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Crossover Nexus

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“

OK Ben Let's Go Universe!

”
—K.O., Garnet, Ben, and Raven

"Crossover Nexus" is the 24th episode of Season 2 of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes and the 76th episode overall.

Serving as OK K.O.'s second crossover episode, "Crossover Nexus" is a crossover episode that features Garnet from Steven Universe, Ben from Ben 10 and Raven from Teen Titans Go![2]

Official Synopsis[]

When KO finds himself trapped inside an mysterious place, he encounters other Cartoon Network Heroes and they band together to escape.[3]

Plot[]

In a destroyed city, 2 shadowed heroes are being attacked by a villain named Strike. Fed up by their hiding, he summons K.O. to eliminate instead. Just as he's about to destroy him, one of the shadowed heroes saves him, revealing herself to be Garnet. The other shadowed hero is Ben 10 and they run. Strike sends his blaster after them. After brief introductions, the blaster engages them. Ben turns into Four-Arms and pushes it back. The blaster retaliates by blasting off his Omnitrix, preventing him from turning back. Garnet also loses her visor, which enabled her to focus her future vision (and were prescriptions). The three escape and manage to temporarily bring down the blaster.

Escaping into an abandoned building, they find numerous other heroes they've never seen (all from 1990s and 2000s CN shows), encased in stone with red X's on them. They do find one hero named Raven, who managed to survive Strike's attack due to a protection spell. She explains that the city they're in used to be a bustling utopia for all sorts of heroes until Strike showed up to destroy all of them, stealing their powers. He then began summoning heroes to destroy from other dimensions which he does with ease. Raven has also lost most of her powers, only being able to levitate. The four decide to attack Strike's lair head on, even forming their team name: "O.K. Ben Let's Go Universe" along the way.

Using Raven's levitation and Garnet and K.O's punches, they evade traps and monsters sent by Strike and make it to his lair. The Medusa Canon shows up once more and corners them. Strike arrives and begins powering up. K.O. uses this opportunity to grab the Medusa Canon, figuring that its appearance as a pen would indicate it could create as well as destroy. K.O. restores his new friends' powers and they engage Strike. He sends X energy blasts down that Garnet deflects with rapid-fire gauntlet strikes and future vision, while Raven uses a blast of dark energy.

When Ben tries to change, he only changes into two of the various heroes he saw before. K.O. explains that when he used the Medusa Canon to restore the Omnitrix, the powers that Strike has stolen came with it. K.O. then uses a power fist to launch Ben at the stunned Strike. Ben then transforms into many heroes as he delivers a devastating final hit, destroying Strike. Garnet reprograms the blaster and the city, as well as all the heroes, are restored by it.

Raven opens portals to their home dimensions, and Ben and Raven both depart. Before Garnet leaves she uses the blaster to create a POW card of herself for K.O. and leaves for her home dimension. K.O. returns to his home and wakes up in Gar's Bodega. Initially believing that he was dreaming, he then discovers the Garnet POW card, realizing that the recent events were true.

Features[]

Characters[]

Original Storyboards[]

Music[]

Soundtracks[]

Version 1[]
Version 2[]

Trivia[]

  • This episode is dedicated to Cartoon Network and its 25th anniversary.
  • This episode utilizes a unique art style, which has shading on every character, improved backgrounds and animation.
  • This episode was announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2018.
  • This episode is the ninth Cartoon Network crossover special, as well as the third for OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, after "The Power Is Yours!" and "Monster Party".
  • This episode is based on several cartoon crossover specials Ian Jones-Quartey had watched when he was younger.[6]
  • Parker Simmons briefly returned to the episode to contribute to the special as he departed the show after "Your World is an Illusion".[7]
  • The episode had the cooperation of many creators and boarders from the shows, as well as the original voice actors for the characters.[8]
  • The scene where CN City is in desolation and the Cartoon Network characters are turned into stone might be a reference to the 1985 Disney film, Return to Oz.
  • The only Cartoon Network original shows that do not appear are What a Cartoon!, VBirds, Star Wars: Clone Wars (due to Disney owning the rights to the Star Wars franchise), Class of 3000, Transformers: Animated (which was co-produced with Hasbro), The Secret Saturdays, all pre-2017 Ben 10 original continuity, and Mixels (which is co-owned by LEGO).
    • All Cartoon Network live-action shows besides Out of Jimmy's Head, and any co-productions also do not appear.
  • Garnet does not have her wedding rings in the episode as the Steven Universe episode "Reunited" aired before the episode. Ian revealed that he did not know when the episode would air.[9]
  • Sunjae Lee previously worked as animation director on Steven Universe for two episodes in Season 1B when he worked at SunMin Image Pictures.
  • The episode aired on Cartoon Network's YouTube livestream on March 8, 2023, as part of the "Best of the Crossover Episodes!" marathon.[10]

Cartoon Network references[]

  • The setting for the crossover is CN City, which was featured in a series of bumpers from 2004 to 2007, and hasn't been seen since 2007 (with international CN channels retiring it as late as 2010).
    • In this episode, CN City has seen some offscreen in-universe expansion and redevelopment, as evidenced by the appearance of the Noods, Finn & Jake's Treehouse, etc. until it got destroyed and abandoned before the events of the special, where it was subsequently rebuilt and thus restored to its former glory by the end.
  • Logos for Cartoon Cartoons, Fridays, Cartoon Planet, Tickle U, Shorties, JBVO, Har Har Tharsdays, and Yes! can be seen.
  • The episode's initials spell out CN, which is the abbreviation of Cartoon Network.
    • The episode's title features the 2010-present Cartoon Network logo, and the rest of the title is spelt out in the font used in the "Check It" branding.
  • During Ben's transformation, you can see the background behind him change from the "Check It" blocks all the way back to the checkerboard, referencing Cartoon Network's different identities throughout the years.
  • This episode marks the first and so far only time that Moxy, host of The Moxy Show, has been acknowledged by an official Cartoon Network product since 2002.
  • Periwinkle from Periwinkle Around the World, from the Sunday Pants anthology series, can be seen.
  • The themes for Cartoon Cartoons, Fridays, and CN City can be heard.
  • When Ben briefly turns into Buttercup, her design is from the original 1998 show instead of her 2016 reboot design.
  • The Noods from the Nood era can also be seen, along with their counterpart in other countries, Toonix.
  • Some characters that appeared are not from a Cartoon Network original, HBO Max original, or created from Cartoon Network in the US:
    • Two Cartoon Network Latin American co-productions, Jorel's Brother (title character), and Villainous (Black Hat) can be seen.
    • The latter is most likely due to Ian Jones-Quartey's visit to Brazil in 2017 for the Comic-Con Experience, to do a live drawing with the creator of Jorel's Brother, Juliano Enrico.
      • Black Hat's appearance among the heroes is strange, as despite being the protagonist of his series, he is still a villain.
        • However, in the Villainous episode "Videos of Guidance for Villains: Blackhat Organization Q & A", Dr. Flug confirms that the Black Hat that appears in this episode is a clone that appeared in the short "The Perception of Evil". Alan Ituriel also said in a YouTube stream that the blaster is a Blackhat Organization product, and Black Hat's clone was used for target practice.
  • Clyde 49 (the original mascot of Toonami when it launched in 1997) can be seen amongst the graffiti; Ghost Planet Industries also makes a very small appearance at the end when CN City is restored, floating high above the city.
    • According to Ian-Jones Quartey, Y7 and legal restrictions prevented the crew from including any more Adult Swim references, specifically ones based on Space Ghost.[11]
  • Golly Gopher from Re-Animated and its spin-off Out of Jimmy's Head is the only character (besides Cook) is to-come from a live-action/animated CN production.
  • The Teen Titans, Rex Salazar (Generator Rex), and Duncan Rosenblatt (Firebreather) are the only non-original Cartoon Network characters to appear in this special, as these incarnations of the characters are based on those originally published by DC Comics and Image Comics respectively.
  • In the abandoned building, posters from other Cartoon Network shows can be seen.
  • The Buzz Wagon from Wacky Races can be seen in the parking lot of the studio building when the city is restored.
  • The scene where Ben rapidly transforms into many different heroes to beat Strike is a direct reference to the series finale of Ben 10: Omniverse when Ben transforms into all of his aliens in order to shoot a beam at Maltruant without destroying himself in the process.
    • The scene also takes inspiration from the 2008 Speed Racer movie.[12]
  • In this episode, Ben has the Season 3 version of the Omnitrix even though this episode aired prior to the Season 2 finale of Ben 10, "Innervasion", in the US.
  • Teen Titans Go! is the only guest series to appear, having been licensed from Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment.

Production Notes[]

  • According to Ian Jones-Quartey, the idea of the episode came from the idea of having cameos of hero characters from different Cartoon Network shows during the "Point Prep" arc. The episode was originally going to be a 22-minute special that would follow the same premise as the final version but would meet Ruby and Sapphire (the two Gems who fuse into Garnet) before meeting Garnet and would battle each other before teaming up, as well as them facing the evil Red Pen which was later re-worked as Strike's drone.[13]
    • More selected panels of Ruby and Sapphire fighting in the cut version of the episode were released part of the Steven Universe: End of an Era art book.
    • After the storyboard was completed, Cartoon Network wanted the episode to be reduced to a regular 11-minute episode, so most of the planned scenes were dropped an the entire idea was reworked to have the setting taken place in "CN City", the fictional setting for the series of Cartoon Network bumpers that aired simultaneously from 2004 to 2007, as well as using numerous Primal Screen's library of backgrounds from the networks' past bumpers as reference.
    • The process of implanting the cameo appearances of the past and present Cartoon Network programs was a lengthy process due to legal rights and locating official models and artwork for the characters to make their cameos and design more accurate to their original forms. Some show cameos such as Class of 3000 and The Secret Saturdays were not shown in the final as they were in scenes no longer on the final production.
    • In particular, the K.O. crew worked with the Teen Titans Go! crew at Warner Bros. Animation to get all the proper references and sound effects needed for Raven. Mint Point Studios composed the episodes' score using selective Cartoon Network jingles as their motif for the episode.[14]
    • On October 8, 2023, Ian Jones-Quartey claimed the episode was created at the request of the executives. After the staff created the episode, one powerful executive disliked the episode and tried to bury the episode. This resulted the episode being cut from 22 minutes to 11 minutes and editing the trailer out of the official upload from the SDCC 2018 event.[15] After the episode's success, the executives "punished" OK KO,[16] although Quartey stated he had no "sour grapes" toward anyone and is proud of the product, especially the reactions from the viewers.[17] He then removed both Tweets on the topic so as to avoid breaking his personal "no-whining" on Twitter rule. [18]
      • The footage of exclusive trailer shown in Comic Con 2018 can be viewed here.
  • In another behind the scenes Twitter thread from Iggy Craig for part two, Raven gets possessed by evil ink from the red pen and K.O. draws a new hero into existence that's just all their friends smashed together, which composed of Gwen's head, Cyborg's body, Steven's gem, and Enid's legs. The "new hero" squeezes the ink out of Raven. K.O. uses the Cartoon Punch with Ben ultimately became Finn to defeat the pen. Then, the pen and a heroic pencil teaming up at the end to draw "Stickman", a stick figure with huge muscular arms that was scrapped from the final version that congratulates the team for being a good team.[19]
  • Its production code, 1064-074, was an artifact of the half-hour version and doesn't accurately reflect when the 11-minute version was boarded which a couple of episodes (i.e. "Monster Party", "CarolQuest", "Plaza Alone", etc.) were done before the 11-minute version. The leftover 1064-075 (originally the second half of the crossover) production code was reused later in the season for parts of another episode.[20]
    • It is later revealed that 1064-075 was for part two of the season two finale "Dark Plaza".
    • Production of the eleven minute version of the episode was completed before "Whacky Jaxxyz".
  • Parker Simmons (who wasn't involved in the original 22-minute version of the special) was the primary storyboard artist on the final 11-minute version; the scenes from the other storyboard artists were all taken from the 22-minute version and then stitched together and (when necessary) reworked by Parker.[21]
  • According to Ryan Cecil Smith and Ian Jones-Quartey, the original 22-minute version never got past the storyboard phase.[22][23]
  • Kelsey from Craig of the Creek was intended to be another hero K.O. joins forces with was relegated to a background cameo with the character and Mortimor turned into stone like other Cartoon Network characters. She was not featured in either version of the story since the episode was in production before Craig of the Creek officially premiered.[24]
  • The staff did not have to ask permission to give Robot Jones his old text-to-speech voice back.[25]

Continuity[]

  • K.O. asks if he will meet Garnet in the future draws parallels as he asked Holo-Jane the same question. Strangely enough, he meets them both again in "Thank You for Watching the Show" on two separate occasions.

Errors[]

  • In the Crystal Gems' cameo, Amethyst's outfit is colored with the colors of her second regeneration instead of her third.
  • In the same shot, Pearl's star is azure instead of a greenish yellow, and the tail from her waistband doesn't appear.
  • When Garnet and K.O. punch the piranha, Garnet's glove covers her whole hand instead of just her middle finger.
  • Edd's stone appears twice.

Videos[]

Gallery

Image Gallery

Click to view the gallery for
Crossover Nexus.


Transcript

View the episode's transcript here.

References

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1044628370611261445
  2. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1020793950599184384
  3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220715141249/https://www.hbomax.com/series/urn:hbo:series:GXyrfIgdgJVRWwgEAAADA
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/1130717438344015873
  5. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1050188309010345984
  6. ↑ https://love-takes-work.tumblr.com/post/176311881752/steven-universe-podcast-volume-3-episode-1-heart
  7. ↑ https://twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/1020797386182963200
  8. ↑ https://love-takes-work.tumblr.com/post/176311881752/steven-universe-podcast-volume-3-episode-1-heart
  9. ↑ https://whatacartoonfeed.libsyn.com/what-a-cartoon-ok-ko-lets-be-heroes-thank-you-for-watching-the-show-with-ian-jones-quartey-and-toby-jones Timestamp: 01:43:00
  10. ↑ https://twitter.com/CNschedules/status/1633657007113740293
  11. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1050214636417560576
  12. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1157523161937670145
  13. ↑ https://twitter.com/scrotumnose/status/1050461561901314048
  14. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1050188283987316736
  15. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1330942711352889345
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20231008222657/https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1711145291909624287
  17. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20231008224033/https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1711146483679162590
  18. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1711150680898142582
  19. ↑ https://twitter.com/killapede/status/1050550366289387520
  20. ↑ https://twitter.com/TheAyshkerbundy/status/1050416296582504448
  21. ↑ https://twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/1051565439229153282
  22. ↑ http://blog.screentone.tv/post/179083555789/were-any-of-the-backgrounds-done-for-the-original
  23. ↑ https://mobile.twitter.com/ianjq/status/1050188283987316736
  24. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1050454434667327488
  25. ↑ https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1530686703463067649
— Episodes —
Pilot Lakewood Plaza Turbo
Minisodes KO • Enid • Rad • Carol • Enid's Bad Day • Barrels and Crates • Rad Cries • Rad's Van • Commercial • Power-Up!!! • Dendy • Boxmore Infomercial • Let's Do It Together!
Season 1 A: Let's Be Heroes • Let's Be Friends • You're Everybody's Sidekick • We Messed Up • Jethro's All Yours • You're Level 100! • I Am Dendy • Plaza Shorts • Sibling Rivalry • You Get Me • Do You Have Any More in the Back? • Just Be a Pebble • Presenting Joe Cuppa • My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad • We've Got Pests • You Are Rad • Legends of Mr. Gar • We Got Hacked • Plazalympics • We're Captured • Know Your Mom • Face Your Fears • Everybody Likes Rad? • You Have to Care • Plaza Prom • T.K.O.

B: Stop Attacking the Plaza • We've Got Fleas • One Last Score • Second First Date • No More Pow Cards • Let's Watch the Pilot • A Hero's Fate • Glory Days • Parents Day • Let's Have a Stakeout • The Power Is Yours! • Rad Likes Robots • KO's Video Channel • Villains' Night Out • Villains' Night In • Back in Red Action • OK Dendy! Let's Be K.O.! • Let's Take a Moment • RMS & Brandon's First Episode • Mystery Science Fair 201X • Let's Not Be Skeletons • Lad & Logic • Action News • You're in Control

Season 2 A: Seasons Change • Lord Cowboy Darrell • Hope This Flies • The Perfect Meal • Plaza Film Festival • Be a Team • My Fair Carol • Point to the Plaza • The So-Bad-ical • Let's Watch the Boxmore Show • Your World is an Illusion • Red Action to the Future • TKO's House • Special Delivery • Dendy's Power • Wisdom, Strength, and Charisma • Bittersweet Rivals • Are You Ready for Some Megafootball?! • Mystery Sleepover • Final Exams

B: Soda Genie • CarolQuest • Boxman Crashes • Crossover Nexus • Plaza Alone • All in the Villainy • Monster Party • GarQuest • Super Black Friday • Whacky Jaxxyz • Sidekick Scouts • Project Ray Way • I Am Jethro • Beach Episode • Rad's Alien Sickness • KO's Health Week • Gar Trains Punching Judy • OK A.U.! • Dark Plaza

Season 3 We Are Heroes • KO, Rad, and Enid! • Let's Meet Sonic • TKO Rules! • K.O. vs. Fink • Chip's Damage • The K.O. Trap • Whatever Happened to... Rippy Roo? • Planet X • Deep Space Vacation • Big Reveal • Radical Rescue • You're a Good Friend, KO • Let's Get Shadowy • Red Action 3: Grudgement Day • Carl • Dendy's Video Channel • Let's Fight to the End • Thank You for Watching the Show
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