“The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” have found their new man.
Josh Duhamel will step into the TV series as former NHL player now coach Gavin Cole. The casting comes after Emilio Estevez’s departure from the series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Duhamel’s character is “as inspirational, charming and hardcore as he is big on the hockey metaphor that applies to life.”
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His intense summer hockey camp is attended by the Mighty Duck players.
Lauren Graham and Brady Noon will return for the second season.
Estevez’s contract was not renewed by Disney Television Studios’ ABC Signature, which produces the series for Disney+. It was originally stated it was because of the show’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement but the actor later disputed that.
“I take this pandemic very seriously, and I am often teased about my continued following of the safety protocols and my abundance of caution,” he told Deadline.
“As the show went back into production in August 2020, I reluctantly soldiered on, but was uncertain about how I would be safe on set,” he said. “I questioned the wisdom of returning to make a tv show in the middle of a pandemic and how actors could be considered ‘essential workers.'”
“I am not anti-vaxx. Full stop,” Estevez said.
