‘Adventure Time’ EP Addresses Franchise’s Future: ‘The Crumbs Are There’

Adventure Time finally came to its conclusion on Monday, but executive producer Adam Muto said that the future of Ooo is there for fans to interpret.

Warning! Spoilers for the Adventure Time series finale lie ahead!

Muto sat down with reporters from TVLine to discuss the beloved cartoon’s conclusion. He remarked on some of the series’ biggest conclusions, including the Great Gum War, the redemption of Fern and of course, the long-awaited kiss between Marceline and Princess Bubblegum. However, even most enlightening of all might have been Muto’s thoughts on the future of Ooo after the episode ended.

Muto did not try and discourage fans from dreaming on about the sprawling fictional world of Adventure Time. He suggested that all of the characters we have come to know and love will live on, and even said that the show left behind plenty of hints as to what would happen to them. He talked about Oo’s future beginning with a question about Shermy and Beth’s full lineage.

“A lot of that was directly pitched by [writer] Steve Wolfhard,” he revealed. “He had this massive headcanon of the Ooo 1000 world. In ‘Graybles 1000,’ you see Marceline’s house covered in Christmas lights, but you don’t see inside. I’m pretty sure Steve knew who was inside. He’s been pitching these sketches of these future versions of these characters for years now.”

Muto gave Wolfhard credit for adding a lot of depth to the show’s mythology, noting that only glimpses of it peaked above the surface.

“He pitched the Shermy visual a few years ago. There are little nuggets in the [finale] intro to show you what the [future] world is like: You see the Pup Kingdom, you see Gibbon, you see some characters who were only in one scene in Season 8. The crumbs are there for fans to put together.”

Muto seemed to want to leave those crumbs for fans to interpret themselves, though he could not help slipping in a few of his parting thoughts as well. Even while refusing to remark on what the future holds for Lumpy Space Princess and Lemongrab, he seemed to offer his personal take.

“I can’t write their ending,” he said, laughing. “That was set up in the episode where they went on a blind date. We wanted to make sure [their kiss] didn’t come out of nowhere. And, who knows, maybe they’re the perfect pair — they’re both kind of abrasive and loud.”

Adventure Time came to a close on Monday, Sept. 3, with a total of 283 episodes.