Chuck Lorre says Stuart was the wrong hero for new Big Bang spin-off
Kevin Sussman’s comic book shop owner leads HBO Max’s Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, a multiverse comedy from Chuck Lorre, Zak Penn and Bill Prady.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
Chuck Lorre picked the least obvious guy in the Big Bang Theory orbit to carry its newest spin-off: Stuart Bloom, the comic book store owner played by Kevin Sussman.
Lorre told People that Stuart was “the absolute worst choice” to front Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, and that was exactly the appeal. In Lorre’s telling, a side character viewers would not expect to rescue the world became the funnier bet.
“He was the absolute worst choice to be the hero of this story, which made him the perfect choice,” Lorre told People. He also praised Sussman as “a brilliant comic actor” and said he is someone audiences can support despite the character’s shortcomings.
The HBO Max series is scheduled to premiere Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, according to Deadline. It expands the Big Bang Theory universe nearly two decades after the original CBS comedy first arrived.
Stuart gets the multiverse mess
Deadline reported that Stuart Fails to Save the Universe follows Stuart Bloom after he accidentally damages a device created by Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter. That mishap leaves him trying to prevent what the show describes as a “multiverse armageddon.”
The story sends Stuart and his friends through alternate universes, where they run into different versions of themselves, according to Deadline.
The series brings back several familiar Big Bang faces around Sussman. Brian Posehn returns as Bert, Lauren Lapkus plays Denise and John Ross Bowie appears as Kripke, Deadline reported.
Lorre co-created the new series with Zak Penn and Bill Prady. Lorre told People that Sussman was the plan from the start, saying “it was always Kevin” for the show and that the comic book store story was part of the earliest idea.
Sussman did not see it coming
Sussman has said the leap from recurring character to spin-off lead caught him off guard. He previously told Deadline that getting his own Big Bang Theory offshoot “was not on my bingo card” as a working actor.
“I was not expecting this,” Sussman told Deadline.
The premiere also gave Sussman and Lorre a public moment together this week. Getty Images photographed the pair at the Los Angeles premiere of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe on July 21, 2026, according to Deadline.
The new show continues a franchise that has already stretched beyond The Big Bang Theory. This time, the spotlight lands on a character originally known for running the comic book shop frequented by the core group, with Lorre framing Stuart’s unlikely status as the point of the whole exercise.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.