Highlights
- Disney confirms that Gary Dauberman and James Wan are adapting cult classic Gargoyles for a live-action remake, a welcomed adaptation by fans.
- The live-action show should keep the original voice cast, as they are synonymous with their characters, and follow suit with the stacked cast of the original series.
- The live-action adaptation of Gargoyles should be scary, with demonic designs for the supernatural creatures, and have an atmosphere similar to Game of Thrones, with nuanced characters and gritty world-building. The show should also maintain its Shakespearean influence, which added depth to the original series.
Since Disney Plus's inception, fans have hoped for a remake of their favorite '90s animated series, Gargoyles. Now the wait is nearly over, with Disney confirming that Gary Dauberman and James Wan are adapting the cult classic for a live-action remake. Sometimes fans feel that Disney is going overboard with remaking their classic movies for live-action, but this is one adaptation welcomed by all. The original series ran from 1994 to 1997 and a total of 78 episodes.
Gargoyles followed a clan of gargoyles frozen in stone for over a thousand years who woke up in modern New York City. They dedicate their lives to heroics while trying to find their place in the newfound world, selectively befriending humans and even other gargoyles after several betrayals. The original series was successful because it presented complex characters with a darker-than-usual story for a children's cartoon. If the live-action adaptation hopes to succeed, it needs to follow suit, plus a few other things.
What to Know About Gargoyles Remastered Before Release
The release of Gargoyles Remastered is just a few days away, and gamers should know some important things before it takes flight.
Keep the Original Voice Cast
One thing that made the animated series great was its cast of voice actors. Jonathan Frakes as Xanatos and Keith David as Goliath were phenomenal and played off each other well. Their voices are synonymous with their characters. So much so that it's difficult for any Gargoyles fan not to imagine their characters when the actors play other roles. Sadly, not every actor can return, as the wonderful Edward Asner passed away in 2021.
It would be a good start if the live-action show gets Frakes, David, and the core group of gargoyles. It would be better if they coax back Clancy Brown as Hakon, John Rhys-Davies as MacBeth, and Marina Sirtis as Demona. Those were absolutely instrumental characters to the show, and they each brought a level of gravitas to the series that no other animated series attained during its time. Gargoyles had an absolutely stacked cast, and the live-action adaptation would be wise to follow suit.
Make the Gargoyles Reboot Scary
Gargoyles was an animated series about supernatural creatures roaming the modern world and forging new alliances to survive. These were large creatures that stood close to seven feet tall -never any shorter than six feet- with a wingspan twice their height and glowing eyes. Some would describe them as demonic in appearance, so their live-action designs should portray that. While they must be somewhat pleasant to look at for the audience, being the story's protagonists and all, the uninitiated humans should fear them.
Furthermore, the gargoyles had to be careful and keep their rookeries safe. Otherwise, enemies could sneak in when the gargoyles were at their most vulnerable and smash them to pebbles while they're stone. All this is to say that the gargoyles should fear the humans just as much as most humans fear them. The gargoyles had no shortage of enemies with Xanatos, MacBeth, and Demona out there. With Gary Dauberman behind the remake -known for his writing on It (2017) and Annabelle Comes Home- a touch of horror is bound to find its way into it.
Gargoyles Should Have an Atmosphere Similar to Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones had such a good quality to it, from set and costume design to its nuanced characters. Obviously, the character development came from the source material, written by George R.R. Martin, but the overall quality of the series sucked its audience in and fully immersed them. Gargoyles needs to do the same thing. Characters in Gargoyles weren't evil for the sake of being evil. They had depth with nuanced motivations. They were three-dimensional characters to whom the audience could relate.
Some characters were bad because they felt they had no other choice. There was just as much politics and backdoor deals made in the original Gargoyles animated series as there was in Game of Thrones. Additionally, the costumes, along with the CGI, need to be on point. The outfits worn by the gargoyles should look worn and used. These are creatures who turn to stone every day from a time period long dead. Despite being a Disney project, it should be a gritty and ruthless world, even grounded a bit much like the George R.R. Martin epic.
Keep the Rich Shakespearean Influence
Gargoyles pulled influence from numerous sources of literature, including the bible (David Xanatos and Goliath). However, its biggest influence came from the works of William Shakespeare, which makes sense since the show's creator, Greg Weisman, was a former English composition and writing teacher. English academics tend to enjoy flaunting their knowledge of history's greatest works. However, the Shakespearean references played a larger role than "Hey, look, that character MacBeth shares his name with that one great play." They added depth to the story.
Shakespeare explored many influential themes that enhanced the stories of his plays. Gargoyles did the same, exploring star-crossed lovers, the conflict between appearance and reality, and the relationship between power, ambition, and corruption. None of this happened in vain either, as each reference and theme elevated the story and characters beyond the unimaginative good vs. evil common for cartoons of the '90s. Gargoyles was ahead of its time.