Watch the rise of a hero from Down Under in Koala Man, which stars creator Michael Cusack (Smiling Friends) along with Hugh Jackman in his animated series debut. The series comes from Cusack’s eccentric brain, with Justin Roiland (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites) and Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit (both writers on Pokémon: Detective Pikachu) executive producing.
In the first trailer for Koala Man, we get a taste of Cusack’s penchant for putting ordinary people in bonkers, surreal circumstances.
Here we meet Kevin, a middle-aged father who has adopted the persona of Koala Man to protect his town, which on the outside looks normal but is actually an Australian suburban hub of cosmic and human evil. Sort of like James Gunn’s Super but with real supernatural threats. Hugh Jackman plays Kevin’s boss Big Greg, who ends up supporting his employee on his superhero ventures. Fittingly, Jackman gets in at least one hilarious Wolverine shout out as seen in the trailer above — which is nothing compared to how bizarre we’re expecting the show to get. If you haven’t seen Cusack’s earlier series Yolo: Crystal Fantasy, you aren’t ready — but do watch it as a primer on the creator’s absurd sensibilities. They’re great!
The series’ voice cast also includes Sarah Snook (Succession), Jemaine Clement (Avatar: The Way of Water), and Demi Lardner, as well as Alexandra Daddario, Rachel House, Angus Sampson, and the legendary Hugo Weaving — yes, I know, it’s great to see him return to genre in a big weird way.
All eight episodes of Koala Man will premiere Monday, January 9 on Hulu.