Disney+ Is Developing an Animorphs TV Series With Ryan Coogler on Board
Disney+ is developing a TV series based on the beloved Animorphs book franchise, with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler executive producing and writer Bayan Wolcott attached to helm the adaptation of the 35-million-selling YA sci-fi saga.
The news, first reported by Variety on April 3, 2026, marks the first significant move to adapt K.A. Applegate’s landmark book series for television in more than 25 years.
The project carries enormous weight for a generation that grew up with the books. Animorphs was never merely a children’s story — it was a war narrative wrapped in a morph sequence, and the chance to revisit it with modern production values is a significant moment for pop culture.
“The show follows a group of teenagers who uncover a hidden threat lurking beneath their everyday lives, all while juggling relationships, curfews, and the chaos of High School.”
— Official Disney+ logline, via VarietyThe Key Creative Team
Wolcott will write and executive produce the series.
He most recently served as supervising producer on Hulu’s The Testaments and has writing credits on the FX series Class of ’09, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and Impeachment: American Crime Story.
Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Zinzi Coogler will executive produce on behalf of Proximity Media.
Scholastic — the original publisher of the books — is also at the table, with Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman executive producing for the company.
20th Television is the studio behind the project.
Proximity Media’s Simone Harris, vice president and head of TV, and Dezi Gallegos, director of development of TV, will also oversee the adaptation.
The Source Material
The Animorphs series was created by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant.
The first book, The Invasion, launched in 1996. The series ran to 54 main-line books, concluding with The Beginning in 2001, alongside several companion novels including The Hork-Bajir Chronicles and The Andalite Chronicles.
The books follow five teenagers — Jake, Rachel, Tobias, Cassie, and Marco — who discover Earth is being secretly invaded by the Yeerks, a parasitic alien species that controls its hosts from within.
A dying alien named Elfangor grants the group the ability to morph into any animal they physically touch, making them Earth’s last covert line of defence.
54 main-line books in the series (1996–2001)
35 million+ copies sold worldwide
10 companion and auxiliary novels
2 previous television seasons (Nickelodeon, 1998–2000)
A Second Shot at Television
Should the series move to production, it would be the second Animorphs TV show ever to air.
The original live-action adaptation ran on Nickelodeon for two seasons between 1998 and 2000, starring Shawn Ashmore, Brooke Nevin, and Paulo Costanzo. It was cancelled after just two seasons and, by the books’ own sprawling standards, left much of the mythology unexplored.
A feature film adaptation was announced in 2020 but never progressed.
Disney+’s Growing YA Pipeline
The Animorphs project is the latest addition to Disney+’s expanding slate of young adult book adaptations.
The streamer currently airs Percy Jackson and the Olympians, now heading into its third season. A live-action Eragon series is also in active preparation, and Goosebumps ran for two seasons on the platform.
Proximity Media and Disney have an existing TV overall deal, under which Coogler is also developing a reboot of The X-Files starring Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel.
No release date or casting details have been announced. The project remains in early development.
Brief Ledger will update this story as further details emerge.
This article was human-curated and verified for accuracy by Elena Vane after an initial AI-assisted draft.
Elena Vane is an award-winning comics historian and pop culture journalist. Specializing in the DC/Marvel universes and independent graphic novels, Elena has been documenting the rise of cosplay culture for over a decade . She is a frequent panelist at New York Comic Con and provides in-depth biographies of industry pioneers. Elena’s expertise ensures that every comic-related update is factually grounded and community-focused .
