Pendleton Ward Confirms He Quit Showrunning Adventure Time, Says He’ll Probably Never Create Another Show

Ward remains involved with the show, writing and storyboarding, but told Rolling Stone that he prefers to work from home. 

“Dealing with people every day wears on you,” Ward’s quoted as saying. “To spend that extra energy and time you don’t have, to make something that’s worth making, to make it awesome, wears you out. It’s a beast of a show. And the more popular it gets, the more the ancillary things – like the merchandise and games and everything – keep getting bigger. For me, having quality of life outweighed the need to control this project and make it great all the time.”

Asked about the possibility of doing it again someday, creating another series, Ward was unambiguous. 

“No, never. That sounds like a nightmare!” He said.

Adam Muto, the new showrunner, has been appearing on behalf of the show at a number of recent conventions and doing high-profile interviews, leading many to assume that Ward had either moved on, or was planning to do so, so the announcement is more just the formalization of what many had assumed, according to Cartoon Brew.