The coach who made it cool to quack is headed back to the screen for Disney’s The Mighty Ducks sequel series.
Emilio Estevez will reprise his role as Gordon Bombay for the upcoming show, which will premiere on streaming service Disney+ later this year. Estevez portrayed the former hockey star who rediscovered his love for the game through coaching across all three of The Mighty Ducks movies, and will serve as an executive producer on the series along with playing the iconic coach.
“Once a Duck, always a Duck!,” said Estevez in a statement accompanying the announcement. “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 joins previously announced cast members Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) and Brady Noon (Good Boys). The series is set years after the original films, and follows a mother and son (played by Graham and Noon) who set out to start a new hockey team to beat The Mighty Ducks, which has become the sort of ultra-competitive, cutthroat squad that the original team often found themselves competing against.
It’s unknown how Estevez’s character will factor into the story, but it’s reasonable to expect that he’ll play a mentor role to Graham and Noon’s characters.
Disney Plus released a photo of Estevez on set in his hockey gear, ready to help a new generation of Ducks to get their skating legs.
Additional cast members on the series were also announced, with Swayam Bhatia, Taegen Burns, Julee Cerda, Bella Higginbotham, Luke Islam, Kiefer O’Reilly, Maxwell Simkins, and De’Jon Watts also playing regular roles on the show.
Disney’s The Mighty Ducks movie premiered in 1992 and cast Estevez as a former hockey standout who has made a name for himself as a win-at-all-costs attorney. When he gets into trouble, a judge sentences him to coach a youth hockey team filled with misfits. He ends up rediscovering his love for the game and inspiring the underdog team to go the distance against their ultra-competitive rivals.
The film spawned two sequels, as well as an animated series, and even led to the creation of a team in the National Hockey League, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
