Disney's Live-Action 'Hercules' Reportedly Changed Following Backlash

Disney’s live-action Hercules reboot may be undergoing yet another creative shake-up.

It’s been years since Disney first confirmed that Hercules would join its expanding slate of animated-to-live-action reimaginings. Riding high on the box office success of Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin (2019), and The Lion King (2019), Disney has maintained a steady stream of live-action adaptations over the years.

Following 2023’s Peter Pan & Wendy and The Little Mermaid, the next high-profile release was Mufasa: The Lion King (2024), directed by Barry Jenkins. Disney eyed a strong holiday run for the prequel to Jon Favreau’s The Lion King, especially after a powerhouse year marked by Inside Out 2 (2024) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) both crossing the billion-dollar threshold.

After Mufasa ended its theatrical run with just over $720 million, audiences looked ahead to the incredibly controversial Disney’s Snow White (2025), starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, which arrived in theaters in March, about a year later than originally announced. It marked the live-action debut of Disney’s first princess, but the movie never pushed past its initial criticisms, leading it to become one of the biggest flops in Disney history.

The poor reception to Snow White led Disney to seemingly shelve its upcoming live-action remakes–of which there were plenty. However, while the live-action slate looked at risk, Lilo & Stitch‘s May 2025 release brought energy back to the projects. Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, Lilo & Stitch took the box office by storm, and is nearing a billion-dollar haul with box receipts of $948 million at the time of publication.

Next year, Dwayne Johnson will return as Maui in the live-action remake of Moana (2016), and further down the pipeline sits the once-confirmed Hercules remake, which has now reportedly changed course…again.

Initially announced with Aladdin director Guy Ritchie at the helm and a script from Shang-Chi writer Dave Callaham, Hercules is being produced by Anthony and Joe Russo under their AGBO banner. Details have remained under wraps, with no official casting updates so far. Fans have long hoped for Danny DeVito to return as Phil, while speculation has swirled around names like Michael B. Jordan and Taron Egerton for Hercules, and Ariana Grande or Dua Lipa for Meg.

But late last year, an update hinted at a major overhaul: the film would no longer be centered on Hercules.

According to Toonado, “[S]cooper Daniel Richtman is reporting that the project has undergone an extensive overhaul, and will now play out from the perspective of the villainous Hades–which may actually turn out to be the title of the movie.”

If accurate, this shift would align the project more closely with Disney’s Maleficent (2014), which reimagined Sleeping Beauty from the villain’s point of view and gave Angelina Jolie a new canvas to redefine the character. Like Maleficent, this new direction could offer a fresh lens on familiar material.

Voiced by James Woods in the original 1997 animated film, Hades has remained one of Disney’s most memorable and fan-favorite villains. The decision to tell the story from his perspective could give Disney a creative edge as it seeks to keep its live-action strategy dynamic.

With the studio often juggling fan expectations and franchise fatigue, a story centered on Hades could be a strategic move. His established popularity gives the project a potentially strong foundation, especially with the right casting to anchor it.

Now, that seems to have changed again, with a new report suggesting that Disney will push forward with a more direct adaptation of the 1997 movie, thanks to the success of Lilo & Stitch. While Lilo & Stitch was not a shot-for-shot remake of the 2002 animated movie, it did have the same overarching story and most of the same characters, unlike Snow White, for example, which deviated from the 1937 story.

“This project has gone through some creative struggles both from the studio side and the creatives side,” The DisInsider wrote in its recent Q&A. “While a retooled Hercules story was the route the creatives wanted to go, the studio has decided the direction they will go is a faithful adaptation of the animated film, which you can thank the success of Lilo & Stitch for.”

Of course, Disney has not yet said itself if Hercules is still going ahead at all, never mind the direction it is taking. The same can be said for Michael Gracey’s Tangled (2010) remake, which was moving forward but then seemingly shelved following Snow White‘s poor performance.

Hercules May Be Going Under a Deeper Creative Overhaul

This new update directly contradicts previous comments from producer Joe Russo, who said the remake would be “a little bit more experimental in tone, a little bit more experimental in execution.” In a 2022 interview, Russo hinted at the musical direction the film might take.

“There are questions about how you translate it as a musical,” Russo told the outlet. “Audiences today have been trained by TikTok, right? What is their expectation of what that musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little bit on how you execute a modern musical.”

What do you think of this reported new direction for the live-action Hercules remake? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments below!