for story potential. My favorite of the show’s first three episodes involves a lunar eclipse and the townspeople succumbing to the lunacy that was often associated with the phenomenon back in the Middle Ages. Apollo Gauntlet finds itself in a comfortable position to lean into this material when needed, or tone it down accordingly.

In spite of the series’ adventurous tone, the first episode surprisingly takes its time. It really just lets viewers get to know Paul Cassidy aka Apollo Gauntlet and Dr. Benign, as well as the dynamic shared between the two of them. Adult Swim series have followed a trend of moving a mile a minute, almost as if each new show is trying to cram in more than the last. It’s not until the final minutes of the show’s pilot that Paul even finds the gauntlets and accepts their power. Other series would have this function as their opening scene (it’s worth noting that the pitch pilot for Apollo Gauntlet does start with him already in the thick of hero-dom).

While Apollo is trying to save his new world, Dr. Benign is in a much less glamorous situation where he’s made the prisoner of Corporal Vile, some subterranean tyrant who looks like he was rejected from a casting call for He-Man villains. In fact, all of the Oracles of Doom have a disturbing, misplaced quality to them. They ultimately want to retrieve the special gauntlets that Apollo has lucked into finding, with Dr. Benign often being used as unwilling bait in their schemes to bring Apollo forward.