Slapshot! Deke! Duck! These are words that all have to do with the ice sport of hockey, especially the third one, which is kind of a play on birds. Words. The Mighty Ducks was a powerhouse for Disney in the ’90s. The story of a scrappy group of ragtag underducks coached to success by Emilio Estevez was a box-office and video-rental success with little brothers everywhere, hatching two sequels, a Disney-owned Anaheim NHL tie-in team, and a frankly much more interesting animated series about hunky hockey ducks from outer space. Kids today might not give much of a flock about the legacy of The Mighty Ducks, but Disney+ is banking on old-millennial nostalgia for their new, rebooted Mighty Ducks series. According to a press release from Disney, Emilio Estevez will reprise his role as pee-wee coach Gordon Bombay for the ten-episode series, which will premiere later this year. Lauren Graham has also joined as Minnesota hockey mom, Alex, who helps her son Evan “build their own ragtag team of misfits to challenge the cutthroat, win-at-all-costs culture of competitive youth sports.” So Spinning Out this is not.
“Once a Duck, always a Duck,” says a very excited Emilio Estevez in the press release, “and after 25 years, I am delighted to lace up my skates, put on Coach Bombay’s jacket and return to play the iconic character for this new chapter in ‘The Mighty Ducks’ franchise.” Estevez and Graham will also co-executive produce. Kenan Thompson, your silence is deafening.
