Jim Cummings Says He Won’t Be Voicing Darkwing Duck in Disney’s Reboot

Disney’s Darkwing Duck revival is still alive, but it’s apparently moving forward without the voice that brought him to life.

Jim Cummings, the longtime voice of Darkwing Duck, says he’s no longer playing the masked hero in the upcoming project. Even more surprising, Terry McGovern apparently won’t be returning as Launchpad McQuack either.

The news comes after a rough stretch for fans hoping to see some familiar franchises return. The planned Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot with Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising Buffy was shelved, while the live-action Gargoyles project is also no longer happening.

Darkwing Duck, thankfully, remains in development, although this casting change makes the revival look quite different than expected.

While speaking with Collider about Coyote vs. Acme, Cummings revealed that Disney is bringing in new actors for both Darkwing and Launchpad.

“I did a pilot for it several years ago, to see the viability of it coming back, and everybody went nuts. And they are bringing it back, and they’re hiring somebody else to do Terry McGovern’s role of Launchpad, and they’re hiring somebody else to be Darkwing Duck.

“I hope they get…everything they deserve. Crazy, I don’t know what to tell you.”

That’s super disappointing, it sounds like the decision was a surprise and caught him off guard.

Until now, everything we’d heard made this sound less like a complete reboot and more like a continuation of the original series.

Earlier this year, Cummings confirmed the project was still moving forward and shared an interesting detail about where the characters are in their lives.

“Well, we’ve only recorded basically one offshoot so far, but the thing is, if it’s not broke, you don’t fix it. Gosalyn’s grown up. So that’s interesting. But yeah, you stay tuned.”

A grown-up Gosalyn obviously tells us the story takes place years after the original Darkwing Duck, which makes the decision to replace the original voices of Darkwing and Launchpad even more curious.

Cummings returned as Darkwing for Disney’s DuckTales reboot, which gave fans a fun new take on the character and eventually delivered a full Darkwing origin story.

Between that appearance and the pilot Cummings recorded for the new project, there was all the reason to believe he would continue playing Drake Mallard.

Recasting characters happens all the time, but Darkwing Duck is a franchise where the voice is a huge part of the character’s identity.

Cummings has been Darkwing since the original animated series debuted in 1991, and McGovern’s Launchpad is just as closely connected to that era of Disney animation.

Disney hasn’t revealed who will replace Cummings or McGovern, nor has an explanation been given for the casting change.

Hopefully, when the new Darkwing Duck cast is finally announced, we’ll get a better idea of what Disney is planning for this version of the series.

For now, Darkwing Duck is still coming back. It just won’t sound the way fans want.