Fionna and Cake creator says Marceline — and Marshall Lee — were always Black

polygon.com:

In the world of Adventure Time, humanity collapses, elemental beings die and get reborn, and monarchs shape the land into candy wonderlands, but at least one thing stays the same: Marceline the Vampire Queen.

As an immortal being, Marceline is preserved in her world like a fossil contained in the amber of animation. Her original base design pairs her pale purple vampire complexion with a flowing black mane and ax guitar. From her debut design in 2010 to her more recent appearance in the Distant Lands spinoff specials, her look remained largely unaltered besides her outfits and haircuts.

But although she lives in a state of eternal youth, the real world outside her show has continually evolved. Even before Adventure Time ended, the larger animation world began to grapple with what representation could and should look like — Marceline included. InFionna and Cake, HBO’s spinoff of the Adventure Time universe, the series reintroduces Marshall Lee, the alternate-universe counterpart to Marceline, with a revised design.

In his original appearance in Adventure Time, Marshall Lee maintained the core traits of Marceline. He was also a vampire and shared the look of gray vampire skin. Although the series established Marceline had a Black or brown mom, fans had yet to see either vampire shown with melanated skin.

But Fionna and Cake debuted Marshall Lee as a Black character — the first time fans saw either depiction of the vampire as visibly Black in the Adventure Time universe. Fans celebrated the new design on social media by reacting to the first trailer of the show and sharing cosplay. To Adam Muto, executive producer on both Adventure Time and Fionna and Cake, “it would have felt harder to rationalize not showing [Marshall