Among a bevy of announcements and teases for its upcoming original productions, like the release date for The Witcher season three and our first look at animated movie Nimona (the one dumped by Disney for being too gay), Netflix has offered a glimpse at one incredibly overdue sequel. Namely, Chicken Run 2, which goes by the sublime subtitle Dawn of the Nugget, a follow-up to the Aardman classic released in 2000.
Perhaps one reason why the sequel has taken so long to make is because of the fact the franchise was bogged down with the presence of Mel Gibson in the lead. The original Mad Max star might’ve still be a huge draw at the turn of the century, but in the decades since his reputation has nosedived due to a series of scandals and offensive statements. So it’s no wonder that Netflix has replaced him as Rocky the Rooster in Dawn of the Nugget. And luckily for them they went with someone who’s received absolutely zero backlash online of late. It’s *checks notes*… Uh, Zachary Levi?
In January 2022, Levi was announced as the recast Rocky, alongside Thandiwe Newton replacing Julia Sawalha as Ginger. At the time, this must’ve seemed like a super-smart choice for Netflix. After all, Levi carried with him a lot of goodwill, thanks to his popular turn in Shazam! and success in previous voice roles like Disney’s Tangled. Unfortunately, in the year plus change since, the public perception of the actor has taken something of a 180 degree turn, thanks to his divisive comments on Big Pharma and arguably misguided attempts to defend Shazam! Fury of the Gods in the wake of its box office failure.
To be clear. Levi is still an infinitely better choice for Rocky than Gibson, who’s been accused of everything from racism to homophobia to antisemitism. It’s just bad luck on Netflix’s part that an attempt to avoid one controversial casting hasn’t gone exactly to plan. For Zachary Levi, however, this could be exactly what his career needs, after his DC tenure might have come to an underwhelming end with a recent split-second small-screen cameo.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — we must emphasize, it really is called Dawn of the Nugget — is coming to Netflix this December.