SDCC2022: Adult Animation Winners And Losers

San Diego Comic-Con 2022 is in the books and although we had quite a few panels touting adult animation news, it seems like most panels are okay with sizzle reels from prior seasons that I’m not too crazy about. If you aren’t going to show anything new, don’t show up. Maybe that’s why Bob’s Burgers didn’t? In any way, we’ve broken down the winners and losers from Comic-Con 2022 for adult animation.

Winners 20th Television Animation (AniDom/Hulu/FX Networks/Disney+)

Hands down, Disney won Comic-Con, and I’m not even including their live-action showings, I’m strictly talking about their stellar lineup of prime-time and adult animation that the media conglomerate has on the way. Let’s break it down by the affiliate networks:

Animation Domination

It looks bad that Bob’s Burgers was a no-call/no-show for Comic-Con 2022. H.Jon Benjamin made the attempt to come in on the Archer panel and typically Loren Bouchard is all about showing up, but that didn’t happen. I’m not sure if Disney was unhappy with the bombing of The Bob’s Burgers Movie, which was still being heavily promoted throughout campus, but SOMETHING happened that caused this to go down. With that said, big new announcements did come from American Dad (for TBS, not FOX) and The Simpsons (for ViceTV), and even if underwhelming, panels for The Great North and Family Guy at least gives the appearance that the FOX Entertainment/Disney relationship is pretty solid.

FX Networks

Archer’s panel wasn’t all that exciting, but Little Demon’s preview with casting announcements at least had fans primed for the new franchise. Yes, it looks very much like Golan the Insatiable, but with Dan Harmon as an EP, I’m expecting fleshier storylines and characters.

Disney+/Disney Channel

Disney’s doing a great job of serving young adult/adult animation on Disney+ with The Proud Family reboot’s second season looking jam-packed with celebrities and Marvel animation like What If?, Zombies, and others on tap, Disney is clearly seeing positive results of having The Simpsons on Disney+ and looking to capitalize on more animated content that may have a similar fanbase.

Hulu

Even with just two shows on tap, Hulu had some pretty fun panels rife with announcements. Solar Opposites has a new art book from Dark Horse comics and a holiday special, and Koala Man is my most anticipated animated comedy. Hulu is getting stronger with their adult animation slate, and I think the future looks bright even in a post Marvel-less one.

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Losers FOX Entertainment

While Disney’s contribution to FOX’s Animation Domination line-up was solid for Comic-Con, the FOX Entertainment-produced efforts were sorely lacking. While Krapopolis looks quite a bit more solid than I think most initially thought, not having Bob’s Burgers, Grimsburg, The Freak Brothers, or Housebroken there isn’t a great look. Perhaps with Krapopolis the company was simply trying to promote its NFT collection and maybe the big panels will come to New York Comic-Con to promote a more impressive Winter 2023 line-up.

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Winners WB Discovery

WB Discovery brought with it panels for its adult animation films, Adult Swim, and Harley Quinn. Let’s break these down:

Adult Swim

I feel like Adult Swim may have held back its big announcements for their upcoming Adult Swim Festival hitting Philly next month. News from panels for Tuca & Bertie and Vindicators were rather moot given that the latter dropped it’s entire season on Adult Swim’s Youtube channel and the former is about half-way through it’s third season. The Smiling Friends is a welcome one, but as for any premiere dates for new or returning shows beyond August, a pretty light showing.

HBO MAX

I’m hearing rumors of Fired from Mars being canceled and Velma being turned into a mini-series in 2023, but with the big announcement at RTX regarding the future of Ten Year Old Tom and incoming Harley Quinn spin-offs, hopefully this means the MAX ship can correct course. Final Space appears to still be in a holding pattern for any eventual continuation.

DC Animation

Harley Quinn drops an excellent third season starting later this week on HBO MAX and we’ve got the Green Lantern: Beware My Power review coming as well, but the slate looks solid with a slew of animated films on the way. No sign of Noonan’s , but the fact that it’s coming is exciting.

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Losers Netflix

Other than some Farzar aliens running around and Keanu’s announcement regarding a two-season anime order of BRZRKR there was little to no adult animation to be had at Comic-Con. A report regarding head of adult animation Mike Moon leaving Netflix in a few weeks had dropped which may have had something to do with it. Netflix’s virtual con Tudum is happening in September where it’s expected that numerous adult animation projects from across the globe will be announced. Until then, here’s what is coming to Netflix starting next month.

Losers Prime Video

Other than Wheels of Time animated shorts, nothing great to report. No Invincible, no Legends of Vox Machina, nothing.