Disney Has Three Competing Reboots Of One '90s Cartoon And None Are Greenlit

The '90s were a golden age for cartoons on television, with projects ranging from the dark and stormy Batman: The Animated Series to the comedic Ren & Stimpy Show. The possibility of one show from the '90s making a comeback has been in (and out of) the works for years, in not one but three different formats. Gargoyles ran for three seasons, from 1994-1997, and could come back in some form or other if Disney ever gives the green light.

Gargoyles centered on a species of enchanted nocturnal protectors from medieval Scotland, who awaken in modern-day New York City. They work to protect humanity, despite what the opening narration from Goliath, voiced by Keith David, revealed about their past:

One thousand years ago, superstition and the sword ruled. It was a time of darkness. It was a world of fear. It was the age of gargoyles. Stone by day, warriors by night, we were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect, frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years. Now, here in Manhattan, the spell is broken, and we live again. We are defenders of the night. We are gargoyles!

Despite its status as a show with complex storylines and the kind of dark tone that made Batman: The Animated Series such a success, Gargoyles' only resurgence since the late '90s has been via a comic book series. Still, there are three mediums that could be used to bring them back: animation, live-action, and on the big screen. A fourth reboot option got as far as the pitch stage, but was scrapped before getting off the ground in 2020.

Now that Disney+ has become a successful platform for a wide variety of projects, the time couldn't be better for another attempt at bringing the gargoyles back to life for a modern generation.

There Are Several Gargoyles Reboots In Various Stages Of Development

The first version of Gargoyles that was seemingly a serious contender to be rebooted came from Jordan Peele in 2018, fresh off of his success with Get Out. The news broke via an edition of The Ankler, an entertainment industry newsletter (via SlashFilm). The report alleged that Peele "walk[ed] in and says he wants to do a new version of Gargoyles," but Disney wasn't ready to move forward on a movie. The newsletter reported at the time:

How do you turn down Jordan Peele? Well, you can't. Who wants to be responsible for that decision? So in the absence of a good reason to say no, but prevented by their Big IP box from saying yes, Disney is slow walking the decision. It's hoping, it seems, that they'll run out the clock, he'll sign other deals elsewhere, and the project will just fade away.

Details are scarce, but if Disney did attempt to run out the clock rather than say no to Peele in the wake of his Academy Award win for Get Out, then the company was successful. Rather than wait around for Gargoyles, Peele followed Get Out up with Weird City, Us, The Twilight Zone, Candyman, The Last O.G., and Nope.

The next potential reboot of Gargoyles also had big names attached, and seemingly much better odds of moving forward. James Wan, via his Atomic Monster production company, and the Annabelle franchise's Gary Dauberman began collaborating on a live action version of the animated series in 2023 (via Variety). While the project was still in the development stage when first reported, Disney Branded Television was attached as the studio, which already gave Wan and Dauberman's project an edge on Jordan Peele's idea.

The plot reportedly would have focused more on Goliath than the ensemble, as the gargoyle worked on solving the mystery of his past, while also keeping an eye on modern-day New York City with the help of a human police detective. The latest update on the project came from Dauberman in 2025, so it's evidently still in development.

The most recent version of a reboot was revealed in an unexpected way: an offhanded comment from Brent Spiner in an episode of his Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny podcast. The Star Trek icon said:

They're doing Gargoyles again. I was told this morning. It's another animated series.

Spiner didn't elaborate on who told him, or drop any details about the animated series, but he clearly had some inside information. He was speaking with Jonathan Frakes and Michael Dorn at the time, and all three men had been voice actors on the original Gargoyles in the '90s.

All of this said, there was one animated reboot that never got very far into development. Animator Ciro Nieli, known for The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, revealed on Instagram:

Back in 2020 I was working at Disney Animation development. One of the projects I touched upon was the now classic, Gargoyles. My pitch was a respectful and simple continuation of the series.

For whatever reason, Nieli's version of Gargoyles evidently never moved past the stage of a pitch and an art choice. Whatever the future holds (or doesn't hold) for the franchise, the potential 2020 version likely won't make it to the screen.

Will Disney Move Forward With A Gargoyles Reboot?

Even though Disney has had plenty of chances to move forward with a Gargoyles reboot over the years, hope isn't lost. Brent Spiner's reveal that another animated series is in the works came in a podcast episode that released in late July, so the project was moving forward this summer. Spiner even knowing about it could be confirmation that he was approached about reprising his role.

That said, Spiner is only credited with four episodes of the original animated series as Puck, while Jonathan Frakes is credited with 41 episodes across the three seasons as David Xanatos. If an animated reboot was moving forward to the point of producers reaching out to cast members, Frakes seems more likely to get the call first rather than Spiner.

Still, if the show is going to come back in the form of one of the three potential options, the animated revival seems the most likely. Animation would presumably be easier and cheaper for a project like Gargoyles, which would require extensive special effects in live-action. For now, it's worth keeping an eye out for more news beyond what Brent Spiner alluded to on his podcast, because the future has never looked brighter for a 21st-century version of Gargoyles to come to life.