Throughout Cartoon Network’s history, shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Total Drama Island, and countless other series have had the chance to tell their stories over multiple seasons. Unfortunately, not every animated original on the cable network is destined for long-running glory. In fact, one beloved franchise only received one season before bringing its tale to an end, releasing its series finale fifteen years ago. Despite ending so long ago, the creator of this Cartoon Network original is still aiming to one day return to the universe to give the story the ending it deserves.
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Sym-Bionic Titan first arrived on Cartoon Network in 2010, bringing its story to a close with the twentieth episode. Airing on April 9th, 2011, it has been fifteen years since the original series from creator Genndy Tartakovsky ended. The animated original show was cancelled for reasons that readers might find surprising. Despite the initial fan backing of the series from the creator of Samurai Jack and Primal, the Cartoon Network original was cancelled thanks to being unable to “acquire a toy license,” meaning that creating merchandise to accompany the series was much harder than other entries on the cable network. Before the cancellation, Tartakovsky admitted that ten additional episodes were already written for Sym-Bionic Titan, with the creator hoping to one day continue the series.
Will a Titan Return?
In an interview with Genndy Tartakovsky in 2023, we here at ComicBook.com had the opportunity to talk with Sym-Bionic Titan’s creator. During our chat, Genndy confirmed that the show’s story isn’t finished while also confirming the difficulty in bringing the series back, “Yeah, that story’s not finished. We have more things written already and figured out for it to finish, but somebody’s got to want to finish it. It’s not up to me. It’s not like I can go, “Okay, Genndy, here’s $10 million or whatever.” My life doesn’t work like that. It’s still, well, “Why should we do it? Why was this canceled?…Are people going to watch it?” You still have to resell it and have people want to pay for it. It’s not up to me. Yeah, that’s probably the only thing I would return to. Obviously, there’s more Primal planned, and hopefully I’ll get to do it, but looking backwards, I have too much new stuff that I still want to do.”
At New York Comic-Con 2023, Adult Swim President Michael Ouweleen left the door open for the series to make a comeback. Ouweleen confirmed that fans should “never say never” when it came to Sym-Bionic Titan returning to end its story. Earlier this year, Tartakovsky ended the third series of Adult Swim’s Primal, and with a fourth season not confirmed, thanks to its conclusive finale, the legendary animator might have the time on his hands to devote to bringing back this Cartoon Network cult favourite.
Unfortunately, if you want to check out Sym-Bionic Titan for yourself, the series isn’t available to stream on platforms like HBO Max. The show can currently be streamed via digital purchase, though the Warner Bros streaming service lost the one-season series after having a home on the platform. Should Genndy Tartakovsky return to this universe, we can definitely see a world that would bring back the original episodes to a subscription service.
What do you think of Sym-Bionic Titan’s unfortunate cancellation back in 2011? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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