‘Gremlins: Secrets Of The Mogwai’ Will Feature A Familiar Face From The Franchise, And Several New Ones’
HBO’s upcoming animated series, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, will surprise fans with the weight of its cast as voice acting the show’s many characters. Gremlins has been a cult classic since the first film in 1984, delighting and scaring kids and teens the world over. For Gremlins, it introduced the furry creatures to the screen in 1984.
The word “mogwai,” the Cantonese word for “evil spirit,” sees an elderly shopkeep warn a child of how these creatures should be taken care of. They are sensitive to sunlight as exposure can cause death, and water causes them to spawn. One important warning is to never feed them after midnight as they would turn into the evil reptile goblin-like monsters called Gremlins. Fast forward to 2022, and a new entry to this horror-comedy series opens up as an origin story.
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The series set in 1920s Shanghai, China, tells the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 movie) met the young Mogwai called Gizmo. They meet up with a cast of characters to undertake a journey through the Chinese countryside dealing with spirits and other mythological creatures of Chinese folklore.
On their quest to return Gizmo to his family and uncover a legendary treasure, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins. To the surprise of many Gremlins fans, one such actor was revealed on stage during a Comic-Con panel: Zach Galligan, who starred as Billy Peltzer in the Gremlins films, will have a recurring guest role in the show.
In an interview, Zach Galligan stated:
“I can’t say too much, but because it’s 1920s China, I’m not playing Billy because he wasn’t around,” Galligan shared following his surprise appearance on the panel. “So I’m playing this cool character. It was really fun and amazing to work with a new group of creative people who are taking a fresh look at the franchise and are expanding the mythology—who knows what they’re going to add. Maybe they’ll add a new transformation or a new rule we don’t know about yet… I think Gremlins fans are going to eat it up.”
The main stars are Ming-Na Wen, James Hong, BD Wong, and Izaac Wang, the younger Sam Wing from the 1984 movie. For the guest stars, we have Sandra Oh, Randall Park, George Takei, and Bowen Yang, for whom roles are to be announced. Gremlins: Secret of the Mogwai premiered its first episode on June 13, 2022, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, while HBO Max would show the rest of the episodes along with Cartoon Network’s ACME Night Block by 2023.
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