Two years after the conclusion of the original, acclaimed series, Adventure Time has returned on HBO Max with new animated specials continuing the characters' various fantasy stories.
Reuniting the main cast, Adventure Time: Distant Lands will run across four, hour-long specials on the WarnerMedia platform, with the first premiering this past May. Longtime series star John DiMaggio, who portrays Jake the Dog, admitted to not being a fan of the series at first until warming up to it over time.
"I had this beautiful love-hate relationship with that show just because...I've been known to say this but I hated it at first because I couldn't understand it, it didn't make any sense. I'm like 'What the hell...there's all these princesses? This is weird!'" DiMaggio told CBR. "Over time, I learned to love the characters the way the fans loved the characters and to follow the storylines and to really enjoy playing Jake. I loved coming back to him. It was a real joy. It was really a lot of fun."
Jake is the best friend and canine companion of series protagonist Finn, with Jake able to change his body's shape and size at will. A mainstay for the entire series, Jake would go on to have a family of his own while proving himself invaluable in combat and transportation due to his shape-shifting abilities. For DiMaggio, the opportunity to reprise his role as the magical dog reaffirmed his love for the character and series, remaining grateful to the show's loyal fanbase.
"It's a really wonderful thing when you get to go back to something that you've done before. It shows you did something right the first time around and it's good enough the second time around," DiMaggio reflected. "You feel like you're in the right place; when you kind of let things go, you move on to new things but it's always lovely when something comes back around and I've been fortunate that it's happened to me a bunch of times. A big shoutout to all the Adventure Time fans and Jake the Dog, Finn, the Ice King, Princess Bubblegum, Marceline and everybody on the show. It's pretty cool and all good; love-hate, who cares, I love it!"
Adventure Time: Distant Lands: BMO is currently available to stream on HBO Max. Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Obsidian will also air on HBO Max. A release date has yet to be announced.