Disney’s live-action remakes will be delving into their take on Greek mythology with Hercules, which will be directed by Aladdin helmer Guy Ritchie and be produced by blockbuster Avengers: Endgame duo Joe and Anthony Russo through their AGBO studio. While many of Disney’s recent live-action retellings of their classic animated movies have played it relatively safe, according to Joe Russo, Hercules will be more experimental and will take some inspiration from TikTok. Ye gods!
Although it seems something of a strange statement, in his conversation with Variety, Joe Russo explained that the different approach being taken for Hercules will try to avoid the general complaints that Disney has been sticking too close to their original animated source material with the likes of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King — although it could be argued that is kind of the point. Russo also explained how leaning into a TikTok way of thinking may help to connect with modern audiences. He said:
“We have an amazing relationship with them that we’ve built over a decade. I think we have a point of view on how they can stretch the limits of their IP moving forward, rather than playing IP management. I think they’re excited to see what we can all bring to it in a way that isn’t just a reinterpretation of the animated film. Guy [Ritchie] is perfect for it because he has penchant for experimentation. There are questions about how you translate it as a musical. Audiences today have been trained by TikTok, right? What is their expectation of what that musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little bit on how you execute a modern musical.”
Who Will Appear in Disney’s Hercules Remake?
FX/Disney
The Russo Brothers have spoken previously about how they do not want to do a shot-for-shot remake of Disney’s original Hercules, commenting that as an adaptation, they want to make it different in the same way they did in translating Marvel’s comics into Infinity War and Endgame. Anthony Russell said:
While change is welcome, fans have already petitioned for one thing to remain the same in the remake - that is for Danny DeVito to reprise his role as satyr Philoctetes, the trainer of the titular character. While there has been no word on who will be starring in the movie, DeVito has already responded to fan requests when appearing In a video for Wired in which he answered the internet’s most asked questions about himself. He said: “If they don’t put me in that, they don’t have a hair on their ass.”
“We’ve already done that with our Marvel films. We don’t do literal translations of the comics because we feel like if you want that story, you can go read that story. We’re going to give you a different story. I think we’ll do something that’s in the vein of the original and inspired by it, but we also bring some new elements to the table.”
Although most of Disney’s live-action remakes have featured all-new casts, James Earl Jones did reprise his role as Mufasa in The Lion King, which means there is hope that fans could possibly see DeVito playing the role of Phil when Hercules comes to theaters in the next few years.
