I think Conan the Barbarian would work in our modern age. A tough male character I can't see as problematic. I don't know why some people find 'muscular, male character = issue' It seems like a very blanket statement. Just cause Conan is muscular and kinda macho, means he's not a good character? I don't know.
Add a kick ass female (Valeria, Bêlit...you got a LOT to choose from!) and add a few gay characters (as long as it makes sense for the plot) Ya know...in Medieval / Roman times men slept with men ALL the time and no one whined. I can't see the issue with adding a gay character in Conan. Add more dimension to a side character, maybe.
Conan is a character who traveled all around the fantasy continent of Hyboria, so having people of all ethnicities and sexual orientations and gender involved in the stories would make a lot of sense for all the different locations and all the different cultures Conan meets. A writer could add SO much to Conan's world. You could stick 90% to Howard's original writing as your base and then add things to embellish the stories. Make them longer. Have Conan make friends and enemies with ALL types of people.
I think labeling something as 'toxic masculinity' is a bit silly. As it's all how you portray the story. Conan doesn't HAVE to be this womanizing dumb muscle man-in fact DON'T do that. In the Robert E. Howard stories, he spoke well, was methodical with his attacks and never judged anyone unless they were some monster crushing people or someone who wanted to kill him. I think we have this notion that Conan is this architype male, when really he is more complex then that.
Conan isn't 'anti-woke' or 'right-wing'...he doesn't get involved in ANY of that stuff. He finds all of civilization foolish. He's a barbarian who slays, loves and is content.
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