The Glee Revival Is Officially Happening
Prepare to avoid slushie bombs once again.
Soon enough, there will be more of what you missed on Glee. On Oct. 21, Disney announced that Hulu and Disney+ have officially greenlit the long-speculated Gleerevival, giving the show a full series order.
Disney is keeping details quiet, releasing only a teaser image with Glee’s iconic L-for-loser logo to confirm the show will return on its streaming platforms. However, Varietyreports that Lea Michele will reprise her iconic role as Rachel Berry, with
“It’s still early-ish days, but it feels good and we’re happy to get the band back together,” a separate
Gleeoriginallypremiered in 2009 and followed the New Directions, a student choir of outsiders at Lima, Ohio’s McKinley High. The series ran for six seasons, following the students into college and beyond, before concluding in 2015. Over a decade later, Gleeremains a cultural phenomenon, with the cast’s music — including “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Mine,” and “Turkey Lurkey Time” — still averaging over 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Ryan Murphy floated the idea of bringing Glee back in August, tellingPeople, “So many young people now watch it, and I’m like, ‘Maybe we should revisit that show.’” The next month, he wrote an episode with co-creators Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. “Funny you ask, because I just finished the script an hour ago,” he told Entertainment Tonight.
No casting or storylines have been officially announced just yet. However, the series will likely be a revival rather than a reboot, as Murphy suggested that some of the original cast may return. “I’ve been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members, and it’s very sweet,” he told ET, clarifying that they hadn’t read his script yet. “They’ve all had a lot of questions, but they all were very enthusiastic about the idea.”
The original cast included Michele, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, Dianna Agron, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Darren Criss, Heather Morris, Harry Shum Jr., and Chord Overstreet, as well as late actors Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera, and Mark Salling.
Colfer was not one of the actors Murphy contacted, telling Bustle that he “knows nothing” about the revival but would consider it if he gets more information. “It was a really tough show to do, and it would be really hard to do it now that Naya [Rivera] is gone,” he says. “But I do know that Glee fans would probably come after me with pitchforks and jazz hands if I said no.”
McHale and Ushkowitz liked the show’s announcement post on Instagram, suggesting they are open to the revival, while Morris shared a joking post about her iconic character Brittany S. Pierce on Instagram, seemingly confirming her return. (No word on Lord Tubbington, though).
Before her return was reported, Michele was enthusiastic about the prospect of a revival, telling E! in September that she “will always love Glee” and would “follow Ryan wherever he goes.” Lynch told Fox 5 New York that she’d “be so happy” to return and seemed thrilled that Michele appeared to be on board. “We need another one,” she said. “A lot of kids are discovering it for the first time.”
