By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Adventure Time has become a pop culture phenomenon, finding a fun place to talk that appeals to kids and adults alike. Kids enjoyed the silly jokes and larger-than-life characters; adults, on the other hand, enjoyed the show’s brilliant construction of fairy-tale themes and its incredibly deep character relationships. Arguably, none of those relationships were more complicated than the one between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline, the Vampire Queen. At first, the show teased that they might have been a couple, much to the dismay of Cartoon Network and the show’s production company. As queer relationships became more mainstream, however, the two characters became an official couple and even shared a common screen kiss in the series finale of “Come With Me.”
This ending was bittersweet because fans were worried that they wouldn’t get anything new Party time news. Fortunately, that was not the case, and HBO Max became the exclusive home of the popular spinoff series: Fun Time: Fionna and Cake again Fun Time: Faraway Lands. Now, it looks like everyone’s favorite couple is about to make a comeback in a big way. At the Annecy Animation Film Festival, HBO announced that we will get it Fun Time: Bubblegum and Marceline10 episode series.
Less Than Friends
Currently, the official description of this new ending is very short on details. The log line for Fun Time: Bubblegum and Marceline it reads: “Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen travel across the far reaches of Ooo, encountering familiar faces and new dangers.” That description makes it sound like the spinoff is episodic in nature; however, it is designed (like Fionna and Cake before it) to tell a story over multiple seasons. The spinoff should have a vintage feel to it: showrunner Adam Muto, an Emmy-winning creator who started out as a storyboard artist for Party time before moving up the ranks and becoming a Season 5 runner-up.
Right now, it’s fair to say that fans of this franchise are eating pretty well. While the news of Fun Time: Bubblegum and Marceline currently popularizing the fandom, a new series is about to be shown for the first time: Adventure time: Side questshitting Disney+ and Hulu on June 29. Additionally, while Season 3 has yet to officially air, Fionna and Cake Producer Muto told fans that there is always a chance that we will get more episodes. All this and the new Bubbline program? That’s great news for old-school fans who can remember when Bubblegum and Marceline had the most controversial relationship on television!
Making Things Legal
Now, Bubblegum and Marceline are an official couple, which took a long time to develop. Originally, they were written as two gals with a mysterious, painful past. The episode “What Was Missing” implies that the two women were once lovers: Marceline’s song makes her sound like a happy lover, and the end of the episode reveals the most important thing to Bubblegum is the sweater Marceline gave her. However, this was back in 2011, and Cartoon Network was there a lot I’m afraid of having characters that are obviously stupid. They downplayed any fan suggestions about “Bubbline” (their couple name), and we didn’t get a new episode featuring the two for two years.
In the end, Cartoon Network withdrew: after unusual relationships from other famous cartoons like The Legend of Korra again She-Ra and the Princesses of Powerthey depended on episodes like “Varmints,” the sequel to “What was Calling” while adding more hints about the complicated romantic relationship between the two. However, fans are worried that the show will be too scared to give us a heavy footnote about this ‘ship. But, it’s not like Adora and Catra in the last episode of She-RaMarceline and Princess Bubblegum locked lips in the Party time series finale.
Sadly, Fun Time: Bubblegum and Marceline doesn’t have an exact release date yet. So, fans of these two will have to be satisfied in the usual way: highlighting all their favorite Bubbline episodes, comics, merchandise, and fan content. When the show it does drop, it will be interesting to see if it deepens the relationship between these characters while expanding the crazy world of Ooo. Whatever the plot, it will be great to see the most interesting couple in the history of animation reunited!
