Actor Josh Duhamel (Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Jupiter’s Legacy) has joined The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers Season 2 as its new male lead, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Duhamel will fill the void created by Emilio Estevez’s exit from the series following reported contract disputes and creative differences in November 2021. Duhamel’s character, Gavin Cole, is being described as a former NHL player turned coach who is “inspirational, charming, and hardcore… [and] big on the hockey metaphor that applies to life.” Gavin Cole will run the summer-hockey institute that serves as the setting for Season 2.
Mighty Ducks came to life as a movie from creator Steven Brill, and starred Estevez as disgraced Minneapolis attorney Gordon Bombay, who coaches the Ducks to victory as a part of public service. The film spawned two sequels, and did well enough that Disney even launched an NHL expansion team in 1993, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
Disney has rebooted a fair amount of its yesteryear film properties, including Turner and Hooch, Home Alone, Three Men and a Baby, and Doogie Howser. It also has a planned Magic Kingdom universe of shows based on the Disney parks’ many characters.
Image credit: Getty Images/Frazer Harrison/Staff
