HBO Max Reveals Adventure Time Spin-Off 'Fionna and Cake'
When Pendelton Ward's beloved Adventure Time came to an end back in 2018, many fans were not ready to say goodbye. Luckily Cartoon Network Studios agreed that there were still stories worth telling in the land of Ooo, and 2020 saw the first of the Distant Lands specials, which focused on the further adventures of various Adventure Time characters, land (see what we did there?) on HBO Max.
Distant Lands has yet to release its fourth episode Wizard City, and we don't know if there will be any more than the initial four-episode order. HBO Max is not done with Adventure Time yet though and has ordered a new spin-off series.
Long time Adventure Time fans will immediately understand the significance of the title Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake. They will recognise that Fionna and Cake are alternate female versions of Adventure Time's leads Finn the Human and Jake The Dog. In Cake's case, it's also a change of species- she's actually a female cat. The alternate versions of the characters appeared in several episodes of the original series, alongside gender-bent versions of other characters including The Ice King, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline.
HBO Max have ordered 10 half-hour episodes of the series, which will be aimed at a young adult audience. Adam Muto, who wrote and storyboarded the original Fionna and Cake episode with Rebecca Sugar, will be show-runner and executive producer. Animation production will be by Cartoon Network Studios.
How will this new series be connected to the original Adventure Time? The official synopsis might offer some clues:
Fionna and Cake – with the help of the former Ice King, Simon Petrikov - embark on a multiverse-hopping adventure and journey of self-discovery. All the while a powerful new antagonist determined to track them down and erase them from existence, lurks in the shadows.
HBO Max says the series will also explore Fiona and Cake's relationship and the mysterious land of Ooo. But the 'multiverse' mentioned in the synopsis suggests it won't necessarily be the Ooo we're used to. We may get to see various alternate takes on Ooo, and perhaps we will see Fiona and Cake teaming up with Finn and Jake to take on that new shadowy threat. It's full of potential.
Fionna and Cake were originally created by Bee and Puppycat's Natasha Allegri in a series of webcomics and illustrations, before being written into the show (as fan fiction written by the Ice King). They went on to recur on the series, and star in their own spin-off comic series by Allegri and have been firm fan favourites ever since.
No release date or window has been announced just yet. The fourth and final (for now, at least) special Adventure Time Distant Lands: Wizard City will arrive on HBO Max later this year.
