'The Boondocks' Revival Heading To HBO Max In The Fall Of 2020, All Original Episodes Coming Too

At the beginning of the summer, we reported on Sony Pictures Animation expanding their scope to include international stories and alternative animated projects geared towards adults. One of those projects included a revival of the Adult Swim series The Boondocks, but unlike the original run of the series, the revival won't be heading to cable. Instead, The Boondocks revival will be part of the upcoming HBO Max streaming service, and we've got details below on what the show's return initially entails.

A press release from HBO Max announced The Boondocks revival coming to the WarnerMedia streaming service's library starting in the fall of 2020. The return of the political and racial satire series will begin with a 50-minute special and will continue with two "reimagined" seasons comprised of 24 total episodes. On top of that, the entire 55-episode original run of the series will be available on HBO Max at launch.

For those who may not know, The Boondocks is based on the comic strip of the same name by Aaron McGruder. The original series focused on the Freemans, a black family moving into a friendly, predominantly white neighborhood called Woodcrest. Featuring a mixture of cultures, lifestyles, social classes, stereotypes and perspectives, the series offered a satirical depiction of our civilization and the struggles and misunderstandings that come from our social differences.

As for The Boondocks revival, this is how the series is described in the press release:

"The new Boondocks follows the adventures of self-proclaimed "Civil Rights Legend" Robert "Granddad" Freeman and his two rambunctious grandsons Huey and Riley. The family has recently moved to an idyllic community in suburban Maryland only to see it taken over by the tyrannical Uncle Ruckus and his bizarre neo-fascist regime. Life under Ruckus turns out to be an everyday struggle to survive."

And here are the updated character designs for the show:

A tyrannical, bizarre neo-fascist regime, you say? I can't imagine who inspired a character such as Uncle Ruckus. Do we know of any egomaniacal, xenophobic, dimwitted, insufferable people in our society, maybe one in a position of power and has proven time and time again that they have absolutely no fucking idea how to run a country? Aaron McGruder, who is executive producing the series again, this time with Norm Aladjem at Mainstay Entertainment and Seung Kim and Meghann Collins Robertson, seems to have found some inspiration. He said:

"There's a unique opportunity to revisit the world of The Boondocks and do it over again for today. It's crazy how different the times we live in are now – both politically and culturally – more than a decade past the original series and two decades past the original newspaper comic. There's a lot to say and it should be fun."

Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer, HBO Max and President, TBS, TNT and truTV couldn't be happier about bringing The Boondocks back to screens. Reilly said in a statement:

"The Boondocks was a revolutionary series that sparked conversations on hot button issues and brought dark subjects into the light with episodes like 'The Trial of Robert Kelly', 'The Fundraiser' and 'The Story of Gangstalicious.' Aaron is a gifted visionary whose unique style of storytelling is a welcome voice and we are elated The Freemans are making their thugnificent comeback on HBO Max."

Following the recent purchase of the streaming rights to The Big Bang Theory for a pretty penny, HBO Max is certainly racking up some impressive titles for their streaming service. It's announcements like this that continue to show why Apple TV+ feels like it's lacking so much in content, and it's exactly why J.J. Abrams chose not to strike a deal with them for Bad Robot. Will Apple TV+ be able to keep up with the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and HBO Max? We'll have to wait and see.