The Duck Knight Returns! was everything I could have hoped for and more. I had really high expectations when I found out it was a Darkwing Duck and Launchpad centric episode, and it beat those expectations for a perfect Drake Mallard as Darkwing Duck origin story.
Here is a list of all of the times that the character Darkwing Duck has shown up in DuckTales so far in case you need to catch up:
Season 1 Episode 11: Beware of the B.U.D.D.Y System!
Season 1 Episode 22: The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!
Season 1 Episode 23: The Shadow War!
Season 2 Episode 14: Friendship Hates Magic!
Season 2 Episode 16: The Duck Knight Returns!
Season 2 Episode 24: Moonvasion!
Let us know what you think of Darkwing Duck in DuckTales and if you think he should get his own spinoff series. Comment below or tweet us @DuckTalks
DuckTalks 
Who is the voice of Drake Mallard? It doesn’t quite sound Jim Cummings, but I can’t quite figure out if it’s a new actor, or if Jim is changing it up to differentiate the characters.
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Chris Diamantopoulos…he is the voice of Storkules on DuckTales and the voice of Mickey Mouse in the new Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts.
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I love how Chris imitates Jim when Drake is Darkwing. Those details get me excited about the show!
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Yes yes a thousand times yes! I really want a Darkwing Duck reboot with this new version of him, the way they flawlessly ended the Jim Sterling character and introduced Drake Mallard just made me soooo happy! And then introducing Negaduck the way they did, YES! They couldn’t have done it better! Of course I suspected something was up when Della got upset about Launchpad being the pilot for Scrooge in the previous episode, I knew that was a way for them to allow Launchpad to become Darkwing’s sidekick and I’m just soooo excited! Disney if you’re listening, please please pleeease give Darkwing a reboot series!
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Thank you for your comments Mindy! We know Disney is aware of DW popularity, and we can’t wait to see what they do next.
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I think it would be awesome for both of them to be together.
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Yes it be so cool if darkwing duck got a spin show of his own again i’ve been a big fan of darkwing duck for years
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You guys are the best keep up the good work with DuckTales and many more
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Thanks Sam! Comments like yours are what keep us dedicated. Thanks for reading.
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First off- I just want to say that I’m incredibly happy with the fact that they decided to include him in the reboot. Secondly, The only way they should do a spinoff is if the same team of writers and animators, (And Jim) is at the helm. I love everything about how he looks, how he’s written and of course, voiced. Don’t change a thing.
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If DuckTales can get a reboot, so should Darkwing Duck.
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In my opinion, they shouldn’t have had him be Drake Mallard. He should’ve just been a new Darkwing Duck who the mantle was passed to, a la Wally West or Kyle Rayner.
This Drake Mallard doesn’t come off as egotistical as the original, so its hard for me to see them as the same person, while Jim Starling is exactly as egotistical as I expected Darkwing to be, especially without a Gosalyn to temper him.
Loved pretty much everything else about the episode, though.
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Thanks for the comment Ian. This Drake may in fact be different from the DW we knew from the 90s, but he has some ego. One of my favorite lines in the episode was when LP mentioned Gizmoduck being a hero and Drake says; “I am better than Gizmoduck…”
I can’t wait to see where the character goes.
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Um… You have to ask! DW has been my hero since i was a kid and i got so excited to see him on DuckTales! Ahhh! This is awesome!
Yes bring back the “terror that flaps in the night” and protects this city from evil doers !!!
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As much as I love all the new Darkwing material, I was overjoyed when I saw their version of “The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain.” After “Friendship Hates Magic!” and knowing that a Darkwing movie was planned, I had kind of hoped that Mrs. Beakley convinced Scrooge to produce Launchpad’s fan script 😛
My only question now is: What was Darkwing’s secret identity on the old show, if not Drake Mallard?
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A beautiful, depressing, exciting take on the characters! It reminds us that Negaduck is VERY MUCH a version of Darkwing, arguably the first and most authentic in this reality. I argue that they’ve effectively merged the two Negaducks–regular and Tron-splitter versions. Much like the Tron-splitter, our writers have separated Darkwing into his most negative traits (Starling’s ego) and most positive traits (Drake’s sense of justice) with an overlap of bravery/clumsiness. I love that “Darkwing” exists only because his new archnemesis inspired him. I love that Starling makes us feel BETRAYED because Jim Cummings-Darkwing has been our hero since the 90s (his bobblehead even helped in this Shadow War), which helps us viewers empathize with LP and Drake!
It touched my heartstrings on a meta-level to see Cummings lose both Don Karnage and Darkwing, characters who hold a place in his heart for being “his” originally. But by giving us this story and passing on the helm, Cummings shows he is not Starling–an illustration that an actor is not the same as his character (which was a theme to the episode)!
Finally, just as Darkwarrior has been cemented as Darkwing-who-lost-Gosalyn, I’m starting to see Negaduck as Darkwing-who-never-loved-Gosalyn. That’s why, if we see more of DW in Ducktales or a spinoff, I fully expect to see Gosalyn Mallard in his life. Darkwing cannot be the best version of himself without her.
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Also? I’m pretty sure Steelbeak and maybe Ammonia exist in the Ducktales world. We already know F.O.W.L. is real, and the old TV show clips only had Fearsome Four based villains.
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The Ottoman Empire gives me a Steelbeak vibe.
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I loved loved loved this episode, everything about it was beautiful and as a big Darkwing Duck fan put a smile on my face the entire time, both Darkwing and NegaDuck both being born in this new DuckTales world, they best watch out for these crazy guys. I sincerely hope they show up more in this DuckTales version than do a spin off next. I’d love it if NegaDuck played a big role next season, any one know how to contact the creator of this show to ask these questions? Really want to know if he will.
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[…] You can find our blog listing the DuckTales (2017) episodes here. […]
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