The Mighty Ducks are ready to fly again, even though it won’t be with Coach Gordon Bombay and the flying-v this time. 2021 Disney+ series “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” was successful enough that the streaming platform decided to renew it for a second season.
One of its main draws was how it brought back Emilio Estevez to reprise his role as Coach Bombay alongside some of the original members of the Ducks team. Though we already knew that Estevez has been benched, we didn’t know who would be replacing him until now.
In November of 2021, we reported Disney+ had decided not to renew their contract with Estevez due to his refusal to cooperate with COVID-19 protocols. Estevez stated this was not the case, and cited “creative differences” as the reason for his not continuing with the series. Which, as we know, usually means exactly that. [Editor’s note: this is sarcasm, friends.] Either way, it was a regrettable outcome as we enjoyed the nostalgic and heartwarming charm that the first season had to offer. Estevez was a big part of that alongside his chemistry with series star, Lauren Graham.
His replacement, Josh Duhamel, you may recognize from his recurring role in the “Transformers” movie series, and the mid 2000’s television drama “Las Vegas.” In the upcoming season of “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” he’ll be portraying former NHL player Gavin Cole. The character is described as “inspirational, charming, and hardcore about hockey,” which of course he would be.
He’s the head of the hockey training camp that the Ducks will find themselves in during season 2.
What’ll be more interesting to see is whether or not the series can maintain the same kind of energy and draw that it did with the first season. Losing a main character is hard enough, but it becomes even harder when that character was one of the reasons for watching the program to begin with. That’s not to say it can’t succeed though, one need look no further than how the “Roseanne” revival transformed into “The Connors” following Roseanne Barr’s disgraceful exit.
Here’s hoping that despite the shake-up, the show can carry on and find its way to the goal. Even though the roster may change, ducks fly together.
