BY JOHN CARTER JR
HBO Max has recently unveiled that The Boondocks will be rebooting with two new seasons on the streaming service as well as a 50-minute special, and the previous catalog of episodes will be appearing as well. The news was made available through the official Boondocks Instagram. This exciting development comes with sad news as the comedy and voice acting community recently lost the legendary John Witherspoon, the voice of lead character Grandad on The Boondocks. It is truly a sad loss with many fans on twitter expressing sadness over the passing of the beloved actor. It is unknown how The Boondocks reboot team or Aaron Mcgruder will manage with the loss of such an iconic voice but no plans to cancel the project have been announced.
The Boondocks was originally released in 2005 with showrunner Aaron Mcgruder at the helm. The show managed to discuss extremely important social, political, and personal issues and was a commentary on race and it’s true involvement in the aforementioned issues. It’s focus was the Freeman Family, comprised of Robert “Grandad” Freeman, Riley Freeman, Huey Freeman (often seen as the face of the show) and their life in Woodcrest. The show’s main antagonist Uncle Ruckus (voiced by Gary Anthony Williams), a black man who hates black people, was often a foil to Huey throughout the series. Regina King who voiced both of the Freeman children recently won an Oscar for best-supporting actress in If Beale Street Could Talk.
An announcement has yet to be made as to her involvement with The Boondocks reboot yet. Most of the development concerning who will be involved has been shrouded in mystery, hopes are that the Ed Asner voice of Ed Wuncler will return.
Like mentioned before The Boondocks focused on many social issues and the reboot looks to examine the issues in the Trump era. Many posts were made to the Boondocks Official Instagram page that alluded to potential plot points in the new show, specifically relating to the Trump presidency and Uncle Ruckus, R Kelly, and more. The show has made commentary on the prison industrial complex, the effects of corporate corrupt capitalism on the poor ethnic minority, the struggles of LGBT minorities, cultural appropriation, Noam Chomsky’s ideas of manufacturing consent and worthy victims, and more.
If The Boondocks is able to use its original tactics of addressing real-world issues in the modern world as it did with the original it will be a truly excellent show, especially will Aaron Mcgruder returning after his departure from the original series before it ended. It is one of the most socially important cartoons of the last two decades and dare I say all time. John Witherspoon’s loss is a truly tragic one as he was the heart and laughter of this show and he will be more than missed. We’ll have to see how the show will move forward and hope for the best with this iconic revival.