Disney+ Officially Has Its Answer to Netflix’s Wednesday, With Reboot of 81-Year-Old Classic

No one could have predicted that when Netflix announced they were developing a reboot of The Addams Family, it would go on to become one of their biggest TV shows of all-time for the streamer. Wednesday had a few tricks up its sleeve, namely in rising star Jenna Ortega taking on the title role, but also enlisting director Tim Burton to bring his trademark style (and many of his iconic collaborators) to the show. As a result, Wednesday has not only breathed new life into The Addams Family for the first time in decades but delivered the most-watched season of an English-language show on Netflix.

Now, other streamers are following suit, with Deadline bringing word that Disney+ is going to try to replicate the success of Wednesday with another classic franchise, Casper. The trade reports that the new take on Casper is “a modern update” on the franchise that is “believed” to be following in the steps of Wednesday and will have a “dark edge,” which seems like an oxymoron when considering that Casper is notably a “friendly ghost.” That said, the new Casper does have some good talent behind it, which means it could replicate the Wednesday success by having a fan-favorite steering the ship.

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Disney+ Is Rebooting Casper in the Spirit of Wednesday

According to the report, Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston, the executive producers of another hit supernatural Disney+ show, Goosebumps, will be bringing the new Casper to life. Letterman has a lot of experience working in this supernatural realm, having not only developed the Goosebumps TV show with Winston but also directed the Goosebumps movie back in 2015. There’s another ace up their sleeve, though, as Steven Spielberg will also executive produce the series (having been an EP on the 1995 reboot). Just like the reboot of Casper from 1995 starring Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman, the series will likely bring its ghost to life via CGI effects.

As noted, it seems difficult to ponder how Casper can really emulate the dark tone of Wednesday, which isn’t that far removed from The Addams Family as a franchise. That said, there is a wide net of characters in the larger mythology of Casper, like the Ghostly trio (Stretch, Fatso, and Stinkie), but other supernatural Harvey characters like Wendy the Good Little Witch, Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost, and Hot Stuff the Little Devil all seem like characters that could appear in the series.

Even with a major rotation of characters at its disposal, Casper has always been somewhat family-friendly, so rebooting it in the vein of Wednesday seems like a stretch. That said, the series can absolutely capture the imagination of a new generation in the same way that Wednesday has, but it needs to enlist a star who can captivate the audience just like Jenna Ortega, whether that be in whoever performs as Casper himself, or perhaps in a role like Christina Ricci’s Kat Harvey from the 1995 film.

The arrival of Casper on Disney+ marks a major departure for the streamer, though, since the series would be a very rare franchise show that doesn’t actually come from the Disney vault of characters. Casper is owned wholesale by Universal, which is co-producing the series via their DreamWorks Animation TV and UCP production companies, joining a very small club of shows that aren’t wholly owned by Disney.