Seth Meyers and Michael Shoemaker’s new animated series The Awesomes will premiere on August 1st on Hulu. Entertainment Weekly reports that the that the 10-episode series will revolved around the greatest superhero team in history and explores what happens after the most powerful members of the team decide to leave. Those remaining are led by Professor Doctor Awesome (a.k.a. Prock), voiced by Meyers, who’s attempting to fill his father’s shoes.
Meyers and Shoemaker broke down the characters in the article as follows:
The Impresario, a.k.a. Austin Sullivan (voiced by Kenan Thompson) is a fashionplate who also has the ability to conjure whatever he can imagine using this magical jewel in his head. Meyers says. “He has mother issues so unfortunately, he only conjures different versions of his mother — also voiced by Kenan, which is pretty great.”
Frantic, a.k.a. Zip Danger (Taran Killam): “Comic books always have this speedster character, who is someone who has super speed. No reason to make it any more complicated than that,” Meyers says. “That’s what Frantic is, but he’s a redneck who, because of his superpowers, was an outcast of a family full of outcasts. He’s the fame-hungry member of the team. His goal is not to be a superhero, but to get his own reality show because he’s a superhero.”
Sumo, a.k.a. Tim (Bobby Lee): “Tim is a little boy, but when he gets angry, as all little boys do, he transforms to a giant Sumo wrestler,” Shoemaker says. “So that’s the embodiment of pre-teen angst.”
Muscleman, a.k.a. Harry Strong (Ike Barinholtz): “He’s Prock’s best friend, who he’s known forever. He’s sort of like the golden retriever of superheroes,” Meyers says. “[Barinholtz] in real-life happens to be one of the most loyal friends I’ve ever had. It’s more based on his loyalty than his strength and intelligence.” Adds Shoemaker, “He’s very strong, very dumb, but really the core of the team.” He’s also, Meyers says, “the kind of guy you don’t want to work out next to at the gym. He would be like 10 percent sweatier and 50 percent hairier than anybody you’d want at the machine one over.”
Concierge (Emily Spivey): “She’s the team’s assistant,” Shoemaker says. “Her power, sort of, is super resourcefulness. She can get what you want when you want it.”
Prock, a.k.a. Professor Doctor Awesome (Meyers): “He’s an amalgamation of Shoemaker and I, which is a guy who is a classic overthinker. Father issues is more me that Shoemaker,” Meyers says, laughing. “He’s a guy whose dad was the greatest superhero ever and now he’s trying to follow in his footsteps without any of the powers.” Correction: “He has an ability to stop time and use that time to come up with a plan. But more often than not, he stops time and emotionally spins out while he goes over his options,” Meyers says. So that counts as a power, Shoemaker says. “But like in a fight, he’s very useless.” His arch-villain is Dr. Malocchio (Bill Hader), who was the nemesis of Mr. Awesome (Steve Higgins), Prock’s father. “Now that Mr. Awesome has left Earth, Malocchio realizes there’s no one who’s smart enough or strong enough to stop him,” Meyers says. Prock is also in a love triangle with Hotwire (Rashida Jones) and Perfect Man (Seth’s brother Josh Meyers). “Hotwire is dating Perfect Man, who was the perfect superhero and Prock’s dad’s favorite,” notes Shoemaker.
Gadget Gal (Paula Pell): “She was a superhero back in the ’40s, and she aged, but then she was hit with a rejuvenation ray. So now she has the hot body of a 25-year-old, but she talks like a crazy, 85-year-old lady,” Shoemaker says.
This July, Comic-Con attendees can also look forward to a special panel devoted to The Awesomes featuring the creators and members of the voice cast.
