A Glee reboot is officially happening. Disney+ and Hulu confirmed on Wednesday, Oct. 21, that the revival of Ryan Murphy’s Fox musical series will stream on both platforms. The announcement makes the revival the streamers’ latest bet on a popular network series for a new audience.
The confirmation follows weeks of signals from Murphy. Just last month, he told Entertainment Tonight that he had “just finished the script an hour ago” for a new Glee. At the time, he stopped short of saying where it would land. Now the Glee reboot has a home on two of Disney’s streaming services.
What Ryan Murphy said about the Glee reboot
Murphy said he wrote the Glee reboot with his two longtime collaborators. “Brad [Falchuk] and Ian [Brennan] and I, who wrote all the first two seasons, have written something,” he said. “I’ve been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members. And it’s very sweet. They all had a lot of questions, but they all were very enthusiastic about the idea. Nobody’s read it, so I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Murphy did not say which cast members he had spoken to, and no cast list has been revealed. The fact that the writers of the show’s first two seasons are behind the Glee reboot suggests the revival will keep the tone of the series’ early years, when it was a ratings hit for Fox.
The Glee reboot would be the first new material from the franchise in more than a decade. The original series ended in 2015, so any revival would return to a very different television landscape than the one that made the show a hit.
Original cast members respond to the Glee reboot news
Several original cast members have discussed a possible return in recent years. Lea Michele, who played Rachel Berry, told E! News in September that she would be up for a Glee reboot, saying she would “follow Ryan wherever he goes.”
Jane Lynch, who played the scheming coach Sue Sylvester, told People in 2024 that she would “absolutely” revisit her character. Lynch won an Emmy for the role and has remained one of the show’s most quoted characters in the years since the Glee reboot was first floated as an idea.
Not everyone has been sure about coming back. Kevin McHale, who played wheelchair user Artie Abrams, told Insider in 2022 that he did not think he should reprise the role because he does not use a wheelchair himself. “I don’t know if Artie could be in it,” McHale said. “Knowing what we know now, I don’t think I should be playing a character that’s in a wheelchair. So, if they let me grow out of my beard and play a different character, I’ll do it.”
Chris Colfer, who played Kurt Hummel, told USA TODAY in 2019 that a Glee reboot was “not for me.” Earlier this month, he softened that stance in an interview with Bustle, saying he would be open to it. “I know nothing and have heard absolutely nothing,” he said. “I wish I did. It was a really tough show to do, and it would be really hard to do it now that Naya [Rivera] is gone. But I do know that ‘Glee’ fans would probably come after me with pitchforks and jazz hands if I said no. So I don’t know, but hopefully I’ll have more information and I can actually think about it.”
The cast of the original series included Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Kevin McHale, Chris Colfer and Darren Criss. The show followed a glee club at a fictional high school in Ohio and debuted on Fox in 2009, running until its series finale in 2015.
Three of the show’s stars have died since it ended. Naya Rivera, who played Santana, died in 2020 in an accidental drowning in California. Mark Salling, who played Puck, died by suicide in 2018 after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography. Cory Monteith, who played Finn, died in 2013 from an overdose.
Hulu keeps collecting revivals
Glee is the latest show with a revival series coming to Hulu. The streamer will also be the home of a new rendition of “The X-Files” from “Sinners” director Ryan Coogler. Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel are set to star in that series.