As we discussed yesterday (see: 2017 San Diego Comic-Con LEGO News), one of the most significant events of the year that is relevant to LEGO fans took place this past weekend. While we covered pretty much all of the LEGO-related news in the previous article, I thought it would be best to talk about the next season of the LEGO Ninjago TV show separately. 🙂
On the last day of the San Diego Comic-Con, the team behind the LEGO Ninjago TV show revealed some important details about LEGO Ninjago Season 8, scheduled to air on Cartoon Network sometime early next year. First of all, the title is going to be LEGO Ninjago Season 8: Sons of Garmadon. The unfinished opening scene from the first episode of the season was also shared, although there is no sound. LEGO also posted the clip on their YouTube channel, which I have included below.
As you can see, there is a celebration going on in Ninjago City, and taking advantage of the commotion, a gang of masked characters who look like Power Rangers break into a museum to steal a mask. Lloyd intercepts them, however the mysterious thieves disappear with the stolen mask.
We can assume that the masked characters are the ones called Sons of Garmadon, although this is not yet confirmed. Whether they are really the biological sons of Garmadon, or just a group of gangsters who call themselves such, is yet to be seen, and it’s also entirely possible that the Sons of Garmadon refer to completely different characters. In other words, there is plenty to talk and speculate about! 😀
While there is no sound for the sneak peek, you will likely notice immediately that Lloyd looks very much like in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, instead of his previous TV show version. This greatly concerned fans of the original TV show, and there have been rumors that the story writers are trying to merge together the LEGO Ninjago TV show and The LEGO Ninjago Movie universe. The backlash got so strong that showrunner Tommy Andreasen (who also participated in the San Diego Comic-Con discussion panel) tweeted a detailed response, which I have copied below (with slight grammatical corrections).
Hi All! Thank you all for your responses to our Season 8 sneak peek, revealed at San Diego Comic-Con. Some of you have asked some questions or expressed concerns, so here is a response, which hopefully will address most of them.
Season 8 of Ninjago is scheduled to come out in 2018. Though it may not be evident from the opening scene revealed at Comic-Con, it is indeed the continuation of the TV series story line. It has been specifically written with a keen eye on what longtime fans of the series have expressed a desire to know more about.
One of Ninjago’s key strengths has always been its ability to change. We want each season to feel unique, and the show has a long history of twisting plots, structure, and taking daring chances.
Several characters like Zane and Cole has had major updates during the series’ long run. Usually, these changes happen within the episodes. This time, however, since time has passed since The Hands of Time, the changes are simply there. While they may raise questions as you first encounter them, most of these changes will be touched upon in the episodes. The most notable change you have already seen is with Lloyd. The other Ninja, though they may have some adjustments, will be using the original face rigs from the series and be voiced by the original voice cast. So be rest assured that these are in fact the characters you know and love. Strengths, flaws, relationships, back stories and all. Season 8 is still quite a way away, so we will not reveal any other specifics for a while.
Most other things about Ninjago are business as usual:
- The storyline is written by Kevin and Dan Hageman, who are also executive producers.
- The season is produced by Wil Film.
- Peter Hauser is lead director, and Louise Barkholt producer.
- It will be scored by Michael Kramer and Jay Vincent.
- Designs are overseen by Simon Lucas and his team.
- Vicky Kjaer Jensen, Tommy Kalmar and I are there helping out on the production and provide concept, creative and continuity sparring.
In short, the new season(s) are being developed by the original creators and longtime participants, who also happen to be some of the biggest Ninjago fans in the world.
One thing that has changed is that Wil Film made changes to their production pipeline, which allows for even better visuals and special effects. Though it is still early in production, we can honestly say that this will be the best-looking Ninjago season you have ever seen on TV.
I hope this helps to answer some of your questions/concerns. In the wise words of good old Wu (shamelessly copied after the great Bruce Lee): “Be water! Change can be good.”
So, as you can see, there are clearly going to be changes, however it is not with the intention to shortchange fans of the LEGO Ninjago TV show, and the two universes are still separate. Allen from TheBrickFan, who participated in the discussion panel at Comic-Con, also shared some additional insights. He states that during the discussion it was revealed that LEGO Ninjago Season 8 is going to be a bit more mature to reflect the growing up of Ninjago fans themselves. Lloyd is getting a new voice artist (Sam Vincent) to show that he is now a little older, and he is going to be the main character of the season. And, of course, there will be new enemies, and new supporting characters, as well as separate product lines for the TV show and the movie. You can read more at TheBrickFan: LEGO Ninjago SDCC 2017 Panel Recap
What do you think? How did you like the LEGO Ninjago Season 8 sneak peek? Did you notice any interesting details or Easter eggs? And what do you think about the new look of Lloyd? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
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