OG Big Bang Theory Character’s Death In New Spinoff Clarified By Creators & Star

Warning: SPOILERS for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe season 1, episode 1 are ahead!Stuart Fails to Save the Universe brought back one of The Big Bang Theory’s OG characters in its first episode, only to quickly kill them off.

In the zombie and giant moth-infested reality where the majority of the series premiere takes place, the darker versions of Stuart, Bert, and Denise were shocked to discover that Raj Koothrappali, reprised by Kunal Nayyar, was being held captive by Lord Barry Kripke. However, his time with the four leading characters was short-lived, as Raj was fatally shot by Kripke. Following the release of “Spoiler: Gary Dies,” Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’s creators, as well as actor John Ross Bowie, have clarified where things stand with Raj going forward.

While speaking with Deadline, Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, who created the critically well-received Stuart Fails to Save the Universe with Zak Penn, noted that Raj is “only gone in this one universe, as Kripke points out in the next universe.” Meaning, while the bearded and unhinged Raj is staying dead, that doesn’t take other versions of the character off the table. Penn added:

We liked the idea, I think we all thought it would be fun to do because we knew that we could bring them back. But I think it’ll be fun for people watching the first episode, don’t you? That there’ll be this moment of like, oh my God, they killed Raj!

The Raj from this alternate Big Bang Theory reality explained how Leonard Hofstadter, Sheldon Cooper, and Howard Wolowitz built a vary-state quantum entanglement device that malfunctioned. Raj nearly fixed the device before Kripke shot him, requiring Stuart to finish the job with Denise’s help. Unfortunately, a mix-up in the directions resulted in the device sending Stuart, Bert, and Kripke to another universe, and Denise was left behind.

Bowie, who plays Kripke, noted that his character’s detestable action moves the plot forward, as well as brought up Kripke's aforementioned "point" that “maybe that universe doesn’t exist anymore” in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’s next episode. The actor continued, dropping into Kripke’s rhotacism speech pattern:

… [I]n which case, I did not kill Raj, or I killed one of an infinite number of Rajes, so it is after all a ‘wounding ewwow’ — which is harder to say than it sounds.

That existential debate aside, the preview for the rest of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe season 1 reveals that Nayyar will indeed appear as another version of Raj. He’s shown shouting, “We’re all going to die!” wearing the same kind of clothes he wore on The Big Bang Theory, though still boasting a beard. The spinoff will also see Will Wheaton reprising the fictional version of himself from the parent series, as well as fellow Big Bang Theory veterans Joshua Malina, Christine Baranski, and Riki Lindholme in undisclosed roles.

New episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe come out Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max, where The Big Bang Theory can also be streamed. The Big Bang Theory franchise's other two shows, Young Sheldon and the currently-airing Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage, can be accessed on Paramount+.