SpindleHorse, the indie animation label founded by Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss creator Vivenne Medrano, delivered on its promise of an “exciting announcement” at GalaxyCon’s Animate! Orlando event this weekend. During the live-streamed studio panel, it was revealed that the studio, through its SpindleRoo label, is developing a pilot episode for an animated series adaptation of the cult hit online storyverse Homestuck.
The pilot will launch on Medrano’s Vivziepop YouTube channel this September. While no broadcast or streaming outlet has been attached, both her previous “Hellaverse” series have been picked up with new season orders by Prime Video, and attained scorching numbers on both platforms.
Created by author-artist Andrew Hussie as part of his MS Paint Adventures, the Homestuck webcomic ran from 2009 to 2016, and centered on a group of teens who accidentally trigger the end of the world by playing a mysterious beta sandbox game called Sburb — only by beating the game can John, Rose, Dave and Jade avert utter annihilation and create a new universe. In addition to the comic strips and panels, the project also incorporated Flash animation, instant messenger logs and even browser games to expand the storytelling.
During the panel, the SpindleHorse crew revealed the creative team and voice cast for the Homestuck pilot. Vivienne Medrano is executive producing, with Skye Henwood (Hazbin Hotel) as director & writer, Mel Shin as storyboard director, Ben Jones as animation director, Hone as art director and veteran voice actor Richard Horvitz (Invader Zim, The Angry Beavers), who plays Moxxie in Helluva Boss, as voice director.
The voice cast will be led by video game developer and composer Toby “Radiation” Fox (We Baby Bears) as John Egbert, Cherami Leigh (Miraculous, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War) as Rose Lalonde, Colleen O’Shaughnessey (Miraculous, Sonic the Hedgehog movies) as Jade Harley, Adam McArthurs (Kaiju No. 8, Jujutsu Kaisen) as Dave Striders and Brandon Winckler (Murai in Love, Fena: Pirate Princess) as Karkat Vantas.
Check out the pilot’s trailer below; you can watch the full Hellaverse panel from Animate! Orlando here, as well as the Hazbin Hotel Q&A here.
