With a costume reminiscent of the original dark avenger —The Shadow — the 1991 animated series Darkwing Duck was a bold mix of throwback pulp heroics and goofy cartoon fare for young children. As a kind of intergenerational cipher, Darkwing Duck was instantly the Batman of the Disney animated univesre, which was made even better since, technically, Darkwing Duck was a spinoff of DuckTales; a series that was, in and of itself, a kind of reboot of various Uncle Scrooge mythology that had been floating around for decades. But unlike Scrooge, Drake Mallard/Darkwing Duck was created from whole cloth by Tad Stones, and now, 35 years after his debut, a clever new animated reboot is coming — and the cast and creative team behind this new Darkwing Duck is fantastic.
Here’s what to know about the new Darkwing Duck series, including the cast, the creatives, and the alternate-universe premise.
Darkwing Duck will reboot the original concept with a parallel dimension
According to the new press release from Disney, the new Darkwing Duck animated series has been greenlit and is currently in production. But that doesn’t mean that Disney is fully rebooting the series from the ground up. Instead, it seems that the new Darkwing Duck will preserve the continuity of the original show, with a twist: Here’s the official synopsis from Disney:
“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.”
So, it would seem that not only will the new Darkwing Duck be aware of its own somewhat tongue-in-cheek canon, but it will also crank up the science fiction elements to a whole new level.
The Darkwing Duck reboot’s showrunner is a sci-fi heavy hitter
Sean Tretta and Tiffany Shepis in 2014.
Barry King/WireImage/Getty Images
Darkwing Duck’s co-producers are Sean Tretta and Borja Peña Gorostegui. For fans of great sci-fi shows from the past two decades, Sean Tretta’s name should be familiar; he wrote for the SyFy version of 12 Monkeys and was a writer on Picard Season 3, co-writing several of the best episodes of that season, including “No Win Scenario” and “Võx.”
So, if you’re worried that the Darkwing Duck reboot’s sci-fi element won’t be handled well, Tretta’s involvement actually should signal that this could be low-key one of the best new sci-fi reboots out there, regardless of the fact that it’s a Disney IP.
The Darkwing Duck reboot cast is stellar
The cast of Darkwing Duck will be led by none other than Mark Hamill, who, outside of being Luke Skywalker, created animation history with his take on the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, starting in 1992, just one year after Darkwing Duck debuted. Hamill will play both Darkwing Duck and his alter ego, Drake Mallard. But the rest of the cast is equally great. Here’s the full line-up for the new Darkwing Duck cast.
- Mark Hamill as Darkwing Duck/Drake Mallard
- Seth Rogen as Launchpad McQuack
- Lizzy Caplan as Gosalyn Mallard
- Lilimar as Duckie
- Dan Stevens as Glade McTowers
- Tiffany Shepis as Rosa
- Kathryn Newton as Firecracker
- Teo Briones as Timb
- Tyler Dean Flores as Pondsy
- Katie Rich as Officer Shanks
- Nat Faxon as Officer Webb
Darkwing Duck reboot release date
As of this writing, the show has been greenlit and will hit Disney+ at some point. That said, there is not a specific release date for the Darkwing Duck reboot yet.
The original 1990s Darkwing Duck streams on Disney+.
