Michael Cusack has had quite a year. As an artist based in Australia, Cusack has quickly risen to prominence through the breakout success of his Adult Swim seriesSmiling Friends, on top of a renewal for his otherAdult Swim series,YOLO: Silver Destiny.His simplistic but appealing art style combined with surrealistic humor based on Australian culture has proven to be a success, drawing attention from the streaming titan Hulu. After contributing a short to Hulu’sPaloni Show Halloween Special, Hulu will now host Cusack’s latest Australian-themed series:Koala Man.
The series will be yet another comedy under Cusack’s belt, though it takes a more traditional sitcom approach, relatively speaking, of course. Instead of a pair of Australian party gals or a duo who try to make people smile, we have a family man who also moonlights as a marsupial superhero, likely dealing with both external threats and the internal struggle of his work-life balance.
This is everything we know about Hulu’sKoala Man.
Koala Man: The Plot
The official plot synopsis forKoala Manprovided by Hulu is as follows.
“Koala Manfollows middle-aged dad Kevin and his titular not-so-secret identity, whose only superpower is a burning passion for following rules and snuffing out pretty crime in the town of Dapto. Though it may seem like any other Australian suburb, forces of evil both cosmic and man-made lie in wait to pounce on unsuspecting Daptonians. On a quest to clean up his hometown, and often roping his frustrated family into his adventures, Koala Man stands at the ready. He’ll do whatever it takes to defeat villainous masterminds, supernatural horrors, or worse: jerks who don’t take their rubbish bins down on the proper days.”
Given a setup like this, we can expect a litany of wacky situations. Koala Man stands next to Pim and Rachel from Cusack’s previous works as some of the more grounded-in-reality characters, a necessity in giving the audience a respite from all the mania. Koala Man, however, looks to be someone who genuinely cares about his home enough to take matters into his own hands, and though his efforts may be a little misguided, it makes him someone the audience will likely want to root for despite his shortcomings.
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Cusack’s work often dives into wackiness when it comes to conflicts: warring “Bush Wizards,” overly-aggressive party goers, and lethargic giants often take situations into hilarious extremes before resolving them in the most lackadaisical of ways. A verbal disagreement can often start from nothing, quickly escalate, and then just as quickly dissolve into nothing as the involved parties continue on with their day. It’ll be interesting to see how this type of humor is utilized with atraditional sitcomcast, especially with some of the more off-the-wall elements shown off in recent promotional material.
Koala Man: The Cast & Crew
Much like with Cusack’s other projects, Cusack himself will star as the eponymous Koala Man, withAustralian voice actorsSara Snook and Demi Lardner likely making up the rest of Koala Man’s family. Snook is one of the leading cast members in HBO’sSuccession,along with making appearances in films likeWinchester,An American Pickle, andSteve Jobs.Lardner, meanwhile, has collaborated with the Australian comedy group Aunty Donna for a handful of projects and played some minor roles inDrunk History: Australia.
What’s especially interesting is that Hugh Jackman has been confirmed as a guest voice for the series, perEntertainment Weekly, marking one of the few times the Australian-born actor has done a voice acting role. Other guest voices include Hugo Weaving (The Matrix), Rachel House (Thor: Ragnarok), Jarrad Wright (The Big Lez Show), and Jermaine Clement (What We Do In the Shadows).
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Justin Roiland ofRick and Mortyfame will also join the show’s crew as an executive producer. Given his and Cusack’s previous partnerships, it’s a good sign of the quality thatKoala Manwill bring to the table.
Release Date
Koala Manwill premiere on Hulu on January 9th, 2023.
Koala Man: Everything Else
Cusack’s previous work has always been a little off-the-wall: zany humor, esoteric references to Australian culture, and a lack of consistent logic often lead to hysterical, surrealistic scenarios. This is especially prevalent inYOLO: Silver Destiny. However, with what we know about the series, it’s possible thatKoala Manwill attempt to take things a little slower, presenting a more easily-digestible series that can appeal to more people while maintaining the hallmarks of Cusack’s previous work.
If you weren’t aware, a pair of characters from one of Cusack’s web series,Damo and Darren, can be found inKoala Man. The web series followed a pair of lower-class Australian bogans, crass Australian rednecks essentially, on their dull, everyday adventures, often accompanied by swearing after every other word andpetty crimes. Both can be briefly seen in a video showcase for the series, and in the background of the show’s official poster.
