It's almost hard to remember a time in the distant, pre-2013 past before Justin Roiland began his gradual ascent of Animation Mountain, but thankfully there's no point in doing that. Not where there are all these Justin Roiland animated shows to watch! The co-creator of Adult Swim's mainstream fave Rick and Morty and Hulu's Solar Opposites is bringing another off-kilter comedy to streaming audiences in the form of Koala Man.
With Solar Opposites on the cusp of delivering a second season of Earth-conquering mayhem in the very near future, Justin Roiland is building upon his relationship with Hulu with the Koala Man series order. According to Deadline, the new comedy will center on the male head of a family whose doubles as the titular vigilante in a not-exactly-secretive way. But what he lacks in stealthy mysteriousness, he makes up for in crimefighting passion and his commitment to restoring order in his community. All while wearing jean shorts, a cape, and a mask that makes the top half of his head look like a koala. I mean, it worked for Batman...well, except for the shorts part.
Justin Roiland will serve as an executive producer on Koala Man, so while he won't be the main creative thrust behind the scenes, his involvement probably has a lot to do with the project finding a home. Koala Man is the creation of Australian animator Michael Cusack, who will also star in the lead role. He will be penning the series along with showrunners Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, the co-writers of the unexpectedly fun Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and the upcoming Addams Family animated sequel. They were also writers on One Day at a Time, The Tick and 1600 Penn, to name a few. The range of comedy among those projects is rather wide and bordering-on-weird, so I'm expecting Koala Man to be quite an interesting "superhero" story, as it were.
Sharing a studio with Solar Opposites in 20th Television Animation, Koala Man is getting an eight-episode first season, which should be enough time for Justin Roiland & Co. to hook audiences with its characters without overdoing it, and while leaving everyone hungry for more. (Hungry for more eucalyptus leaves, amirite?)
While the world has yet to witness any straightforward crossover connections between Solar Opposites and Rick and Morty, it's certainly possible that Koala Man and Solar Opposites could bring their characters together at some point down the line. I mean, I dunno if they'd even want to, but it'd probably be easier to do that with both shows being Hulu originals.
While waiting to see more from Koala Man, check out the official Season 2 trailer for Solar Opposites below and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for some exclusive coverage from the alien-filled series.
Not that we'll only be waiting on Koala Man news, since it's also a grind to go through each day without hearing anything about Rick and Morty Season 5. (But do take note of our awesome Rick and Morty giveaway contest!)
