Don Cheadle To Narrate ABC’s ‘The Wonder Years’ Reboot Pilot
Don Cheadleis about to take a walk down memory lane. TheAvengers: Endgamestar has been set as the narrator for ABC’s reboot ofThe Wonder Years, taking on the role of adult Dean Williams in ABC’s single-camera pilot.
Deadline reports that Cheadle has been tapped to narrate ABC’sThe Wonder Yearsreboot pilot, playing the adult Dean Williams in the new take on the classic family comedy-drama.
In a reinvention of the ’80s series,TheWonder Yearsreboot follows the Williamses, “a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, AL, in the turbulent late 1960s [that] made sure it was the Wonder Years for them too.”
The family’s teenage son Dean Williams (Elisha “EJ” Williams) will be the central character ofThe Wonder Yearsreboot, much like how the original series focused on Kevin Arnold, played by Fred Savage. Both iterations of the series are narrated by the adult versions of the lead character, with Cheadle taking on the part originally played by Daniel Stern, who narrated the original as adult Kevin.
Dulé HillandSaycon Sengblohstar as Dean’s parents.Laura Kariukiis Kim Williams, Dean’s teenage sister.Saladin K. Patterson, who wrote forThe Big Bang Theory,Dave, andTwo and a Half Men, writes the pilot script, whileEmpireco-creatorLee Danielswill executive produce the new version alongsideFred Savage, who starred in the original series. Original series co-creatorNeal Marlensis on board as a consultant.
While aWonder Yearsreboot set around a Black family during the 1960s — by no means a “wondrous” time for Black Americans, who faced intense racial discrimination and persecution amid the Civil Rights movement — still seems like an unusual choice for an ABC comedy-drama, which feels unlikely to delve into the truly heinous prejudice that Black people faced at the time. But Cheadle is a pretty big get forThe Wonder Years,with the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated star likely to give some star power to the series beyond its name recognition. And it’s a role that doesn’t require too much of a commitment for the ever-busy Cheadle, with the actor currently starring in the Showtime comedy seriesBlack Monday, and making appearances in films likeSpace Jam: A New Legacyand Steven Soderbergh’sNo Sudden Move. He’s also set to reprise his role as Colonel James Rhodes in Marvel’s Disney+ seriesArmor Wars.
