“Black Dynamite” animated series now airing on Adult Swim on Sunday nights

Black Dynamite: The Animated Series

Can you dig it?

Michael Jai White’s 2009 cult classic Black Dynamite has now been transformed into an animated series on the Adult Swim cable network, which shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9pm to 6am. The first episode aired on Sunday, July 15, but for those who haven’t seen the movie, it’s an ode to 70′s blaxploitation films such as “Shaft”, “Dolemite” and “Superfly”. The title character is an ex-CIA agent-turned-vigilante who fights against kung-fu masters, drug-dealing pimps, and “the man.”

The series is executive-produced by Carl Jones (co-creator of The Boondocks), and co-written by actors Michael Jai White (“Black Dynamite”) and Byron Minns (co-stars as “Bullhorn”). In a recent interview with Shadow and Act, Minns and White says there will be differences between the film and the TV show, such as more in-depth character development:

Minns: “We were very respectful of the characters that we originally created. But the thing that makes the animated series special is that we’re able to delve into the characters in full. In the series, it’s like we have 10 movies and now we get to see who these people are in different situations, and it takes it so much further than we could in just one film.“

White added, “Of course it’s a different pace, and [in animation] your characters have to be larger than life. But the essence of the characters is still there. That strange family unit is still evident in the cartoon. It’s a whole lot of fun.”

Other characters in the film have returned too, like “Honey Bee” played by Kym Whitley and “Cream Corn” voiced by Tommy Davidson. In the clip below, the cast talks about the show at New York’s Comic-Con convention last October, but peep the trailer for the series as well. Hilarious.

Black Dynamite airs Sunday nights at 11:30pm EST on Adult Swim.

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