Trivia / OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes S2E18 "Crossover Nexus"

• Executive Meddling: The original pitch was for a half hour special, but CN requested they cut it down to the standard fifteen minutes, leading the crew to create a whole new plot to fit the timeframe.
• Exiled from Continuity: While the episode is dense with references and characters from the history of Cartoon Network, there were a few which couldn't make it in, due to various legal reasons and the short timeframe of the episode:
  • Transformers: Animated and the two Star Wars shows co-produced by Cartoon Network aren't in this, due to the properties being owned by Hasbro and Disney, respectively.
  • No Warner Bros. Animation productions are represented other than Teen Titans Go!, despite the studio producing many series specifically for the network.^note  However the Looney Tunes franchise is given a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Shout-Out in the form of a building with the name ACME at CN City, while the original Teen Titans (2003) is alluded to when Raven almost goes back to that universe. Similarly, no Hanna-Barbera properties like Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry were included due to Warner Bros. having ownership over the characters. This was all due to the endemic issues that plagued TimeWarner/WarnerMedia (which AT&T had begun trying to sort out 8 months before the episode's premiere by folding CN into Warners; any potential future crossover events will not have these issues).
  • Concurrently running shows such as Ninjago, Sonic Boom, and Mega Man: Fully Charged were also absent, due to being owned by the LEGO Group, SEGA, and Capcom, respectively.
  • Mixels, despite being classified as a Cartoon Network Original, is not included thanks to LEGO also owning a fraction of the franchise via the merchandise half.
  • The Total Drama franchise isn't represented, likely due to co-ownership with Fresh TV and the fact that it originally aired on Teletoon in its home country, which presumably also applies to 6teen (this one also co-owned with Nelvana), Stōked, and Grojband.
  • Various third-party acquired shows, including anime, which had aired on CN at one point or another didn't make the cut.
  • Only two CN foreign co-productions not broadcast on the U.S. channel were depicted, as detailed below.
  • Outside of Samurai Jack, which was a Cartoon Network Original in its first four seasons before being revived for a fifth and final season on Adult Swim (with a poster for said fifth season being the only reference to that show), no Adult Swim shows were included due to the block being treated as a separate entity from CN (as well as being family-unfriendly).
  • None of the infamous live-action shows are represented except for Out of Jimmy's Head, likely due to it being a live-action/animation hybrid.
  • Robotboy was considered, but as the show is owned by Gaumont and not Cartoon Network, they couldn't.
• Marth Debuted in "Smash Bros.":
  • Black Hat (actually, according to Black Hat himself, a clone) from Villainous makes a brief cameo as one of the "striked" heroes, making this episode the first time he's been on television in the United States.
  • Jorel's Brother from the Brazilian cartoon of the same title also makes his first U.S. appearance here.
  • Mao Mao also made his debut here, long before his show was even announced.
• Role Reprise:
  • Tara Strong already played Raven and Ben, letting her briefly voice Ilana.
  • Michael Dorn plays the episode's villain, which also allows I.M. Weasel to deliver his Catchphrase.
  • John DiMaggio, already in the episode as Four Arms, makes a brief appearance when Ben turns into Jake the Dog. Schnitzel is seen and actually talks onscreen... but is barely audible, though he is clearly animated with his Verbal Tic in mind.
  • Pete Browngardt plays Festro and Uncle Grandpa back-to-back near the beginning of Ben's All Your Powers Combined finishing blow.
• Throw It In!: The inclusion of Schnitzel, Illana, Jake and I.M. Weasel all came from their respective actors having fun in the recording booth voicing other characters of theirs.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The episode was originally planned as a 22-minute special. The episode's plot was heavily re-worked after the decision to make it eleven minutes was made, including changing the setting of the episode officially to CN City and the creation of Strike. In the original pitch, Strike's Red Pen robot was the Big Bad, and was to hypnotize the heroes and have them fight each other. The original storyboards also featured K.O. meeting Ruby and Sapphire, and the picture behind Garnet while she's introducing herself also included Peridot and Connie.
  • Class of 3000 and The Secret Saturdays were going to be represented, but the scenes with their cameo appearances got cut. Unlike the other shows on this list, this wasn't a legal issue: Ian JQ has stated that cameos were planned for both shows, but their scenes had to be cut for time. Characters from those series, as well as the pilot movie Party Wagon, eventually cameoed in the Grand Finale "Thank You for Watching the Show".
  • The episode resulted from the network originally proposing having past CN heroes cameo as students in the POINT Prep arc, with the crew believing that such a thing would be a waste when they could have an entire episode exploring the idea.
• Word of God: Due its status as a Massive Multiplayer Crossover featuring various works, some of which either ended or have heavy continuity, the canonicity status for each is left vague. Upon being asked about it on Twitter, Man of Action Studios founder Duncan Rouleau responded that the crossover is considered canon to the Ben 10 reboot continuity.

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