4Creative brings to life The End of the F***ing World fan theories in comic-style animations and book

As the much-anticipated second series of The End of the F***ing World lands on Channel 4 in the UK this week, the broadcaster’s agency 4Creative developed a campaign to promote its return without spoilers while indulging the imaginations of its viewers. By creating a comic book and series of animations (made with Picnic Studios) bringing to life fan theories about the first series’ ending and predictions for how it might unfold in series two, the creative team aimed to drum up excitement around the imminent second season without revealing anything about what actually happens.

The campaign is doubly fan-focused, because its aesthetic and output as a comic book pay homage to the story’s roots as a graphic novel by Charles Forsman. Picnic worked with illustrator Ricardo Bessa to give the animations an authentic aesthetic, explaining that his “subtle character work and epic world-building struck just the right balance of indie and fantasy,” infusing the animations with what the team calls “an essential EOTFW-ness”. Thanh Tran was behind the storyboards and layout. The shorts span all sorts of concepts, from James transforming into a giant sea turtle to save Alyssa, to the two protagonists body-swapping.

Bessa and Tran returned for the comic book, which brings together all the fan theory stories in print with the last few pages left empty. The publication launched at MCM Comic Con in London, where the illustrating duo was stationed to live-draw visiting fans’ theories in their copy of the comic book, giving each fan a unique edition.

Creative directors from 4Creative Rasmus Smith Bech and Jonas Roth said in a statement about the project: “The imagination of The End of the F***ing World fans is incredible – and really deserved to be brought to life. This was quite a tricky brief to answer as there were so many spoilers to avoid. The fan theories really helped us steer away from giving anything away about series two whilst keeping the anticipation and conversation going.”

The End of the F***ing World series two is out now on Channel 4. Watch the full series of animations here.