Glee Reboot Officially Announced, Sparking Fan Apprehension Amid 'Death Curse' Theories

The beloved musical comedy-drama Glee is officially being rebooted, as announced on Wednesday morning via a graphic posted on the show's official Instagram page. The announcement comes despite lingering fan concerns and theories surrounding a perceived "death curse" linked to the series.

The graphic stated, "It's official Glee is returning." This news has elicited a mixed reaction from fans, often referred to as "Gleeks." Many expressed apprehension about the reboot potentially tarnishing the show's legacy, particularly in light of the tragic deaths of three main cast members: Cory Monteith, Mark Salling, and Naya Rivera.

Fans voiced their concerns in comments on the announcement post. One user wrote, "this is lowkey scary. Pls don’t ruin our masterpiece." Another commented, "Terrified. The only way I see this working is with the kids of the original glee club members all on their own journeys in their schools. Please don’t mess this up!" A different fan referenced Naya Rivera's death, urging, "whatever you do, do NOT even think about having santana die on the show."

The original Glee series, which centered on a high school show choir in Lima, Ohio, premiered on Fox in 2009 and ran for six seasons, concluding in 2015. Details about the reboot remain scarce, with Disney only confirming that it is being produced by 20th Television and will be available on Hulu and Disney+.

In September, showrunner Ryan Murphy revealed that he had completed a script for a Glee revival. "Well, funny you ask, because I just finished the script an hour ago," Murphy told Entertainment Tonight. "We have a script. Brad [Falchuk], Ian [Brennan] and I, who wrote all the first two seasons, have written something."

Murphy also indicated that he has been in contact with approximately ten original cast members, who he described as "very enthusiastic about the idea" and having "a lot of questions." However, he cautioned that the revival is not yet guaranteed, as "Nobody’s read it, so I don’t know; we’ll see." He added that he wanted to write a few drafts to gauge interest, particularly from the cast.

The "Glee curse" narrative often refers to the deaths of Monteith, who died in 2013 at age 31 from an accidental overdose; Salling, who died by suicide in 2018 at age 35; and Rivera, who died in an accidental drowning in 2020 at age 33 while saving her son. The series also saw the deaths of several crew members, including second team lead Jim Fuller, prop guy Paul, stand-in Mark Watson, production assistant Nancy Motes, and rigging gaffer J.A. Byerly's brother.

Actor Kevin McHale, who played Artie Abrams on Glee, has publicly criticized fans who refer to the cast and crew's deaths as a "curse" or "sacrifice." "Let me log off today because the way too many of you talk about real people who have passed as a "sacrifice" or a "curse" in regards to a tv show is f***ing diabolical and untethered from any sort of humanity or reality," McHale wrote on X in July. He acknowledged that the cast sometimes joked about a "curse" as a coping mechanism for dealing with difficult situations but emphasized that the deaths were tragic accidents.

"I think it unfortunately is just a lot of horrible coincidences and accidents," McHale said in a 2024 interview. "It's a big cast of a lot of young people and things happen. I think things happen on other shows as well and you're working with crew members and things happen to crew members, you're not necessarily hearing about that."