Cartoon Network Inc. president Michael Ouweleen gets honest about Sym-Bionic Titan’s potential revival.
Sym-Bionic Titan was created by Genndy Tartakovsky, Bryan Andrews, and Paul Rudish, and it revolves around the story of an alien princess, a strict soldier, and a robot who unites to form the titular robot and save Earth from nefarious forces.
The show made its debut on Cartoon Network on September 17, 2010, and it ended its run on April 9, 2011, after 20 episodes.
In a past report from the Animation Guild in March 2011, the reason behind Cartoon Network's decision to not renew Sym-Biotic Titan for Season 2 is due to the fact that it "did not have any toys connected to it."
Cartoon Network President Gives Official Update on Sym-Biotic Titan's Revival
During Adult Swim's panel at this year's New York Comic Con, Cartoon Network, Inc. president Michael Ouweleen was asked about the chances of bringing back Sym-Bionic Titan.
Ouweleen provided a disappointing update about the show's potential return, citing the fact that its creator, Genndy Tartakovsky, is busy with other projects like Primal:
Q: “I’m hoping he’s still interested in this. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the show, but… is Genndy Tartakovsky ever gonna bring back 'Sym-Bionic Titan'?”
Ouweleen: “He’s so busy on 'Primal' and other stuff… and we just aired 'Unicorn[: Warriors Eternal]' and 'Unicorn' was great. I don’t know."
Still, the network president said, "Never say never" about the show's revival:
"I never say never. But that was a Cartoon Network show too, by the way. That was a younger-skewing show. But we’ll see.”
Interestingly, in an interview with Comicbook in April 2023, Tartakovsky expressed his desire to continue Sym-Bionic Titan, but he pointed out, "It's not up to [him:]"
"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.”
The Samurai Jack creator also said that Sym-Bionic Titan is "probably" the only show would return to:
“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. 'Unicorn' is just scratching the surface of where I want to go.”
Tartakovsky has an impressive track record in the world of animation since he's the creator of classics like Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and the Star Wars: Clone Wars series that predated Dave Filoni's hit CG-animated show.
Will Sym-Bionic Titan Be Revived in the Future?
Given that Sym-Bionic Titan received a positive reception from fans and critics, it isn't surprising that it has a cult following to this day. This is on top of the fact that its story is far from over.
Sym-Bionic Titan Season 1 ended on a major cliffhanger where the main trio set out on a journey to find G3 (aka the Galactic Guardian Group) after defeating the three monsters that the main villain, General Steel, sent to destroy them. As a result, the trio left behind their newfound friends on Earth.
Seeing a potential revival for Sym-Bionic Titan makes sense, but as its creator Genndy Tartakovsky pointed out, it's not that easy due to several factors like his other projects and Cartoon Network's approval.
Despite a disappointing update, Cartoon Network Inc. president Michael Ouweleen's optimistic response should give fans a glimmer of hope about the show's possible return in the future.
In fact, in a past interview with Syfy in 2018, Tartakovsky confirmed that they wrote "10 more episodes" for a potential second season of Sym-Bionic Titan and they were "really excited" for its return:
"The worst day was definitely when they canceled 'Sym-Bionic Titan.' Definitely. I won't forget that. We just wrote 10 more episodes and we were really excited. The show was starting to get its footing a little bit. And then I got called into the head of the studio's office and he said, "Look, we're not going to make any more episodes."
If Cartoon Network decides to revive Sym-Bionic Titan, it will be a while before it will become available on the small screen due to Tartakovsky's busy schedule.
Still, Tartakovsky's confirmation that there were plans to continue the story and resolve the major cliffhanger in Season 1's ending is an exciting jumping-off point for die-hard fans of the series.
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