Image: disney+
What: The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
Where to watch: Disney+
Premiere date: March 26, 2021
After almost three decades (!) since they first hit the ice, the Mighty Ducks are flying together once again — this time for an all-new live-action TV series.
Set in present-day Minnesota, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers picks up the story of the ragtag youth hockey team 25 years after the events of D3: The Mighty Ducks, though word on the street is that they’re underdogs no more. The show will, however, see Emilio Estevez reprising his role as Coach Gordon Bombay alongside a whole new cast of characters (with appearances from several other OG Ducks). Quack, quack, indeed.
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Here’s what you need to know about the show before its first episode drops:
How can I watch The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers?
If you haven’t already subscribed to Disney+, now’s the time: Game Changers‘ 10-episode run will air exclusively on the streaming platform starting March 26, with new episodes coming weekly on Friday mornings, per Decider. (For a complete list of all of the shows and movies that arrived on Disney+ this month, click here.)
It’s been a while since I watched the original Mighty Ducks trilogy. Where can I get a quick recap?
Mashable revisited the story of the Mighty Ducks for a two-minute episode of its Too Long; Didn’t Watch series, which you can peep here. If you’d rather marathon all three movies in their entirety, you can do so right now on Hulu. (They’re also available for purchase and rental on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube.)
What are people saying about the show?
Without giving away any spoilers, the general consensus seems to be that Game Changers is a fun, if a little played-out, follow-up to the ’90s trilogy that’s geared more toward actual kids than nostalgic adults. (Lots of comparisons have been made to Netflix’s Karate Kid spinoff Cobra Kai.) Some highlights from the reviews out so far:
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“The old clichés still work, even if just briefly, and the tension between having fun and trying to win … provides enough thematic complication at the start.” — Alan Sepinwall, chief TV critic at Rolling Stone
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“Game Changers isn’t epic enough to serve as a tentpole series for Disney+, but it is the sort of solid entry that helps establish the service as not just the house that Baby Yoda built, but rather the home of good clean fun, for parents and kids alike.” — Liz Shannon Miller, senior TV editor at Collider
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“After seeing the first three episodes of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, the series is, well, fine so far. As a longtime fan of the original movies, I’m intrigued enough to stick around for an entire season to see where these characters end up.” — Ethan Anderton, weekend editor and staff writer at /Film
Disney+ doesn’t offer a free trial, but if you hurry, you can score a subscription for just $6.99 a month (or $69.99 a year). That price will go up to $7.99 a month or $79.99 annually starting March 26, the same day Game Changers skates onto the streaming service.