Hulu’s adult animated comedy series Crossing Swords was represented at the 2021 New York Comic Con by a virtual panel featuring series creators John Harvatine IV and Tom Root along with voice cast members Alanna Ubach, Tara Strong, Adam Ray, and Adam Pally. NYCC attendees (both in person and virtually) were treated to a Crossing Swords episode, with Hulu also using the presentation to confirm season two of the stop-motion comedy will premiere on December 10, 2021.
NYCC panel moderator Damien Holbrooke from TV Guide Magazine described the series as completely bonkers in a “Rankin/Bass on homemade trucker meth” way. Series co-creator Tom Root recalled the roots of the series and said they had the look of the puppets before they even had a story. “We knew we wanted it to be chunks of wood based on toys that existed mid-20th century before they invented fun, I guess. There was something really appealing about these simple little pegs with a head and a body with two eyes and a mouth, and trying to wring some emotion and some acting out of those things,” said Root. “We knew it would only be fun if it was an R-rated adventure…whatever it was.”
Root explained the world of Crossing Swords started with a map on a dry erase board inspired by the opening titles of Game of Thrones. “It was like, ‘Well, what should this world be?’ We’ll just sort of start with a castle in the middle of this dry erase board and then we’ll build our way out from the castle,” explained Root. “We would build kind of what became season one anywhere we wanted them to go – like a haunted forest or ice world.”
“Way up in one corner of the map there’s a crashed UFO. I don’t know if we’re ever going to get there,” joked Root before adding, “We didn’t know who the characters were but we knew what the world was. We sort of were like, ‘Okay, should this be science fiction? Does that encompass everything the best or should we just make it like a medieval world? Is that going to encompass everything the best?’ We chose medieval and we’ll sort of push the boundaries of medieval if we have to.”
In addition to hosting the panel, Hulu released the following description of Crossing Swords season two:
“Another ten episodes of bingeable mayhem representing the next chapter in the adventures of Patrick the long-suffering squire (Nicholas Hoult) as he climbs the ladder of knighthood in the service of the volatile King Merriman (Luke Evans). There are new friends to make, new enemies to vanquish, and new horrors to scar Patrick for life; including bloodthirsty leprechauns, an island of killer monkeys, and a shadowy villain who could destroy everything Patrick has ever known!
