The quacking is coming to an end for Emilio Estevez, who will not be returning to The Mighty Ducks franchise (for now at least). The actor, who reprised his role as Gordon Bombay from the original 1992 film and its following sequels in 1994 and 1996, brought the character back for Season 1 of the Disney+ show, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, but will not be coming back for anymore slap shots in Season 2, Deadline reports.
The decision, which came from the producers at Disney Television Studios, was made after a weeks-long back and forth debate with Estevez’s team over the show’s Covid vaccination requirement. Contradicting this statement, other sources close to Estevez claim the actor’s exit has something to do with creative differences and not the Covid protocol.
Sources say that through his representation, Estevez has shut down the hopes that he would follow the new policy. As writing for Season 2 is already underway and a hopeful early 2022 start of production, the network made the call to write Gordon Bombay out of the next season.
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers has added a mandatory vaccination policy to contracts for the cast and crew in Zone A. All actors and crew members that will be working in face-to-face positions with each other are considered to be Zone A and the policy has been included in many return-to-work agreements between studios and unions. Although the Zone A mandate isn’t an overall industry policy quite yet, it has been made mandatory on all Netflix U.S. productions. Disney TV Studios has also introduced the policy on each newly created series moving forward and has also added the protocol to a number of existing productions.
Estevez reprised his role in the first season of the Disney+ series sharing the spotlight with Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) and Brady Noon (Good Boys). The show picks up in present-day Minnesota where the Mighty Ducks have moved on from a ragtag group of nontechnical hockey players to a highly ranked, all-star youth hockey team with a rough competitive edge. When 12-year-old Evan Morrow (Noon) is unjustly taken off the Ducks, he and his mom (Graham) move quickly and stop at nothing to create their own team of unwanted underdogs to challenge the concept of ruthlessly winning no matter what. They recruit Estevez’s Gordon Bombay to help them find the heart in the sport once again.
While fans are sure to miss Estevez, thankfully the rest of the leading cast will be back for more challenges on and off the ice in the second season of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.