Disney is poking a huge hole in its âMighty Ducksâ TV series by forcing a vaccine requirement one actor refused to obey.
Emilio Estevez, who was part of The Mighty Ducksâ films in 1992, 1994 and 1996 and the first season of âThe Mighty Ducks: Game Changers,â will not be back for the showâs second season, according to Deadline.
Estevez played the character of hockey coach Gordon Bombay in the series, which is shown on Disney+.
Disney required that actors and crew members who come in contact with them all be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Deadlineâs report, which was attributed to sources it did not name, said Estevez did not give Disney any assurances he would kowtow to the vaccine mandate.
After months without progress, and Disney needing to settle on scripts so that production could start early next year, the decision was made to simply drop the character.
Deadlineâs report said that what it termed âsources close to Estevezâ said that creative differences over the show may have been a factor in the decision to part ways.
Disney has not just imposed a vaccine mandate on its actors, but on all employees.
The hockey-themed series offers a new spin on the âMighty Ducksâ film franchise in which a player cut from the youth team worked with his mother and the character played by Estevez to rediscover the joy of playing the game for the fun of it.
To many, the Estevez situation was reminiscent of Disneyâs breakoff with actress and former MMA fighter Gina Carano, who was fired from her role in the Disney+ hit âThe Mandalorianâ over a Twitter post that compared current political intolerance on the left to Nazi Germany.
Estevez said he was originally not inclined to continue playing Bombay when Disney launched the show.
âOver the years, there have been a lot of reunions, whether it was through the Anaheim Ducks or various charities. Famously, I have rejected all of those, whether itâs a reunion for âBreakfast Clubâ or âThe Outsidersâ or âSt. Elmoâs Fireâ or âYoung Guns,â all of them,â Estevez told Entertainment Weekly in March.
âFortunately Iâve been able to have starred in movies that have stood the test of time and have a long shelf life, so a lot of folks have wanted to see reunions of where are they now,â he said.
âSo on one hand, itâs a blessing to have been involved in that but on the other hand, itâs like, I rarely, if ever, participate. So to come back do a âMighty Ducksâ reunion with replaying this role was a big step,â he said.
Estevez said he was attracted to doing the Disney series because the character had changed over time.
âThe fact that we were going to revisit this guy but so different than the last time we saw him? Itâs certainly not what we expect. But what I like is that thereâs 10 episodes that we had to discover where heâs been and ultimately where heâs going.â
He admitted he is not a fan of recycled plots or characters.
âThe question is, are we at peak nostalgia yet?â he said. âIf weâre not, weâre pretty close. â
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
