Cartoon Network Revival Replaces Its Main Star in a Bold Shake-Up
Cartoon Network is on a nostalgia tear: after resurrecting Mordecai and Rigby with the long-awaited follow-up Regular Show: The Lost Tapes, the Warner Bros cable network is cracking open another fan favorite this summer, reviving Adventure Time.
Cartoon Network is really leaning into the revival era right now. After dusting off Mordecai and Rigby for Regular Show: The Lost Tapes, they are bringing back the big one: Adventure Time. And yes, it is a prequel. And yes, there is one pretty major change.
So what is Adventure Time: Side Quests?
Adventure Time: Side Quests jumps back to the early days of Finn and Jake, before the torch got passed to Fionna and Cake. The format is classic bite-size adventuring: more self-contained, episode-by-episode quests instead of a heavy, season-long storyline. Think smaller missions, same weird charm.
The Finn switch (and why it makes sense)
Here is the headline: Finn is getting a new voice. Jeremy Shada has been the human boy since forever, but this series casts Sasha Knight as a younger Finn. No official explanation was given, but it is a younger take on the character, so the math checks out.
Knight is not a random pick, either. You have likely heard them in Kingdom Hearts III, My Little Pony, Eureka!, and The Santa Clauses. And before anyone panics, this does not slam the door on Shada in the franchise. Fionna and Cake already found a way to bring back an adult Finn with Shada voicing him, so there is precedent for both versions to coexist.
Who is back (and who they play)
- John DiMaggio as Jake the Dog
- Tom Kenny as the Ice King
- Hynden Walch as Princess Bubblegum
- Olivia Olson as Marceline the Vampire Queen
- Niki Yang as BMO
Release plan and the streaming curveball
Side Quests premieres June 29 on Hulu and Disney+. That is a curveball for the Land of Ooo, since past Adventure Time projects tended to land on HBO Max. Hulu has been on a little roll with Cartoon Network revivals lately too; last year’s big Gumball comeback turned into a legit hit for the service, reportedly even outpacing the revived King of the Hill season 14. Let’s see if Finn and Jake can clear that bar next month.
Bottom line: early-era Finn and Jake, episodic quests, the gang is back, and a new voice for Finn that actually fits what the show is doing. Feels like smart tinkering rather than change for change’s sake.