HBO Max has issued an early Season 2 renewal to Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, the animated prequel to the classic creature franchise, from Warner Bros. Animation and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television. This exciting news comes shortly after the show's star-studded voice cast was announced.
The series will star Izaac Wang as Sam Wing, with Wen voicing Sam's mother, Fong Wing, BD Wong voicing Wing's father, Hon Wing, and Hong voicing Grandpa, the elder of the Wing family. As for Matthew Rhys, he will be playing the villainous Riley Greene, "a power-hungry English industrialist and treasure hunter who wields black magic that is determined to stop at nothing in his pursuit of Gizmo and the mythical treasure of the Mogwai." Gabrielle Green is also on board to voice Ellie, a friend of Sams, and A.J. LoCascio will voice Gizmo, taking over from Howie Mandel.
Here's a synopsis for Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai:
In the animated television adaptation, we travel back to 1920s Shanghai to reveal the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 movie) met the young Mogwai called Gizmo. Along with a teenage street thief named Elle, Sam and Gizmo take a perilous journey through the Chinese countryside, encountering, and sometimes battling, colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. On their quest to return Gizmo to his family and uncover a legendary treasure, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins.
Written by filmmaker and TKO Studios’ co-founder Tze Chun and executive produced by Darryl Frank (The Americans, Animaniacs, Amazing Stories!), Justin Falvey (The Americans, Animaniacs, Amazing Stories!), and Sam Register (Teen Titans Go!), with Chun and Brendan Hay (Robot Chicken, Harvey Girls Forever) acting as co-executive producers, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will have Dan Krall serving as supervising producer.
Wow! The first season of Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai hasn't even hit HBO Max yet and already the network is flaunting the rules by making more Mogwais. Have we learned nothing from the first two Gremlins movies? What about Jurassic Park? I'll tell you, there are days when I think humankind gets off on placing itself in mortal peril. That said, death by Mogwai certainly sounds like a hell of a way to go. Sign me up. After all, anything's better than the downward spiral we're currently riding, right? Ah, gallows humor, you're always there when I need you most.