Emilio Estevez Will Not Return For ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ Season Two

In some shocking news, The Mighty Ducks franchise will be moving on without coach Gordon Bombay. According to Deadline, Emilio Estevez’s iconic character will not be returning for the second season of the Disney+ series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.

Per the trade, Disney Television Studios’ ABC Signature, which produces the hockey-themed sequel series, made the decision not to pick up Estevez’s option for Season 2 after weeks of back and forth with his team over the show’s Covid vaccination requirement. The studio ultimately decided not to renew Estevez’s option and are going to adjust scripts to move the new season forward. The trade also notes creative differences could have also factored into his exit.

Season two of the series, like many productions at Disney, has adopted a mandatory vaccination policy for the cast and crew in Zone A, which was included as an option in the most recent Return-to-Work agreement between the Hollywood studios and major unions. (Zone A includes all actors and crew members who come into direct contact with them.)

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In present-day Minnesota, the Mighty Ducks have evolved from scrappy underdogs to an ultra-competitive, powerhouse youth hockey team. After 12-year-old Evan Morrow (Brady Noon) is unceremoniously cut from the Ducks, he and his mom, Alex (Lauren Graham), set out to build their own team of misfits to challenge the cutthroat, win-at-all-costs culture of youth sports today. With the help of Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez), they rediscover the joys of playing just for the love of the game.

The series features a talented new team of up-and-coming young actors including Brady Noon, Maxwell Simkins, Swayam Bhatia, Luke Islam, Kiefer O’Reilly, Taegen Burns, Bella Higginbotham, and DJ Watts.

The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is produced by ABC Signature, a part of Disney Television Studios. Steve Brill serves as executive producer with Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa as executive producers and showrunners. Michael Spiller is also an executive producer/director on the series, with James Griffiths serving as director/EP on the Pilot. Emilio Estevez is an executive producer and Lauren Graham is co-executive producer. George Heller and Brad Petrigala of Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Jon Avnet and Jordan Kerner also serve as non-writing executive producers.

Every episode of season one is now available to stream on Disney+.

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