At long last, the Mighty Ducks are skating together once again. Friday’s new episode of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers on Disney+ brings back six characters from the first two Mighty Ducks films, reuniting them with Coach Bombay (Emilio Estevez) for a celebration of Ducks history. The new episode features the return of Fulton (Elden Henson), Averman (Matt Doherty), Guy (Garette Ratliff Henson), Connie (Marguerite Moreau), Adam Banks (Vincent LaRusso), and Ken (Justin Wong).
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On-screen, it feels as though the Ducks never spent three decades apart, as they still have the same wonderful chemistry that they did in the original movies. As it turns out, the same can be said for the cast when the cameras weren’t rolling. We spoke to the returning Mighty Ducks stars about their experience on Game Changers, and they couldn’t have been happier to be back with one another again.
“Yeah, it was really surreal. I feel like getting to do it, reading the script, getting out to Vancouver, all of that was exciting. But I think for me, the real moment that felt really unforgettable was when I put on that Ducks Jersey for the first time,” Ratliff Henson told us in an interview. “I remember, in the trailer, and we had the hockey gear on and I remember putting that on and just catching my own reflection in the mirror, and seeing that emblem and just thinking, ‘I cannot believe that I’m wearing this jersey again.’ It just felt so profound and really beautiful. It made me really grateful for the whole experience: being out there again and being in those movies as a kid.”
Filming the episode was a bit of a challenge, as it was shot during the pandemic. That’s the main reason why only six of the Ducks returned for the episode, as COVID procedures forced them to quarantine for two weeks before they could be on set. While inconvenient, the quarantine turned out to be its own blessing in disguise, as it allowed the entire cast to spend some quality time together.
“That’s what was what actually made it really cool. Because, I think, without COVID, there’s a silver lining there. Because without COVID, we would have probably flown out for three days, and shot real quick and got back on a plane,” LaRusso said. “But the fact that we got one up there and we had the quarantine for two weeks, and then we did have this space week. And so it was a lot of time together again, but like Garette’s saying, it was just enjoyable from the jump. We didn’t miss a beat.”
This is the first time the Mighty Ducks cast has been on-screen together, but they’ve reunited for different events on numerous occasions over the years, picking up exactly where they left off.
“We have this connection that nobody else has,” Wong explained. “And every single time we get back together, no matter what… Like even if we were to see some of the people that might have only been in the third movie or some like… And I’ve met people in the first movie. There’s still that connection that we all have together that just doesn’t exist for other friendships.”
You can watch the full interview with Henson, Wong, and LaRusso in the video at the top of the page. And you can find the reunited cast of Mighty Ducks in the new episode of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, now streaming on Disney+.
