‘Darkwing Duck’ Reboot Ordered to Series at Disney+ With Mark Hamill, Seth Rogen in Lead Roles
by Joe Otterson · VarietyThe “Darkwing Duck” reboot has been ordered to series at Disney+, Variety has learned.
The news comes nearly six years after Variety exclusively reported the project was in development at the streamer. The voice cast for the new series will include:
Mark Hamill (“Batman: The Animated Series,” “Batman: Arkham Asylum”) as Drake Mallard aka Darkwing Duck, Seth Rogen (“The Muppet Show”) as Launchpad McQuack, Lizzy Caplan (“Party Down”) as Gosalyn Mallard, Lilimar (“Inside Out 2”) as Duckie, Dan Stevens (“Onslaught”) as Glade McTowers, Tiffany Shepis (“Star Trek: Picard”) as Rosa, Kathryn Newton (“Avengers: Doomsday”) as Firecracker, Teo Briones (“Final Destination Bloodlines”) as Timb, Tyler Dean Flores (“Neon”) as Pondsy, Katie Rich (“Saturday Night Live”) as Officer Shanks, and Nat Faxon (“The Descendants”) as Officer Webb.
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The official logline states, “For the last 35 years, Darkwing Duck has been trapped in his worst nightmare: an alternate world that’s never heard of his superhero exploits. Now a rebellious teen named Duckie who knows all about his heroic past shows up to pull this ego-fueled vigilante back into battle. Together, this unlikely duo will get dangerous to fight old enemies like Negaduck and Megavolt and reunite with allies Launchpad, Gosalyn and Morgana to save the entire universe.”
Sean Tretta and Borja Peña Gorostegui are writers and executive producers on the reboot, with Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Alex McAtee and Gabby Grantham producing via Point Grey Pictures. Tad Stones is the creator of the original “Darkwing Duck” series and consulted on the development of the new series.
“Disney said ‘Let’s get dangerous and we said “hell yeah”” the Point Grey team said.
The original “Darkwing Duck” was created by Stones and ran from 1991-1992 for three seasons and 91 episodes. It originally aired on The Disney Channel and ABC while also airing in syndication. The show featured the voices of Jim Cummings as Darkwing Duck, Christine Cavanaugh as Gosalyn, and Terry McGovern as Launchpad.
“Like every other fan of the original show, I’m excited to see Darkwing getting dangerous again in a whole new series,” Stones said. “The new creative team has certainly amped up the action and comedy without forgetting the Disney heart. This series places DW in the literary tradition of Robin Hood, Zorro, and Sherlock Holmes, heroes whose lore has been reinterpreted by multiple creators in multiple mediums. They explored the core of those characters by tossing them into new eras, new relationships, and even new universes. No matter when or where, Darkwing Duck will appear in a cloud of blue smoke to grab the spotlight.”
“Darkwing Duck” also had connections to fellow Disney animated series “DuckTales,” with Launchpad appearing in both the original “DuckTales” and the recent reboot of that show. Most recently, Darkwing and Gosalyn appeared in the rebooted show as well. In that version, Darkwing is a fictional character from an old superhero TV series. In Season 2, Mallard, the president of the Darkwing Duck fan club, gets the chance to become Darkwing in real life and begins fighting crime. Gosalyn was introduced in Season 3.