Robert Downey Jr.'s New DC Comic Series 'Sweet Tooth' Is Coming to Netflix — but When?
A Netflix series based on the DC comics, 'Sweet Tooth' follows a part-human, part-deer boy as he tries to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Release date and more.
Apr. 29 2021, Updated 5:07 p.m. ET
Iron Man is back! And by Iron Man, we mean Robert Downey Jr., and by Robert Downey Jr., we actually mean Team Downey, which is Robert and his wife Susan's production company that's bringing DC comic Sweet Tooth to life as a series on Netflix. Sweet Tooth (created by Jeff Lemire) follows Gus, a 9-year-old hybrid creature who is part deer and part human. Gus abandons the forest he calls home only to find that the world has been destroyed.
Throughout the series, Gus links up with other characters, including an old man named Tommy Jepperd and other hybrid kids, and embarks on an adventure to find out what happened to the planet and who (or what) decimated it. Sweet Tooth was first published in 2009 and ran for 40 issues. Its final comic book was released in 2013.
What's the 'Sweet Tooth' cast looking like?
According to IMDb, we know that James Brolin is the voice of the narrator, Christian Convery plays Gus, Nonso Anozie is Tommy Jepperd, Adeel Akhtar is Aditya Singh, Aliza Vellani is Rani Singh, Christian Tessier is Meatballs, and Christopher Sommers plays Spaghetti. According to Deadline, Will Forte from The Last Man on Earth will also star in the live-action show.
When's the release date for 'Sweet Tooth'?
Sweet Tooth is set to premiere on Netflix on June 4, 2021. Netflix has ordered eight episodes, and each will be one hour long. The series was most likely supposed to premiere earlier since Hulu ordered a pilot in 2018. That project seemed to have fallen through prior to Netflix purchasing it.
What is 'Sweet Tooth' about? (Spoilers!)
Now that the Sweet Tooth adaptation is officially happening, people are already on the hunt for more info about what the series about — as well as for spoilers about how the original comic series ended. Now, you could read the comic series to find out, but we get it. Not everyone has time to read 40 issues of a comic. (Although if you want to read them ahead of the series' June 4 release date, it looks like they're available through Comixology!)
Anyway, we can give you a few details about Sweet Tooth now if you're desperately curious. To start, you should know that the comic series (and the live-action series on Netflix) is not really meant for kids, even though to the protagonist is only 9 years old. Gus' father dies at the very beginning of the series, which is why Gus decides to leave the forest home he has grown up in.
As previously mentioned, Tom Jepperd takes Gus under his wing, promising to bring him to "The Preserve" — but that's not exactly what happens. In actuality, Jepperd betrays Gus and trades him to a scientific facility in exchange for his deceased wife's remains. Jepperd's backstory is tragic in its own right: He was also offered protection for himself and his then-pregnant wife, but soon discovered that the people who offered to protect them were actually experimenting on pregnant women.
The story also centers around a world-changing plague, making it a particularly poignant tale for these times. Oh! There's also a group of hybrid cultists. Like we said, it's not really for kids — but it is pretty incredible. Will you be watching the series when it drops on Netflix this Summer?
