Scavengers Reign is an American adult animated science fiction drama television series created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner for Max, based on their 2016 short film Scavengers. HBO Max commissioned the series in June 2022 and its 12-episode first season premiered on October 19, 2023.
Synopsis
The series follows the survivors of a destroyed interstellar cargo ship on an alien planet, bustling with flora and fauna but filled with dangers. The survivors start off separated in three groups: Azi and her robot companion Levi, Sam and Ursula, and the isolated Kamen.
Cast
Sunita Mani as Ursula
Wunmi Mosaku as Azi
Alia Shawkat as Levi
Bob Stephenson as Sam
Ted Travelstead as Kamen
Episodes
Production
Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner created the original 2016 Scavengers short film for Adult Swim. The eight-minute animated short contains no dialog and depicts a pair of humans engaging in an intricate series of interactions with alien creatures. From 2018 to 2019, Bennett and Huettner expanded the concept into a series pilot that did not go forward at Adult Swim, though the show was later picked up by HBO Max. The twelve-episode series was produced over two years by Titmouse, Inc. and Green Street Pictures with a crew including international animators working remotely from locations including Mexico, Spain, Portugal and France.
Reception
The series has received critical acclaim. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.2/10, based on 8 critic reviews. James Poniewozik of The New York Times called it "a lush, magnificent, hypnotic story of human survival in a place that feels, in a way that sci-fi planets only occasionally manage, truly otherworldly." Andrew Webster of The Verge deemed it to be "equal parts beautiful and brutal, and it might be the most original piece of science fiction of the year."