Say what you will about Walt Disney Studios' live-action remakes, but they've certainly had some success — and especially after the positive response to their most recent take on The Little Mermaid, it's no wonder that more are being greenlit. News broke recently that Disney wants to expand 2019's The Lion King into its own Star Wars-like franchise, beginning with Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel surrounding Simba's father's history, as well as their Aladdin remake from that same year. There may be some doubt on the latter, but it does inspire the question if either of these are actually worthy of the franchise treatment, or if there's another movie that is. If you ask me, there's a film already set to be a live-action remake that deserves a franchised expansion. It's a movie about a boy who went from zero to hero and found his place in the world among both mortals and the gods: Hercules.
'Hercules' Has the Same Potential for a Disney Live Action Franchise
Similar to the other aforementioned movies, 1997's Hercules is already a beloved family hit. Its digestible and entertaining take on the mythology garnered not only critical praise, but also numerous accolades, which resulted in Disney quickly producing Disney's Hercules: The Animated series, a television "midquel" spin-off exploring Hercules as a teenager. There was also a direct-to-video sequel in the works, but it was permanently shelved when John Lasseter took over as Walt Disney's Chief Creative Officer. Nevertheless, having such a successful foundation makes for an easy platform for its creative team to launch from, and it would only make sense as it came from the same era of classics as The Lion King and Aladdin.
Adding more fuel to the pyre of desire, during an interview with the Lights, Camera....Barstool podcast, producer Joe Russo mentioned wanting to create something modernized and experimental which the audience could get lost in over the course of a decade. To do so, Russo also referenced TikTok as a resource in a separate interview. Only the Fates know what this could mean in execution as it's entirely too early to confirm any assumptions, but it's clear that he sees the same potential within the original Disney animated film and its source material. This is especially the case when one considers that the Russos are wanting to honor yet expand upon the original, and he has the plenty of the same material to pull from as its other Disney movie siblings.
'Hercules' Greek Fables Have an MCU-Like Mythology
Hercules is deeply embedded within much of Greek mythology, which is covered nicely in the 1997 movie. Within its 93 minutes, Disney reinterprets Herc's 12 labors as "heroic deeds" and delivers a captivating retelling of his early years and ascension to godhood, but those same stories and others could be expanded upon. It's unlikely we'd get why he actually performed the labors, but there's enough family-based drama between him and Hera, Zeus' wife and Queen of the Greek Gods, that'd provide a wonderful antagonist-turned-ally redemption arc which the remake's audience and crew are already familiar with. A story like that could also segue into a modernized narrative of what we already know surrounding the Disney version of his conflict with Hades.
Herc's adventures as a franchise wouldn't stop with Hera and Hades — it could also expand into much of the other mythology. Side adventures like Hercules' time with Jason as an Argonaut or his rescuing of Prometheus from his eternal torment could potentially branch into not only other big-screen features, but also a Disney+ miniseries.
'Hercules' Deserves an MCU Franchise Treatment
If there's a desire for The Lion King to receive a "Star Wars-like franchise," then Hercules deserves one equivalent to the MCU. Marvel's comics and Cinematic Universe have been described as today's mythology and just looking at Hercules' chapters, the reasons are clear. His story is full of tragedy, drama, romance and, obviously, action. Even if they didn't follow the fables down to the word, the possibilities in creating several offshoots are endless. Hercules has connections with at least three other Greek heroes, two of which he's directly related to, and there's enough mythological material from which crossovers and a few standalone movies can derive from. A Hercules live-action franchise could easily be on an epic scale which the remake's own creative team clearly recognizes.
As proof of the modern-day viability, the Marvel Universe already has its own catalog of Greek Gods and Heroes. Their version of Hercules even shares a bond with many of the Marvel superhero teams, including The Avengers. As entertaining as it may be, Disney certainly wouldn't need to adopt any of the characters or stories, but this furthers the notion that the studios should absolutely take advantage of franchising the very legends that one of their properties is compared with. Anything otherwise would be a missed opportunity.