In case you missed it, Darkwing Duck is set to return to the world of the DuckTales reboot this coming Monday with the premiere of a one-hour special titled “Let’s Get Dangerous!” on Disney XD. It’s already known that Taurus Bulba and Gosalyn Mallard will appear in the episode alongside several other classic Darkwing Duck villains, but there’s plenty more than that — which we will share more about next week when the episode airs. But ahead of the big special, ComicBook.com had the opportunity to speak with DuckTales executive producer Matt Youngberg and co-executive producer and head writer Frank Angones all about it.
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To be clear: there’s nothing beyond this point that should be considered a spoiler if you’ve already seen the promotional content that Disney has put out. We’re saving the big stuff for next week. But if you’re curious about Gosalyn specifically, and how Stephanie Beatriz came to voice her, you’ll want to keep reading.
ComicBook.com: What went into Stephanie Beatriz‘s casting as Gosalyn?
Frank Angones: So much.
Matt Youngberg: Yeah, it was a really tough casting. She’s a really important character. I think I’ll let Frank speak more about that, but her attitude, her personality, so many things about her had to be very clear and very strong because she’s right out of the gate. She’s not a character we’re going to be spending a whole like three seasons getting to know. She’s showing up here and she has to be strong right off the bat. And Stephanie Beatriz is… Her comedic voice, her timing, her acting ability, just all of it was so strong and so authoritative for this character. Not authoritative-sounding, but there’s an authorship to this character that I feel like she brought that was really key.
FA: Yeah. She has to be rebellious, but still warm. And she has to call you out on all your nonsense and you still love her. And there’s also just a fierce sense of right and wrong. A teenage girl is always the great leveler of ego and it’s something that Darkwing, frankly, needs a lot of leveling on. So, Stephanie just brought this grit and warmth at the same time that made her… It’s the one thing that separates Gosalyn from all the other kid characters that we’ve had, which is she doesn’t think she needs anybody. She doesn’t need help. She wants to do this on her own and she doesn’t want people getting in her way. And this is the story of a girl becoming a hero and a hero becoming a dad. What is that process? We set up in Season 2 that Darkwing wants to be a hero because he loved the original Darkwing Duck show as a kid and so he kind of wants to be a hero for himself. And this is a story of… Well, who is he actually being a hero for?
Anything else you’d like to share about the episode?
MY: I hope everyone enjoys it.
FA: Every time a new episode comes on, I say, “Is this the one that ruins their childhood? Okay. Hopefully not this one.” If we can make it to the end of our careers, episode by episode, endeavoring not to ruin your childhood, then we will have done our job.
Well, I think this one especially has not ruined my childhood, because I had to watch it with my kids. They are now interested in Darkwing Duck, so…
FA: Hey, well, that’s the goal. The hope is that from here on out, these characters get to live for at least another 30 years until someone else reboots them.
*****
Here’s the official synopsis for the upcoming episode:
“Darkwing gains an unlikely sidekick as he uncovers a dark conspiracy tied to the Missing Mysteries and one of Scrooge’s employees.”
DuckTales currently airs new episodes from Season 3 on Monday nights on Disney XD. The one-hour special “Let’s Get Dangerous!” is set to air Monday, October 19th. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the show right here.
Have you been keeping up with DuckTales? Are you excited to see Darkwing Duck and his pals return? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things animation!
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
