Pete Davidson has signed on to star in a new animated comedy series titled Fired On Mars. HBO Max has ordered the series to help expand their animated slate, having also announced a two-season reboot of Clone High and a Scooby-Doo prequel series titled Velma, which will star Mindy Kaling.
Fired On Mars is a workplace comedy set on the campus of a tech company, but that company happens to be located on Mars. Hijinks will ensue. We know Davidson will voice a character on the show, but details are still unclear. The show is based on a 2016 animated short by Nate Sherman and Nick Vokey.
This is a good role for Davidson to add to his resume and help gradually pull him away from SNL and on the road to potential movie stardom. He’s got the chops for it, having delivered two terrific performances last year in Big Time Adolescence and The King Of Staten Island.
He’s also got a bunch of projects lined up, including comedy Worst Man, an adaptation of Vietnam war book The Things They Carried, a role in James Gunn‘s The Suicide Squad, and another voice role as the lead in Marmaduke.
Greenlighting all these animated projects signals that HBO Max aren’t content to just be along for the ride in the streaming wars, they’re here to compete. But as they flood their platform with content, will they be able to retain the high standards that HBO was known for with their pre-streaming programming? If they can, that should lure in subscribers, but it’s a huge ask.
#Peace.Love.FiredOnMars
