Of Course Digman! Includes Some Indiana Jones And National Treasure Easter Eggs [Exclusive]
Ever since launching his career with "Saturday Night Live," Andy Samberg has lent his voice to a variety of projects, from selling sardines as Baby Brent in "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" to hanging out with monsters as Johnny in the "Hotel Transylvania" franchise. But that's family friendly fare. More recently, Samberg has also dabbled in animated roles geared towards adults, such as playing a werewolf version of Benedict Arnold in "America: The Motion Picture." Now, he's starring in his own animated adult comedy series.
"Digman!" premieres on Comedy Central starting on March 22, 2023 (watch the trailer here), with Samberg playing a washed up archaeologist adventurer named Rip Digman. Set in a universe where archaeologists are considered major celebrities, it should come as no surprise that the Digman character takes some cues from Indiana Jones. In fact, he might take even more inspiration from Nicolas Cage's character Benjamin Gates in "National Treasure." But the influence of those beloved franchises goes even further than that, because eagle-eyed viewers will be able to spot Easter egg references to both of those properties and plenty of other adventure movies.
When the first episode of "Digman!" debuts on Comedy Central, you'll see Indiana Jones on-screen, however, as series co-creator Neil Campbell confirmed in an interview with /Film before the show's premiere, "It's sort of our universe's version of Indiana Jones." In what is featured as more of a gag, when Digman is admiring the famous archaeologists attending a big gala, he directly names Indiana Jones ... except, the character revealed on-screen looks nothing like an animated version of Harrison Ford's whip-cracking adventurer.
'Yeah, you might need to have the pause button ready'
Instead, the Indiana Jones shown is overweight with a goatee and long black hair, with only the famous fedora and jacket providing any indication that this is Indiana Jones. In fact, he doesn't even appear to be the same ethnicity as Indiana Jones. I suppose that means we shouldn't look forward to a crossover where Digman either goes on an adventure or gets into a fight with Indiana Jones. While that might have been more likely when Paramount Pictures controlled the blockbuster film franchise, it's unlikely that Disney or Lucasfilm will actually let Indiana Jones appear in an adult animated series.
The same can probably be assumed for any significant appearance by Benjamin Gates from "National Treasure," although Andy Samberg confirmed that fans will be able to spot him in "Digman!" very briefly. "I think we sort of have Gates walk through in the foreground of a shot," Samberg teased. Neil Campbell confirmed, "Yeah, you might need to have the pause button ready, but you might see him."
Furthermore, as Samberg and Campbell reaffirmed in our interview, you'll also see a background character who is animated to look exactly like Laurn Dern's character in "Jurassic Park." Walking away from the bar, the female character is wearing Dr. Ellie Sattler's khaki shorts, blue t-shirt, and tied up pink button down shirt.
These are only a few of the references you'll find throughout the entire series run. Campbell reaffirmed, "There's little nods to some of the stuff we love throughout the show." In fact, another episode features a great joke involving snakes which serves as another tip of the fedora to Indiana Jones in an amusing fashion, and the pilot episode will call to mind the opening Golden Idol sequence from "Raiders of the Lost Ark." So keep an eye out when "Digman!" premieres on Comedy Central starting on March 22, 2023 at 10:30pm ET/9:30pm CT.