Posted in: Hulu, streaming, TV | Tagged: Ally Maki, exclusive, fred tatasciore, Hit-Monkey, hulu, interview, jason sudeikis, Josh Gordon, Will Speck

Hit-Monkey Creators on S02, Scrapped Animated Marvel Universe Plans

Hit-Monkey creators Josh Gordon & Will Speck spoke with Bleeding Cool about Season 2, the scrapped Marvel/Hulu animated universe, and more.

Hit-Monkey creators Josh Gordon and Will Speck wasted no time trying to get season two off the ground running as soon as Hulu announced the series' renewal. Season two represents a major change of scenery for Monkey (Fred Tatasciore) and Bryce (Jason Sudeikis), the late assassin who trained him to be a killing machine trying to avenge those who killed him as the two journey from Japan to New York. We find out the price Bryce pays to be sent back to Earth, why Haruka (Ally Maki) comes along on their journey, and the loose ends surrounding Akiko (Olivia Munn) and her quest for revenge. Gordon and Speck spoke to Bleeding Cool about the failed plans for a crossover that would have ended up with The Offenders, new additions in Leslie Jones and Cristin Milioti (who play Eunice and Iris, respectively), season two challenges, and the future.

Hit-Monkey Showrunners on Its Marvel Presence on Hulu & Creative Autonomy

Bleeding Cool: This first question is a loaded one. So, bear with me here. I know some plans involved 'Hit-Monkey' and others that would have led to 'The Offenders.' Was there anything in those plans that changed for season two once that wasn't going to come to fruition? Were we going to see characters like M.O.D.O.K., Tigra, Dazzler, or Howard the Duck this season?

Speck: No, but we knew halfway through season one that link-up wasn't happening. Only us and 'M.O.D.O.K.' were going to make it through. If you look, there are a few Easter eggs in season one about M.O.D.O.K., and that was the extent of the link-up. The idea was always that the shows would be separate, and then eventually, they would link up. It didn't mess up any of our narrative plans when that didn't happen.

What do Leslie and Cristin bring to the cast in season two as Eunice and Iris?

Gordon: They're both strong and funny women, which is exciting to have as part of our Monkey and Bryce world. Leslie is such a unique comedic voice that surprised us with how invested she was in the narrative of these two characters she was costarring opposite. She brought a lot of soul and humanity in and, amongst all, that great comedic voice. Cristin is such a great dramatic actress who is also funny but knows how to land those moments between her and her estranged father [Bryce] in a way that jumps out of the booth and onto the page.

What are your biggest challenges in making season two?

Speck: Once we got the pick-up from Hulu, nobody wanted to wait. We'd already waited about seven or eight months to get the pickup. Nobody wanted to push the date any further out for the release of season two. We had a normal 20-week writer room, but the animation studio, Floyd County [Productions], had a lot of pressure to get the season out in about a year and a half, which is fast for animation. They had to bring in a lot of extra help, and it was a lot of work to get done because the season, in some ways, is bigger than the norm, with bigger events at the end. It was a production thing that was the tricky part.

Did you guys feel like an outlier since Marvel migrated most of its stuff, or if it's not canceling the shows on other platforms, to Disney Plus? Is there anticipation that you guys will make that move if there's a future beyond this season?

Speck: [Hit-Monkey] was always on Hulu, and we're covered on Disney Plus, internationally now. We always felt supported by Marvel in a way, was an ideal situation because the character is a weird sort of pocket over in the corner of the Marvel Universe. That was always the show's strength that we could explore the weirdness of the R-rated-ness with the violence of it. It's a little bit out of Marvel's core brand, and to their credit, they were always supportive. They said, "Look, we get what this is, and you guys should go off and make it the way you want to." They've always been great that way, and we liked that about the show. Now they're supportive of it in the marketing of it, which is great. We get the benefits of Marvel, the freedom of the weirdness, and the "out there-ness" of the character, so we like that about the show.

Was there anything in season one you guys felt you had a creative roadblock beforehand that maybe you could do in season two? Did Marvel say, "You can't do this or that?"

Speck: No, we had a lot of freedom in season one to explore the narrative we wanted. We always had the idea for seasons two and three when we wrote season one. We knew where we wanted to take the show. We were so happy that Hulu and Marvel gave us that second season. We always knew we wanted to dig into…the show's always an exploration of the rumination on violence and the price you pay for violence. That goes back to the original graphic novel and to go for Monkey and Bryce in season two and unpack the consequences in their lives of their choices was something we wanted to explore.

Creatively in the future, how do you feel since Marvel's embracing edgier material and more adult-oriented content in their programming? Did you guys create season two with the thought this could be a way to wrap things up? Or do you have it open-ended to possibly maybe do a season three?

Speck: There's a season three and beyond, but we knew that with all these shows. You must give the season a satisfying resolution in case it is your last season, but if you watch it through to the end as our audience does, you'll see it does. It takes a big swing and has a big wrap-up. There's a whole third season in our minds that builds from this.

Both seasons of Hit-Monkey, which also stars Reiko Aylesworth, Keith David, Noshir Dalal, Rob Corddry, and Jim Gaffigan, are available on Hulu.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!