Robot Chicken has made a career out of parodying pop culture, from superheroes to Star Wars. Now, it is doing a play on its own characters and network. In honor of the 25th anniversary of Adult Swim, Robot Chicken has created a special combining characters from across the program block’s shows. Adult Swim revealed the official trailer on July 26.
The late-night programming block brought together “mature” comedy shows like The Venture Bros., Smiling Friends, Rick and Morty, and more. It was the adult version of Cartoon Network, primarily housing animated and stop-motion programs.
The special is a whodunnit mystery set on a cruise ship. Plenty of characters make appearances, from Moral Orel to Pim, Charlie, and Mr. Boss from Smiling Friends. Even boxing legend Mike Tyson, of Mike Tyson Mysteries, made an appearance, as well as Black Jesus from Black Jesus. Almost all of them show up in puppet/action figure form, in the classic Robot Chicken stop-motion style.
The special will bring together over two decades of Adult Swim’s history, and characters who have never interacted before will meet for the first time. It’s basically the Avengers: Doomsday of satirical animation. Joe Pera, the comedian who starred in Joe Pera Talks With You, narrates the trailer in his calming voice. Hopefully, he’ll be voicing over the special too.
The trailer also immediately addressed the absence of Rick and Morty, having Lucy, Daughter of the Devil, say, “they’re way too important to be here.” It seems the most iconic, or at least mainstream, of Adult Swim shows might not have a place in the special.
Plenty of iconic characters make appearances in the trailer, and there are probably plenty more they left out to build hype, as fans are hypothesizing in the trailer’s Instagram comments. The special premieres on August 30 at midnight on Adult Swim, coming out on HBO Max the next day.