Netflix Orders 'Deadendia' Animated Series Based on Graphic Novels

(L-R) Kody Kavitha, Clinton Leupp/Miss Coco Peru, Zach Barack, Emily Osment

Netflix has ordered a new animated series called “Deadendia,” based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Hamish Steele.

Blink Industries studio in London will produce the series, set to premiere in 2021.

The series is described as following “the adventures of Barney, Norma and magical-talking-dog Pugsley, as they balance their summer jobs at the local theme park haunted house while battling the totally real supernatural forces that dwell within it. Together with their guide to the underworld multiplane, a sardonic thousand-year-old demon named Courtney, they’ll face zombie mascots, demonic game show hosts, sleep-sucking witches and the scariest thing of all: their first crushes!”

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The graphic novels were praised for the diversity of the characters’ identities and experiences, including main character Barney, a transgender teenager, and the non-neurotypical Norma.

Zach Barack will voice Barney (“Spider-Man: Far from Home”), with Kody Kavitha as Norma (“Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”), Emily Osment as Courtney (“Almost Family,” “The Kominsky Method”), Alex Brightman as Pugsley (“Beetlejuice The Musical”), Clinton Leupp a.k.a. Miss Coco Peru as Pauline Phoenix (“Will & Grace”), Kenny Tran as Logs (“Maybe Happy Ending”) and Kathreen Khavari as Badyah (“Insecure,” “Big Little Lies”).

“DeadEndia is about terrifying demons, vengeful ghosts and mysterious magic. It is also about coming of age in a world that wasn’t made for you. It’s a drama about found family, identity and making mistakes,” Steele said. “And of course it’s a laugh out loud comedy! I’ve always dreamed of making the show I needed as a lonely, horror-obsessed closeted gay kid and thanks to Netflix and our ridiculously talented, diverse and representative writers room and crew, we have shot way past my dreams and into wildest fantasy territory!”

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Katharine Hepburn in "Dragon Seed" (1944)
Caucasian Hepburn played a Chinese woman in this big-screen adaptation of the Pearl S. Buck novel.
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Marlon Brando in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956)
Brando starred as an Okinawan translator for the U.S. Army in this comedy about the American occupation of the island nation.
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John Wayne in "Conquerer" (1956)
Wayne was cast as Mongol conquerer Genghis Khan in what's considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time.
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Charlton Heston in "Touch of Evil" (1958)
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Mickey Rooney in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961)
More caricature than character, Rooney starred as the buck-toothed, Japanese Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 film, which has faced volumes of criticism since.
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Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" (1961)
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Laurence Olivier in "Othello" (1965)
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Al Pacino in "Scarface" (1983)
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Anthony Hopkins in "Mask of Zorro" (1998)
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Rob Schneider in "50 First Dates" (2004)
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Jake Gyllenhaal in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" (2010)
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Johnny Depp in "Lone Ranger" (2013)
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Rooney Mara in "Pan" (2015)
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Emma Stone in "Aloha" (2015)
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