Former Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham has joined the cast of the upcoming Mighty Ducks series for Disney Plus, reports TVLine . Disney ordered 10 episodes of the new show, and Graham will play the coach of a “ragtag” group of hockey players.
The new show will be based on the popular Mighty Ducks films from the 1990s. Emilio Estevez starred as Gordon Bombay, an attorney-turned-hockey-coach. Per the outlet, Estevez has been approached to reprise his role in the new television show, but nothing is confirmed yet.
According to the article, the series will take a much different approach from the iconic source material. In this version, the Mighty Ducks team is the antagonist rather than the leads of the story. Graham’s character, Alex, is the mother to one of the Mighty Ducks players, Evan (played by Brady Noon). One day, he gets cut from the team, and the mother and son duo come together to create their own team to challenge the incomparable and “ultra-competitive” Mighty Ducks.
TVLine reports that the original creator of the three movies, Steve Brill, has signed on to the series as a co-creator and an executive producer.
On social media, the news has received mixed reactions. Most people are thrilled by Graham’s involvement as the actress has been beloved since her Gilmore Girls days. However, there is also a large number of people who aren’t happy about Disney Plus creating yet another remake. The large majority of the streaming service’s upcoming slate of projects are reboots or revivals of their old content rather than original ideas. However, it should be noted that the Mighty Ducks revival series was first announced last year and is not a new addition to Disney’s scheduled projects.
Several Graham fans indicated that they were now only interested in the show thanks to the actress’s involvement and probably wouldn’t have given it a second glance without her joining.
Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) and Brady Noon (Good Boys) have been cast as leads in the 10-episode sequel series for #DisneyPlus , #TheMightyDucks . They will play Minnesotan mother and son who form their own ragtag hockey team after the now ultra-competitve Ducks cuts the son off. pic.twitter.com/AmEMvSeVKf
— Disney+ News (@MoreDisneyPlus) February 12, 2020
“Over the last few days ‘Turner & Hooch,’ ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids’ and now ‘The Mighty Ducks’ do any of these really need remaking as all will be inferior to original versions surely Disney could make more original content?” said one Twitter user.
“The Mighty Ducks lived long enough to see themselves become the villains,” joked another user.
“Lauren Graham is playing the Gordon Bombay role in The Mighty Ducks reboot for Disney+ and I have NEVER loved something more,” tweeted Jarett Wieselman.
Graham currently has a recurring role in the NBC series, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist .