It’s been two years since we first learned that we were getting an animated prequel series to the 1984 film “Gremlins,” and up until now, the most we had seen of the show or its characters was this brief glimpse of a Mogwai that appeared in an HBO Max 2022 sizzle reel. This week, HBO Max introduced us to some of the characters from the upcoming series along with its voice cast.
At the center of “Gremlins: Secret of the Mogwai” is the Wing family. A close-knit family whose story reveals the mystery of how a 10-year-old Sam Wing (future shop owner Mr. Wing in the 1984 “Gremlins” movie) met the young Mogwai called Gizmo.
The Wing family is voiced by an esteemed cast led by Ming-Na Wen (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D”), James Hong (“Big Trouble in Little China”), BD Wong (“Mr. Robot”), and Izaac Wang.
Ming-Na Wen voices Sam’s mother, Fong Wing, a doctor of Chinese medicine. She’s resourceful, slyly funny, and fiercely protective of her family, even her frequently troublesome father. She’ll do anything to aid and protect her son.
James Hong voices Grandpa, a free spirit and self-proclaimed expert in Chinese myth and magic; Grandpa is the elder of the Wing family. He claims to have traveled the world on grand adventures, but nobody believed him… until now. He alone knows the true power (and secrets) of the Mogwai and the importance of protecting them.
BD Wong voices Sam’s father, Hon Wing. The families rock; he’s never believed his father-in-law’s tales of magic and adventure. But when he and Fong become separated from Sam, he realizes the world is stranger than he thought and that he’ll need to become braver to reunite his family.
Izaac Wang will voice Sam, a naïve 10-year-old boy who lives with his family in the tiny apartment behind their struggling medicine shop. Sheltered and cautious, Sam will be thrown into the adventure of a lifetime when he promises his Grandpa he’ll get Gizmo home.
Steeped in China’s rich culture and mythology, “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” takes viewers back to 1920s Shanghai, where the Wing family first discovers the mysterious creature. Sam accepts the dangerous task of taking Gizmo home and embarks on a journey through the Chinese countryside. Sam and Gizmo are joined by a teenage street thief named Elle, and together, they encounter—and sometimes battle—colorful monsters and spirits from Chinese folklore. Along their quest, they are pursued by a power-hungry industrialist and his growing army of evil Gremlins.
“Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” will debut this year on HBO Max and will also be available later as part of ACME Night on Cartoon Network.
