Regular Show will likely forever remain one of the best animated series of all time, as I don’t see any other blue jay and raccoon buddy comedies eclipsing it at any point. Creator J.G. Quintel followed up on Mordecai and Rigby’s final episodes with the excellent Max comedy Close Enough, and we now know his newest co-creation will feature the same kind of surreal and off-the-wall comedy, only with a mutant flavor that should appeal to X-Men fans.
J.G. Quintel is sticking with his familiar Warner Bros. pardners for a brand new Adult Swim animated series called Super Mutant Magic Academy. (Doesn’t look like any teenage ninja-embracing reptiles are in the mix, though.) For anyone who already recognizes the show’s title, it is indeed an adaptation of Jillian Tamaki’s award-winning 2010-2014 webcomic series of the same name.
Well, mostly the same name, as the source material’s title went the compound word route with SuperMutant, which is the same as what’s happening in this first-look imagery. So we’ll see where things land once the show actually comes out. (If only I had a mutant power to be able to see into the future.)
As it was revealed at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Super Mutant Magic Academy is heading to Adult Swim with Quintel sharing co-creator duties with Jillian Tamaki. The series will center on new transfer student Marsha, who harbors secrets about her past while trying to make her mark amidst an ensemble of mutants and “regular” high school teenagers.
It sounds like a coming-of-age tale with some left-field twists, as the characters will be navigating romances, friendships and the age-old problems of trying to learn the ins and outs of one’s mutant powers. One can only hope that J.G. Quintel will bring his familiar vocal stylings to the show (presumably not as Marsha), as he did for Regular Show’s Mordecai and High-Five Ghost, as well as Close Enough’s Josh.
While this obviously doesn’t sound 100% like Professor Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters or his Institute for Higher Learning, I’m hoping there’s some shared ground, even if Magic Academy doesn’t necessarily delve into action-centric storylines the way that X-Men ‘97 has. (Check out our ranked list of Season 1 episodes.) But if they wanted to throw in a sentinel or two…
Jillian Tamaki is a cousin and occasional collaborator of comics writer Mariko Tamaki, and their acclaimed graphic novels include 2008’s Skim, 2014’s award-winning This One Summer, and 2023’s Roaming. The latter is also celebrated for her work with Marvel, which includes writing for the X-Men title X23. Less than six degrees of separation here, which means that Regular Show’s Muscle Man is basically first cousins with Colossus. Or not.
Adult Swim revealed several big announcements beyond Super Mutant Magic Academy, including the first ever screening of the new series Common Side Effects, which is one of the new projects executive produced by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels alongside the upcoming King of the Hill revival.
The studio also announced a series order for Get Jiro, an adaptation of the Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose-penned graphic novels illustrated by Langdon Foss and Alé Garza. As well as for Oh My God, Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances, which first aired on Adult Swim's website as a pilot from My Dad the Bounty Hunter's Supreme Williams, and Ha Ha You Clowns, the hit SMALLS series from creator Joe Cappa.
Adult Swim also confirmed third seasons are coming for both SMILING FRIENDS and My Adventures with Superman, which are both currently airing. Those series and Regular Show can be streamed now with a Max subscription.
