Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai First Look Revealed in HBO Max Trailer

In its 2022 preview teaser, released earlier today, HBO Max provided fans with their first look at Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, a new animated series slated for release next year. Set in the world of the ’80s holiday classic Gremlins, the series is a prequel that centers on Mr. Wing, who first brought Gizmo to the United States. In the first (short) video from the series, you can see what looks like Gizmo walking on a spinning birdcage, treading water and staying upright. There is no specific release date yet for the series, but it would not be entirely surprising if it was released close to the holidays next year.

Executive producer Brendan Hay introduced the clip on Twitter, joking that it’s a perfect release date since Gremlins is a Christmas movie. He also gives you an exact timestamp for the video, which is handy, because that HBO Max teaser has A LOT going on and almost nothing gets more than a few seconds.

You can see the tweet below.

Since Gremlins IS a Christmas movie, only appropriate that your first look at our Gizmo arrives today. Here, at about 1:19 in the HBO Max 2022 trailer, you can catch your first glimpse of GREMLINS: SECRETS OF THE MOGWAI. https://t.co/p6DylR1wZf

— Brendan Hay stands with TAG! (@B_Hay) December 22, 2021

“It’s a prequel. It goes back to the character Mr. Wing when he was a boy, and when he first discovered the Mogwai,” executive producer Joe Dante told Daily Dead in 2020. “It’s set in China in the ’20s, and it’s animated and it’s very big in the sense that if you tried to shoot it as a theatrical film, it would be outrageously expensive. But in animation, you kind of get away with almost anything you can think of. And it’s probably not going to be done until 2021 or maybe the end of 2020.”

Secrets of the Mogwai, which is set in 1920s Shanghai, will chronicle the origin story of Gremlins character Mr. Wing (Keye Luke). The series will show how naïve 10-year-old Sam Wing 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.