So Long and Thanks For All The Shlorp: Solar Opposites Cast Says Goodbye

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When Solar Opposites season 6 began production, the cast didn’t know that they’d be recording their characters’ final lines. However, a creeping sense of finality started to sneak up. “I just had this feeling,” recalls Sean Giambrone, the voice of Solar Opposites’ Yumyulack. “There are some seriously big moments in this script that feel like closure. I thought this could be the end.” 

While each Solar Opposites season has fully embraced absurdist satire and genre spoofs, these final episodes felt different to the cast. This silly animated sitcom about a family of aliens pursuing an amorphous mission on Earth had grown into something more by the end of its six-season run.

Hulu has made quite a name in the streaming landscape through its “Animayhem” lineup of celebrated adult animated programs that include shared hits like Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy, as well as original and revived series that include Futurama and King of the Hill. But Solar Opposites was a particularly pivotal title for the brand and a trendsetter that helped it better stake a claim as a major streaming player for animation. “I think of the other animated shows out there. I can’t even imagine them tackling what we do and telling these touching, sweet stories,” says Thomas Middleditch, the voice of the Solar family’s wild card, Terry. 

Now Solar Opposites is Hulu’s longest-running animated original and its sixth and final season doesn’t squander the opportunity to go out with style, presenting a concluding batch of episodes that bravely pushes the series out of its comfort zone, while also stripping itself down to the barest parts. This final season removes many of the Solars’ plot-hacking creature comforts, like infinite wealth and endless sci-fi rays. Giambrone even compares the streamlined structure to when the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Tony Stark needed to go back to his basics in Iron Man 3 in order to grow. The Solar family may look more like Chitauri than Avengers, but this season sees them make the world a better place.

Though Solar Opposites season 6 is the most refined version of itself, the show still takes place in a world in which anything can happen and it’s not easy to bring a series of infinite possibilities to an end. Additionally, Solar Opposites stands out from its peers through interweaving side-stories that have curiously taken over the narrative. The final season is tasked with providing closure for not only the Solars, but for the sprawling Wall and SilverCops narratives as well.

“[The writers] have really thrown everything at it between the Wall and the SilverCops being back,” praises Dan Stevens, the voice of Korvo. “But even when you take away the sci-fi gimmick and superpowers, it’s all about family. Solar Opposites puts the family first and that really goes a long way. Whatever struggles they’re having, they’ve always got each other. I love that about the show.”

Stevens was a later addition to the Solar Opposites cast. An accomplished dramatic actor and genre star, appearing in everything from Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire to Beauty and the Beast and Downton Abbey, Stevens may not be the first name that comes to mind for a bossy alien overlord, but he makes the part his own and has become an essential ingredient for Solar Opposites’ success. 

“I love doing it,” says Stevens of voice acting. “It’s something I definitely want to do more of. If not with Solar Opposites, then hopefully somewhere else. I really adore it.” Some of Korvo’s biggest developments in Solar Opposites’ final season involve his tender romance with Terry. “The Terry/Korvo relationship has truly been a highlight for me. It’s maybe the first queer extraterrestrial relationship on television… I need to fact check that.” 

Middleditch takes an equal amount of pride in the beautiful love story that’s formed between these two characters and how far Terry has come. This final season gives Terry an actual career path as his passion for Korvo spills over into harlequin “romantasy” novels. What started as a gag between Terry and Korvo has blossomed into a truly aspirational and boundary-breaking relationship. “Through all these trials and tribulations, he finds this beautiful, unexpected love,” says Middleditch. It’s one of the many ways in which Solar Opposites takes well-trodden tropes and uses them to subvert expectations. Terry and Korvo’s bond has become Solar Opposites’ beating heart and a source of sincerity that’s spread to the rest of the series. 

These final episodes celebrate the Solars’ family values and an inherent optimism to the series’ anarchy. Looking back on the season, Jesse Opposites actress Mary Mack can’t help but feel fulfilled over what these episodes accomplish, and hopes that fans feel the same way. “I’m really proud of the writers for pulling all this positive love out of what could easily turn into chaos with a family of aliens. They pull a real strong message out of it all.” 

“There’s always a hug at the end of a story, which is so important,” Giambrone adds. One standout installment from the final season, “The Family Memories VHS Mix Tape,” nearly brought the whole cast to tears upon its first public viewing at San Diego Comic-Con. “The whole group was tearing up behind the stage.”

Solar Opposites draws strength (and heart) from inverting the typical alien invasion story. In this case, these are extraterrestrials who don’t push their agenda on the planet, but rather adopt its customs and become more human, so to speak. “A lot of families in other stories are Earthbound people making their way,” Stevens says. “These are extraterrestrials who are perfectly placed to critique the world we’re living in.There’s a gentleness in its bite where something like yard sales can become character-building exercises.”

“They got charmed by Earth!” Giambrone adds.

The Solars’ feelings of connection and understanding have also spread to the cast and production itself as Solar Opposites prepares for its farewell. These final episodes conclude on the best note possible, but the series is careful to not fully close the book on these characters. This is goodbye, but not necessarily the end. “I think there’s lots more stories to tell,” says Stevens. He’s not alone in this regard and the rest of Solar Opposites’ cast is already looking for ways to make a movie or some continuation a reality. 

“Fingers crossed that it’ll get resurrected in some way, shape or form,” hopes Middleditch. “This was one of those shows that I got to get in front of the script and I’d never be left wanting more.” 

“It’s bittersweet,” admits Mack. “It’s been a joy to work for Hulu and everybody involved. They’re the greatest people to work with. I was just telling Dan and Sean that it’s rare that you actually like everybody at your job.” 

Giambrone is already looking forward to a hypothetical reunion. “I love this show so much. It’d be a dream to do more and work with these people again.” 

Solar Opposites’ future is currently in limbo, but the animated series’ recent addition to Netflix is an encouraging sign that the show’s audience – and legacy – will continue to grow. 

Middleditch muses, “Maybe one of those two giants will go, ‘You know what? This gem has still got a few more polishes left.’”

As for what won’t be missed. Stevens is a little relieved that he’ll get a break from voicing Korvo’s chaotic Red Goobler. “Whenever I do the Red Goobler voice I’m very, very close to throwing up every time,” Stevens reveals. “So for all of the scene’s sweetness, it’s this odd challenge.” 

In its own way, that’s a beautiful distillation of Solar Opposites.

All six seasons of Solar Opposites are now streaming on Hulu