'Robot Chicken' Season 10 Almost Had Ryan Reynolds in a Deadpool Cameo

SAN DIEGO — Like its namesake resurrected fowl, Robot Chicken is the show that just won’t die. The Adult Swim stop-motion series previewed its 10th season at Comic-Con on Friday at a panel attended by Inverse, debuting several new clips and teasing even more details about Robot Chicken Season 10.

After revealing a bunch of exciting news, the team behind Robot Chicken also shared one thing that wouldn’t be in Season 10: Ryan Reynold — but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The new episodes actually feature a sketch about Reynold’s superhero character, Deadpool, and they almost got the star himself to lend his voice.

As one of the Robot Chicken writers explained, the sketch focuses on a support group for “Fourth Wall Breakers,” including Deadpool, Mr. Robot, and Frank Underwood. And it turns out that scene almost featured a credit for Reynolds. Here’s what happened:

“We went after Ryan Reynolds. He wanted to do it, but his contract says he can only do it through Fox, or now Disney.”

So when Robot Chicken Season 10 airs, if you see that sketch, now you know why Deadpool’s voice doesn’t sound quite right.

The Robot Chicken panel also included early looks at two new sketches. The first, a parody of High School Musical, was released on YouTube soon afterwards. You can watch it directly above.

The second, a The Handmaid’s Tale parody, turns the show’s horrific “Ceremony” into a Grease-inspired musical number about highschool romance with the refrain, “Oh those Gilead nights.” If you’re a fan of Handmaid’s Tale, you’ll be pleased to know that isn’t the only mention it gets in Robot Chicken Season 10. The panelists confirmed at least one more reference in a sketch featuring the series standby character, Bitch Puddin’, voiced by Katee Sackhoff.

“She really thrives in that world,” said Sackhoff.

Robot Chicken Season 10 premieres September 2019 on Adult Swim.