Good news for fans of Mogwai and their mischievous Gremlin counterparts, as a Gremlins animated series has been officially greenlit. We reported on the project back in February, when it seemed that the show was all-but-confirmed for AT&T’s WarnerMedia streaming service. Now, however, the company’s given it the thumbs-up, and we’ll see ten episodes of Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai as a prequel series.
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai is being produced by Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation, and will focus on the mythology behind the creatures. Written by Tze Chun, the show will look at the life of the shop proprietor Mr. Wing from the original movies. Episodes will follow a 10-year-old Sam Wing in 1920s Shanghai as he first meets Gizmo, and teams up with a teenage thief name Elle.
Targeting a younger audience, the series will follow the gang’s adventures as they fight creatures from Chinese folklore, whilst searching for treasure and Gizmo’s family. The Gremlins will also be part of the show, this time as the army of an industrialist bent on power. Chun, who has genre and mythology chops, having worked on Gotham and Once Upon a Time, will also act as showrunner.
We’re definitely excited to see this new chapter in the Gremlins mythology, especially given the long wait since 1990’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Potential reboots also seem to be in limbo at the moment, but we know that this series will form part of WarnerMedia’s challenge to Netflix and Amazon, as well as new streaming choices from Disney and other media giants.
As of now, no official premiere date has been set, but we’re hoping to see the new Gremlins series arrive with the official launch of WarnerMedia’s streaming service in 2020.