The Boondocks reboot at HBO Max will not be moving forward, according to Variety.
Way back when, ten years ago in 2019 (well, it feels like ten years ago) HBO Max ordered two more seasons of creator Aaron McGruder’s subversive Adult Swim animated series, to run alongside the original 55 episodes on the streaming service. The new episodes were set to air in the fall of 2020 and would have marked McGruder’s return to the series after having not been involved in the Cartoon Network’s fourth and final season that aired in 2014.
As of press time, the new iteration of The Boondocks—which would have featured Robert “Granddad” Freeman and grandsons Huey and Riley’s suburban community being taken over by Uncle Ruckus and his neo-facist regime—is currently dead in the water.
According to Deadline, Boondocks voice actor Cedric Yarbrough confirmed that the show would not be coming back. “I hate to say this… right now the show is not coming back. We’ve been wanting to do the show and Sony and it’s… they decided they’re going to pull the plug,” Yarbrough reportedly explained on the Geekset Podcast. “Hopefully one day we’ll be able to revisit it…I wish the show was coming back.”
This isn’t the first time a Boondocks project failed to launch. Back in 2013, McGruder launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce a live-action film featuring the character of Uncle Ruckus, voiced by Gary Anthony Williams. The campaign fell short of its $200,000 goal.
It’s unfortunate that the deal didn’t come to pass. With McGruder set to return as showrunner and executive producer, it would have been interesting to see his perspective on the era of Trump, the pandemic, and the summer of protests, but it would be next to impossible to find someone to take the mantle of Johnny Witherspoon—who passed away in October 2019—as Granddad. For now, you can stream the original four-season run of The Boondocks on HBO Max.