On Friday, creative director Adam Muto (Steven Universe, Trejur) and cast members Niki Yang (Gravity Falls, Lego Dimensions), Glory Curda (Final Fantasy VII Remake, Law and Order: SVU), and Olivia Olson (Love Actually, Phineas and Ferb) discussed the four new hour-long Adventure Time specials, collectively named Adventure Time: Distant Lands, with moderator Michaela Dietz (Steven Universe, Lego Dimensions). These specials will be released on HBO Max. The Comic-Con panel was held as part of San Diego’s Comic-Con at Home, in which numerous panels are available for anyone to watch on Comic-Con San Diego‘s website.
The first special, BMO, was released on HBO Max on June 25. The subsequent episodes in order are Obsidian, Wizard City, and Together Again. Each special explores and expands the world of a character or characters featured in the original Adventure Time series. Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada, Voltron: Legendary Defender) and Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio, Disenchantment), the main characters of the original series, will not appear in the specials because their storyline, Muto said, is completed and closed. Unfortunately, the release dates for the three specials after BMO are still unknown.
The panel began with a special look at BMO, which features Y5, a new character played by Curda. Y5 is an innovative and intelligent character that lacks the internal freedom to take charge and action. BMO arrives on her planet and helps her to realize this freedom and find her own voice. Muto, the creative director of the series, chose to start the four specials with the story of BMO because he is a fan-favorite character. Yang, who voices BMO, discussed her own opinion (with spoilers) on how she felt about the ending of BMO’s character arc, which was revealed at the end of the special. Check out Adventure Time: Distant Lands‘ panel to see the special look:
Next, the panel discussed Obsidian, the second of the four specials. Obsidian will feature Princess Bubblegum (voiced by Hynden Walch, Teen Titans Go!) and Marceline (voiced by Olson), delving further into the romantic relationship that was revealed at the end of the original series. The special will be full of Marceline’s music and will also feature a new character named Glass Boy who serves as an analog of Finn. It was revealed during the panel that Glass Boy is voiced by Dietz.
The panel mentioned very little about what would happen in the last two specials – Wizard City and Together Again, so fans are kept in suspense as to which characters will be featured and what their storylines will be. The Adventure Time creative team will also release a BMO Mixtape which will feature music from both the original series and the specials.
Olson closed the panel with an exclusive sneak peak at one of Marceline’s songs from Obsidian. The song was about Marceline’s fears and insecurities concerning her and Princess Bubblegum’s relationship. You can watch the song on the panel.