‘Strange Planet’ Comic Creator Nathan W. Pyle on the Apple TV+ Adaptation of His Honest Alien World (Exclusive)

Four years ago, Nathan W. Pyle introduced us all to his Strange Planet, and now those adorable alien vignettes are arriving on the small screen when the animated series adaptation debuts on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Like the webcomics and graphic novels upon which it's based, Strange Planet presents a gentle, hilarious little world in which aliens have humanlike hobbies and homes but tackle their everyday problems with an at-times-absurd level of honesty. 

The series is adapted to the screen by Pyle along with Dan Harmon (Rick & Morty, Krapopolis) and features the vocal stylings of James Adomian, Cedric Yarbrough, Beth Stelling, Danny Pudi, Lori Tan Chinn, Hannah Einbinder, Demi Adejuyigbe and Tunde Adebimpe, to name a few. 

Ahead of the show's premiere, The Messenger caught up with Pyle to find out what he needed to see in the adaptation to make it authentic and how the process of co-creating the show with Harmon worked out so harmoniously.

On his reaction to 'Strange Planet' being adapted to the screen…

Nathan W. Pyle: I would say that it actually was a dream. I went to Hollywood in October 2019, and I started to pitch to creators. I went into Dan Harmon and Steve Levy and said, "Here's this world I'm building in a webcomic. I want to talk about the possibility of seeing it on TV." This was a really seminal moment, obviously, for the show, where I think Dan in that conversation started to say at first, "This sounds challenging," but then started to see, "Oh, wait, no, this actually needs to happen." And it really was an amazing turnaround where I could see that Dan himself was really 100% on board and at the end said, "This needs to be a show." That was really magical, a dream come true. So I think when Dan was attracted to the idea of conflict arising from honesty, that was one of the big moments that kind of turned his mind around and realized, "Oh, wait, this actually could and should be a challenge that makes it really fun to write. These things are honest with each other. And that honesty does create conflict in a way that's subversive to the typical sitcom."

On the creative process with Dan Harmon…

Pyle: It was so helpful to have someone with the experience that Dan has. When I said, "The beings in the comic, they all look very similar. Not sure if we should change that?" And I wasn't sure. Dan said, "No, no, no, let's keep it true to the comic." He was 100% right. It's something we worked hard to do. The beings do look very similar. They have different accessories, they have different voices and personalities, but the similarity and how they look was something that I think was really an asset to the show — especially in a way in which it forced creativity. It creates an opportunity for a lot of humor that comes from the fact that they look very similar at times. There is a really fun part of working with Dan — he's had so much experience not just making television, but he has this memory of every TV show and movie, which helps tremendously because he knows exactly what's going on at all times in stories.  

On the difference between building a 'Strange Planet' story for the screen and the page…

Pyle: I mean, the average word count on one comic for a Strange Planet is 35 words or so. So you're writing something infinitely longer. Even just a half-hour episode of television is so much longer than that. This was really exciting for me because I realized, all right, there are things you can set up and then deliver multiple pages later. That is an infinitely more interesting process than just writing a simple comic, and it was really fun just starting to get into that. And learning from Dan Harmon and Steve Levy, who have done so many different scripts, we created these scripts, and over and over again, we did revising and making this into that world that we finally put out in the end, so that was really fun.

On the essential elements of the 'Strange Planet' comics that had to be adapted faithfully…

Pyle: Well, the lack of cynicism was important. It's just a conceptual necessity. That was the core to Strange Planet. They're not cynical. They are curious, and they are at times in conflict with each other, but cynicism never enters into the discourse. When we were talking with voice actors, we would say, "Don't be any meaner than the meanest Muppet would be." That's a good example of how to help give a guiding star to the emotions. So I think that that was a core. I [also] wanted the beings to stay without names. That allows beings to change. It allows beings to evolve. We knew when there's no name, you have this ability to change, and I think there's an opportunity there where I think there's a lot to aspire to on Earth. What if we did go without some of these signifiers that are valuable and yet they also can restrict us at times? There was also just this notion of warmth. Imagine a whole planet full of beings that go to therapy. That's Strange Planet. Their emotional vulnerability and their emotional honesty is a big part of what draws the viewer in because it's a world you wish you could visit. So that was also crucial.

On how the story's relevance has changed since its 2019 debut…

Pyle: I think there's so much value in the fact that so many of the Strange Planet fans are from outside the United States. So they write in to me at times, and they'll tell me about their culture's version of the tooth fairy or their culture's version of April Fool's Day. I think part of what has happened is the interconnectedness of the world. Even right here, you and I are able to talk because we've really trained ourselves on this communication style. Now, this is a new interconnectedness that we've not achieved before. Each time it gets a little higher. I don't feel odd speaking to someone over zoom anymore — four years ago, I might have, but I think that's a good example about humans. As they become more interconnected, there requires this humility to stop and listen. I'm very centered in my own country. I need to always hear from other cultures, other places have different ideas. Even just the simple notion of learning about a new sport in another country is a good example of how to make sure my mind is not centric on my own experience because interconnectedness is part of what I hope people aspire to when they watch the show.

On the recent news of possible real-life aliens…

Pyle: I think there are many different extraterrestrials out there. I think the idea of Strange Planet is just meant to add to that conversation that maybe some of them wear socks and watch soccer games much like we do. Maybe they aren't technologically advanced, but they are emotionally advanced. Maybe there are other ways in which they're advanced that we don't really understand. But if you've seen the latest images of deep space, I think the notion that there aren't beings out there becomes more and more absurd. The number of galaxies that we simply just get a glimpse from so far away. We're certainly not alone in this universe, I would say.

Strange Planet premieres on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, Aug. 9.