Marvel actor Kumail Nanjiani has been caught in an extra awkies social media exchange after he revealed he was dropped from an iconic role, only to be shut down by the show’s executive producer, who claimed it was his representative’s fault… Whoopsies.
Fans of the ultra adorable (and ultra-deep) Adventure Time series noticed that in its spin-off Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, the character of Prismo was not voiced by the OG actor, Kumail Nanjiani.
After fans speculated about his absence from the highly anticipated reboot, Nanjiani took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to reveal he was “never asked” to return.
“Yeah, that’s not me,” the actor began in his Xer statement, confirming that he did not reprise his role as Prismo in the spin-off.
“I would have loved to have voiced Prismo again. He’s one of my favourite characters I’ve ever had the honour of playing.
“Unfortunately, they never asked me to come back and voice him again. I would have done it for free.”
In his statement, Nanjiani also said that the character was “close to [his] heart”.
Things took an awkward turn when Adventure Time showrunner Adam Muto replied to his X post, claiming Nanjiani’s reps were the reason behind his absence from the reboot.
Muto wrote: “Hey, we would have loved to have you back. We were told by casting that several offers went out to reps.
“We said we could be flexible in scheduling but didn’t received [sic] a respectful pass. Sorry it didn’t work out.”
The cringe-worthy exchange has since been deleted from the site, but of course, a screengrab of the thread circulated the realms of the interwebs.
Although the two Xer posts were deleted — for unknown reasons — Nanjiani replied to Muto expressing that he’d been blindsided by this new info.
“Wow. They never told me. That is ridiculous. I am very sorry for that,” Nanjiani wrote in a tweet, also adding that he will be talking to his reps about the missed opportunity.
Wow. They never told me. That is ridiculous. I am very sorry for that. And I will be talking to my reps. Can you tell me when you would have sent the offer? I want to figure out what happened. And congrats on the premiere!
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) September 3, 2023
Look, although the first two tweets were a bit how’s ya going, I’m going to give Nanjiani the benefit of the doubt. Reps probably never sent him the material or the offer.
I also hate to sound like an absolute nerd, but Adventure Time is truly iconic and I can’t imagine anyone passing up on being a part of that project, especially if they have previous ties to the show.
Nanjiani and Muto haven’t said anything since about the miscommunications among casting teams and reps, but hopefully, the actor can return to relive the Wish Master.
Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake is now streaming on Binge.
Image source: Getty Images / Dia Dipasupil
