Adventure Time's Distant Lands: Obsidian Fixed A Huge Problem
By expanding two characters’ shared backstory in Adventure Time: Distant Lands — Obsidian, the show acknowledged and resolved a significant representation problem from its original run. The popular Cartoon Network show appealed to both children and adults alike with its vibrant colors, bright humor, and moving stories that addressed some really big life questions. In particular, the show attracted a large following from the LGBTQ+ community because of its many queer-coded aspects. However, some felt that the show neededexplicit LGBTQ+ representation.
One of the major selling points of Adventure Time was that it knew when to take things seriously. It wove in storylines about war, trauma, abandonment, and loss of identity. It even tackled existential crises with its episodes that featured the Lich, a creature that wanted to bring darkness and destruction to the Land of Ooo. As it began to weave in hints of a romantic relationship between two young women, viewers were excited at the promise of the show taking LGBTQ+ matters just as seriously. When Adventure Time struggled to grow beyond the hints, fans began to wonder why it wasn’t committing to the story.
Related: Adventure Time: Obsidian Reveals Why Princess Bubblegum's Rock T-Shirt Is So Important
It wasn’t until Adventure Time’s series finale that the LGBTQ+ fans got a reward for their dedication: Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the vampire queen finally kissed on screen. While this ultimately validated the queer-coding that viewers had picked up on throughout the series, others were disappointed that it took so long to canonize the couple. Adventure Time: Distant Lands — Obsidian, then, almost serves as an apology by devoting an hour to exploring and contextualizing
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