Source: WarnerMedia / HBO Max
At this point, the launch date for HBO Max’s reboot of The Boondocks has been pushed back more times than Gangstalicious has been shot. Since the last episode of Season 4 originally aired in 2014, fans of the Freemans have been repeatedly getting teased about their return. In September 2019, there was even an official statement made that we would get a 50-minute special in the fall of last year to kick off Season 5. Then COVID came around and upended everyone’s projects. But now it looks like the timeline has been moved back once again, to somewhere next year.
Okayplayer gave the initial report on the hush-hush change to the release date provided by boondocksbootleg, the official Instagram page for The Boondocks; the profile bio now reads “Boondocks Reboot in 2022.”
Aaron McGruder, creator of the whole franchise, actually retired his seminal comic strip in 2006. Then, after being involved in the TV series’ first three seasons, he was not at all a part of Season 4, allegedly due to a clash with Adult Swim over its production schedule.
During those next five years in limbo, rumors swirled about if it would return, and nothing was ever confirmed. Albeit, in 2019, McGruder revived The Boondocks in comic strip form, this time via Instagram, and Sony Pictures Animation concurrently announced it was bringing the show back as a “complete re-imagining for the modern era” and with McGruder back in the saddle.
In his own apropos statement, McGruder said at that time, “There’s a unique opportunity to revisit the world of The Boondocks and do it over again 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.”
Between then and now, however, a lot has changed in the world at large, as well as for some of the voices behind Woodcrest’s most notable residents. Regina King, who voices Huey Freeman and his younger brother Riley, has definitely kept busy with her work on HBO’s Watchmen, in the film If Beale Street Could Talk, and her acclaimed directorial debut in the Netflix movie One Night in Miami.
And comedian John Witherspoon, the inimitable voice of Robert Jebediah “Granddad” Freeman, died in October 2019, only a few months after he confirmed the show’s reboot, too. One name that’s been bandied about to fill in for the boys’ guardian’s role, though, is another classic Black actor: Jennifer Lewis of Black-ish. Fans of The Boondocks have suggested her possibly being Granddad’s sister, and, according to her reply on social media, the idea may not be too far-fetched.
In the meanwhile, if you would like to get show some Boondocks love while getting in on the cryptoart game, then make sure to get your hands on some official NFTs, made in conjunction with the show’s creative director and executive producer Seung Eun Kim. This news was also revealed in boondocksbootleg‘s IG profile bio. Available through Rarible.com, place your bids to secure some digital artwork from McGruder and Kim before it’s too late.
And stay tuned as we keep you posted on any more changes about when Season 5 of The Boondocks is finally coming out!
“The Boondocks” Are Set to Finally Return in 2022… With A Catch was originally published on cassiuslife.com
