Live-Action ‘Gargoyles’ Showrunner Gary Dauberman Hopes His Version Lives Up To The Mature Vibe Of The Original Series
This news may have flown beneath your radar or gone so far down the memory hole that you forgot, thought it was a dream, or shook your head in disbelief at what had to be a rumor. In any case, we’re all well aware Disney can’t leave anything alone and has to give in to the temptation to reboot something they can either destroy or milk for cash.
They have finally set their sights on Gargoyles and are moving forward with a live-action reboot for their primary streaming outlet, Disney Plus. This tentative project has been in the pipeline for a while and was finally put into motion in late 2023 with James Wan and Atomic Monster in charge. Since then, its progress has been silent, but we have an update in the form of a tease.
Writer, showrunner, and Wan acolyte Gary Dauberman talked about the new series based on the edgy ‘90s cartoon with Variety. His hopes are high, and in what might be a good sign, Dauberman wants to stay true to the spirit of the original show which captured his imagination back in the day.
“Oh, yes, another beloved piece of IP. This new iteration of ‘Gargoyles’…” he explained. “The show was already pretty dark in that it was serialized, it was a mature thing, it’s operatic and the story was so epic. I’m hoping it’s very similar to the vibe that you got when you were watching it back in the late ’90s. I just loved that half hour of television, falling into their world. I’m hoping we achieve that. It’s a lot of fun, though – it’s a thrill.”
Gargoyles was dark and thrilling, like much of the animated serialized landscape of the ‘90s. Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, X-Men, and Spider-Man didn’t talk down to kids and weren’t afraid to get real, topical, or dabble in genre tropes from horror to noir. Gargoyles was not different with its elements of science fiction, fantasy, Shakespeare, and street-level crime.
Characters were shot (with lasers and bullets), people died, there was blood and severed robot heads, and the show didn’t flinch that often. It wasn’t the maturity level of HBO’s Spawn but there is an edge to live up to – short of going further than is tasteful with the Goliath/Elisa dynamic.
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Dauberman’s work on The Conjuring universe and Swamp Thing specifically show he can find a balance albeit with mixed results. That said, he also directed the Salem’s Lot remake, which might look slick, but pales in comparison to the vaunted 1979 miniseries. His involvement isn’t without caveats.
Disney might also interfere with notes that water the tone down or, more likely, bend the knee again to the Message. And that’s not even the biggest problem that could sabotage their efforts here (I know you’re wondering how that could be, but hear me out).
Even if the right people are in place and they have the proper attitude, subscribers and potential viewers already feel they’ve been tricked one too many times by The House of Mouse. No matter the show or the brand – Marvel, Star Wars, Lucasfilm, whichever – or how much money they throw at it, the ratings aren’t going up.
Viewership is on the decline due to apathy and burnout and the trend will probably continue with a live-action Gargoyles, no matter how good it is.
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