Besides lovable little Gizmo, the key character who appeared in both of the original Gremlins movies was Billy, who was given Gizmo as a Christmas present in the first movie and then reunited with him in New York City in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. So it’s only fitting — if a little surprising — that Zach Galligan, who played Billy in both movies, will return as a recurring guest star in the upcoming Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai animated series on HBO Max.
The announcement was made at the show’s Comic-Con panel, where the series revealed several other guest stars: Sandra Oh, Randall Park, George Takei, Bowen Yang. The series’ main voice cast already includes Ming-Na Wen, James Hong, BD Wong, and Izaac Wang.
Here is the animated Gremlins show’s official synopsis:
In Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, we travel back to 1920s Shanghai to reveal the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 movie) met the young Mogwai called Gizmo. Along with a teenage street thief named Elle, Sam and Gizmo take a journey through the Chinese countryside, encountering, and sometimes battling, colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. On their quest to return Gizmo to his family and uncover a legendary treasure, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins.
If the show takes place in the 1920s it’s not entirely clear how Zach Galligan’s Billy will be involved; presumably those sequences will be bookended somehow by scenes set in the present day?
Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will premiere on HBO Max in 2023. The show will also run on Cartoon Network.