Don't stop believin', Gleeks!
A reboot of the legendary teen musical phenomenon many fans have pined for — a revival almost as many have dreaded — is indeed happening, according to Variety.
Disney+ and Hulu have greenlit a streaming reboot of Glee, to be helmed by original series creator and queer television wunderkind Ryan Murphy.
In July, Murphy hinted this was coming, telling People about his interest in bringing back the series and updating it for today's audience. "My nostalgia and love for that show is enough that I’m like, ‘Well, maybe people would like to see a new incarnation of that in some capacity.' So yeah, I love that show and I loved what it became and what it meant to so many people," he said.
Now the question is, which surviving members of the original cast will be returning to William McKinley High alongside the new characters?
Murphy recently told Entertainment Tonight he's been talking with some of them after collaborating with the writers of the first two seasons on a script: Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. "I’ve been in touch with around 10 of the original cast members. It’s very sweet, and they all had a lot of questions, but they all were very enthusiastic about the idea.”
Chris Colfer, who played Kurt Hummel, recently revealed he wasn't one of those 10 actors and would find it difficult to return to the out gay character, given the deaths of co-stars Cory Monteith, Mark Salling and Naya Rivera.
"It was a really tough show to do, and it would be really hard to do it now that Naya is gone," Colfer said. "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."
That's a big change from what Colfer said in 2019: "That's not for me," he told USA Today at that time. "No amount of money can take from me the memories I have of then, but no amount of money can make me go back and do it all over again."
So, no one's saying, officially, who will be brought back, but Out has been on the case for years, even offering our picks for the new cast.
In case there's someone on the planet who doesn't already know, Glee premiered on the Fox network in 2009 and ran for six successful seasons, until 2015, winning six Emmy Awards and 40 nominations. The show centered on the members of a glee club at that fictional high school in Lima, Ohio, their challenges, their romances, and their joy in singing covers of some of the most popular pop songs: "Don’t Stop Believin’," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Teenage Dream,” “River Deep, Mountain High” and “Smooth Criminal,” just to name a few.
The music from Glee remains uber popular today, averaging 4.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, reported Variety.
The other big question, raised by fans who have been outspoken in their opposition to a reboot, is whether a revival of Glee could possibly match the massive cultural phenomenon that they cherished for its blunt, at times controversial approach to teen topics ranging from sexuality to race, from disability to mental health and so much more.
Fan Edward Sanchez expressed his excitement with a meme.
Jack also commented on Variety's post on X: "I'm excited! As much as there are too many reboots/revivals, Glee's last 2 seasons already were rushing to finish after Cory's tragedy, and more followed later sadly, it already ended on a sad note before."
But most commenters had the same response as user saturnspetal: "nobody asked for this mess." Camille Roldan added: "This is the WORST things that they could do... Glee isn't made for 2026. Let's be honest, the jokes or comment of Glee will not be accepted in 2026, and if they change them, it's going to ruin everything. This is the worst thing that could happen to us, real Gleeks!"
"Please don’t!" wrote one fan in response to Murphy's tease of a reboot in July. "The original is soooo damn good we don’t need a new one for a new generation. Let the new generation enjoy the original. My gosh not everything needs a reboot."
"Leave Glee alone," echoed a fan named Lindsey. "Not everything needs a reboot; this show is one of them. Glee worked because it was during a time where the content (unhinged jokes & lines) could be aired without the repercussions of what it would face today. and besides, nothing could even begin to come close to the original cast & the impact they had on so many of us."
A fan on X, replying to another media report about Murphy's interest in a new Glee, raised a question about its creator: "is he not traumatized enough?"
Out has reached out to Murphy for comment.
