Since Solar Opposites returned on Adult Swim and Hulu on August 14, audiences have noticed one character’s considerably larger involvement in the animated sci-fi. Series producer Sydney Ryan explained Aisha’s (Tiffany Haddish) elevated role and why giving the character the spotlight is significant.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Ryan discussed that involving the character more in Season 4 “just made sense,” considering its substantial role despite being just a background character in the first three seasons.
“Aisha is such a big part of the Solar’s lives that it just made sense to involve her character more this season,” said Ryan. “Tiffany Haddish does an incredible and hilarious job of bringing her to life. The writers wanted to see what would happen if we focused a whole story on this character who usually exists just as a talking orb in the ship.”
“Mike [McMahan] talked about it being like this book he likes called ‘The Ship Who Sang’, which was about a spaceship’s computer that always falls in love with its captains. Josh Bycel wrote that episode and it came out so smart and sweet, it’s a highlight of the season for me – like our own little ‘Before Sunrise’ story but with a blue floating orb. There’s a great balance in it between comedy and melancholy- it’s the kind of thing that really only makes sense on Solar I guess!”
Aisha Takes Center Stage
Aisha is an AI computer character responsible for overseeing the ship. Though Aisha was just a background character, the device instantly became a fan-favorite due to the sarcasm that Haddish effortlessly pulled off. So, giving it more screen time and an entire episode devoted to its story “just made sense,” as Ryan describes it.
The official synopsis for Solar Opposites reads as follows: “Solar Opposites centers around a team of four aliens who are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome. Korvo and Yumyulack only see the pollution, crass consumerism, and human frailty while Terry and Jesse love TV, junk food, and fun stuff. ‘Solar Opposites’ is executive produced by Mike McMahan and Josh Bycel. The series is produced by 20th Television Animation.”
