John Cena's 'Dallas & Robo' Clip Questions the Nature of A.I. Sentience

From the producers of BoJack Horseman comes John Cena’s next voice-acting role in Dallas & Robo, a space-faring buddy comedy co-starring Kat Dennings. The story follows Dallas (Kat Dennings), a sassy space trucker, and her cowboy-hat-wearing-A.I. robot Robo (John Cena) as they try to make a few bucks in the seedy world of interplanetary big-rigging. The official description promises plenty of cannibal bikers, rival space truckers, and vending machine burritos on this wild sci-fi ride.

Inverse has an exclusive clip courtesy of YouTube Red in which guest star Steve Little voices nerdy scientist Freddy Calhoun who, along with Dallas and Robo, is being attacked by a bunch of robots that want proper artificial intelligence so they can be free. “Give the robots life or watch this human life be extinguished,” says a robot Robo calls “bright eyes” — which may or may not be some kind of sassy nickname. He’s flanked by an army of bro-looking robots in trucker hats and white zip-up track jackets.

Calhoun should easily be able to shut them down but he can’t remember any of his passwords.

Here’s another look at the exclusive clip:

Robo looks like a hulking monstrosity with a softer side, like if Iron Man’s Hulkbuster armor were piloted by a cowboy-hat-loving nice guy. All the trucker and cowboy hats will probably give you a decent idea of what to expect from the show, but if they’re tackling topics like the sentience of A.I., then Dallas & Robo could be an exciting series for fans of animated science fiction — especially while Rick and Morty is on a lengthy hiatus.

Dallas & Robo is produced by ShadowMachine, which also makes Netflix’s beloved adult animated comedy BoJack Horseman. Created by Mike Roberts (who’s behind BoJack Horseman but also Final Space), the show’s guest voices include Jane Lynch, Giancarlo Esposito, Taran Killam, Clancy Brown, Nat Faxon, Dana Snyder, Bree Williamson, and Milana Vayntrub.

Dallas & Robo premieres on the WWE YouTube channel on May 30 with eight episodes.