James Wan's Disney cult classic fantasy series reboot is no longer moving forward.

As a prolific director, writer, and producer, James Wan's horror franchises include Insidious, Saw, and The Conjuring. In addition to these franchises, his production company, Atomic Monster, has worked on M3GAN, Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, Osgood Perkins' The Monkey, Lee Cronin's The Mummy, and Backrooms. He is also known for directing Jason Momoa's Aquaman, which grossed $1.152 billion worldwide, and its sequel, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

At Fan Expo Chicago 2026, Gargoyles creator Greg Weisman shared with ComicsOnline that Wan's live-action reboot series is "dead." He acknowledged that Atomic Monster had a license to develop the show for Disney+ while clarifying that he does not know if there are any plans for the franchise to continue in animation. Check out Weisman's comments below:

Well, I know the live-action side of it is, uh, the Atomic Monster had the license to develop a live-action Gargoyles for Disney+, and that’s dead. I have no idea about animation, but there are no current plans for live-action.

Weisman created the cult classic animated fantasy series that ran for three seasons from 1994-1997, which was centered on gargoyles that find themselves in modern-day New York City and secretly defend it at night. In 2023, it was announced that a live-action reboot was in early development by Annabelle writer Gary Dauberman and Wan's Atomic Monster. Dauberman was slated to serve as the showrunner, along with writing and executive producing. He previously worked with Atomic Monster on Annabelle: Creation, The Nun, Annabelle Comes Home, Salem's Lot, and The Nun II.

The live-action Gargoyles reboot would have focused on Goliath, the final member of a heroic race of gargoyles. After being freed from a curse that turned him into stone for hundreds of years, he would have worked to solve past mysteries while protecting present-day New York City with the help of a police detective named Elisa Maza.

The voice cast for the original Gargoyles series included Keith David, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Jeff Bennett, Bill Fagerbakke, Thom Adcox-Hernandez, Ed Asner, Frank Welker, Bridgitte Bako, Marina Sirtis, and Jonathan Frakes. In this version of the story, David voiced Goliath and Richardson-Whitfield voiced Maza. No actors were ever confirmed to be attached to Wan and Dauberman's live-action reboot series.

An exact reason for the cancellation of the live-action Gargoyles has not been given, but it follows in the footsteps of Disney+ becoming more selective about streaming expansions of its IP. After expanding on a wide range of IPs, including several lesser-known ones in the streamer's earlier years, they are greenlighting fewer of these series now. Even for Star Wars and Marvel, nothing on the live-action TV side is confirmed after Ahsoka season 2 and Daredevil: Born Again season 3.

While the live-action Gargoyles is no longer happening, Wan and Dauberman have many other projects on the way. Wan is a producer of Other Mommy, the Jessica Chastain-led horror movie whose trailer terrified theatrical audiences this past summer, and he is also producing The Revenge of La Llorona and Paranormal Activity 8. Dauberman co-wrote the story for the upcoming Street Fighter movie, is writing the screenplay for Five Nights at Freddy's 3, and wrote the script for the Helldivers film adaptation.

Gargoyles (1994) TV Show Poster
Gargoyles
TV Show(s)
Gargoyles
Video Game(s)
Gargoyles, Gargoyles Remastered
First TV Show
Gargoyles
Cast
Keith David, Salli Richardson, Jeff Bennett, Frank Welker, Ed Asner, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Thom Adcox-Hernandez, Brigitte Bako
Created by
Greg Weisman
Latest TV Show
Gargoyles