The ’90s helped usher in a number of darker animated series, as titles like Batman: The Animated Series, Gargoyles, and X-Men: The Animated Seriesunderstood that you didn’t always have to dumb things down to appeal to young viewers. In addition to the series themselves featuring more mature storylines and long-running story arcs, they were also visually much more gothic-looking than anything else geared towards kids. Even DuckTaleswould eventually pave the way for a slightly darker series in Darkwing Duckand, while still quite accessible to young viewers, it fell more in line with noir stories or comics like Dick Tracyor The Spirit.
An all-new Darkwing Duck series has been greenlit for Disney+, bringing back Drake Mallard as the iconic crime fighter Darkwing Duck. You can get a new look at the character’s design above. This action-packed continuation of the beloved franchise comes from Sean Tretta (Star Trek: Picard) and Borja Peña Gorostegui (Lost & Crowned), who both serve as executive producers. Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Alex McAtee, and Gabby Grantham are producing for Point Grey Pictures. Tad Stones is the creator of the original Darkwing Duck series and consulted on the development of his new adventures.
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.
The lead cast includes 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.
The Point Grey team shared in a statement, “Disney said, ‘Let’s get dangerous,’ and we said, ‘Hell yeah.’”
“Like every other fan of the original show, I’m excited to see Darkwing getting dangerous again in a whole new series,” Stones added.” 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.”
The new Darkwing Duck doesn’t yet have a release date.
Are you excited to see the character make a comeback? Let us know in the comments below!
