Official: Disney Casts ‘Star Wars’ Icon Mark Hamill for Franchise Sequel on Disney+

Disney has found its newest leading man, and it’s a name generations of Star Wars fans already know very well.

Mark Hamill has officially been cast in a newly confirmed Disney+ sequel, putting the legendary actor at the center of another franchise with decades of history behind it. The project has been discussed for years, but Disney is finally moving forward with a new series.

For Hamill, the role brings him back to Disney+ in an unexpected way. It also confirms a major casting change that longtime fans of the returning franchise are likely to notice immediately.

Disney Finally Moves Forward With Darkwing Duck

Disney has greenlit a new Darkwing Duck series for Disney+, with Hamill voicing Drake Mallard, better known as Darkwing Duck.

Reports about another Darkwing Duck project date back to 2020, but the newly confirmed series won’t erase what came before it. Disney is moving the story forward as a sequel to the original show.

The first Darkwing Duck produced 91 episodes released in 1991 and 1992. More than 30 years later, the new series will find its hero in a situation he probably never imagined.

Darkwing has spent 35 years trapped in an alternate world where nobody knows about his superhero accomplishments.

Then Duckie arrives.

The rebellious teenager knows Darkwing’s history and pushes him back into action. Their adventure will bring back familiar enemies Negaduck and Megavolt while also reconnecting Darkwing with Launchpad, Gosalyn, and Morgana.

Together, they’ll face a much larger challenge as they attempt to save the universe.

Mark Hamill Takes Over the Mask

Putting Hamill in the leading role also means Disney is making a major casting change.

Jim Cummings voiced Darkwing Duck in the original series. Chris Diamantopoulos later played the character in the 2017 DuckTales series.

Cummings previously said Disney planned to recast the role for the upcoming project. Disney’s announcement has now answered the biggest question surrounding that change: Hamill will become the new Darkwing.

For anyone familiar with Hamill’s career beyond Star Wars, the move makes plenty of sense.

Hamill has built an extensive voice-acting résumé, most famously playing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and projects including Batman: Arkham Asylum.

He has also voiced Hobgoblin in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Skips in Regular Show, and several characters in Metalocalypse.

Familiar Names Join the New Adventure

Disney is also surrounding Hamill with a sizable cast.

Seth Rogen will voice Launchpad McQuack while serving as a producer. Lizzy Caplan will play Gosalyn Mallard, and Lilimar will voice Duckie.

Dan Stevens joins the series as Glade McTowers, Tiffany Shepis as Rosa, and Kathryn Newton as Firecracker. Teo Briones will voice Timb, Tyler Dean Flores will play Pondsy, Katie Rich will portray Officer Shanks, and Nat Faxon will voice Officer Webb.

Sean Tretta and Borja Peña Gorostegui serve as executive producers. Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Alex McAtee, and Gabby Grantham also executive produce for Point Grey Pictures.

The production hasn’t forgotten the show’s roots, either. Tad Stones, who created the original Darkwing Duck, consulted during development.

Stones has praised the new team’s approach to action and comedy while maintaining the Disney heart of the character. He also compared Darkwing’s reinvention to figures such as Robin Hood, Zorro, and Sherlock Holmes, who have been interpreted differently across generations.

Disney+ Fans Already Know Hamill Well

This won’t be Hamill’s first major presence on Disney+.

Fans can already find his Luke Skywalker performances throughout the platform’s Star Wars collection. Disney+ also hosted a memorable return of the character years after Hamill’s original trilogy appearances.

Hamill appeared in The Mandalorian Season 2 finale, “Chapter 16: The Rescue,” when Luke arrived to save Grogu and the others from Imperial forces.

Technology helped present Luke as a younger version of the character during the sequence. Luke later appeared again as part of Grogu’s story in The Book of Boba Fett.

Hamill’s next Disney+ role will be very different.

A New Era Begins for Darkwing Duck

Disney hasn’t announced a premiere date for Darkwing Duck, so fans still don’t know exactly when Hamill’s version of Drake Mallard will make his debut.

What Disney has revealed makes one point clear: this isn’t simply another retelling of the original series.

Darkwing’s past still matters. Familiar allies and villains are returning, but Duckie and several other new characters will push the story somewhere different.

And when Darkwing finally steps back into the spotlight, one of the most recognizable voices in entertainment will be waiting behind the mask.