On Thursday, Disney+ released the first trailer for upcoming young adult series The Mysterious Benedict Society which sees Tony Hale’s (Arrested Development, Veep) eccentric Mr. Benedict recruit gifted orphans to help thwart the plans of his brainwashing identical twin Dr. Curtain. A brief glimpse of Hale in both roles is given in the trailer as well as the series’ accompanying “key art”, which included an official poster, via Deadline.
Based on the best-selling Trenton Lee Stewart book series, The Mysterious Benedict Society has been in development for quite some time and was originally planned as Hulu series. Eventually the adaptation found a home at Disney+ with a cast that includes Hale, Kristen Schaal (Bob’s Burgers, Gravity Falls), Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead), MaameYaa Boafo (Bluff City Law, Ramy), Gia Sandhu (A Simple Favor, A Perfect Plan) Seth Carr (Knight Squad, Bosch), Emmy DeOliveira (Flaked), Mystic Inscho (A Handful of Rust, Satanic Panic!) and Marta Timofeeva (Psikhologini, The Others).
Hale, who plays both the hero and the villain of The Mysterious Benedict Society, has recently been involved in a slew family friendly content. According to TVLine, the Emmy winning actor both created and starred in the children’s animated series Archibald’s Next Big Thing is Here! at Peacock. Last fall Hale’s Toy Story 4 character Forky brought Pixar its first Emmy win for the series Forky Asks Questions and in March it was announced that he would bring beloved Rugrats character Chas Finster to life for a new generation of fans in Paramount+’s reboot.
Thursday’s trailer saw Hale’s Mr. Benedict assembling his team and was peppered with jokes and themes of found family. Despite the lighthearted tone of the trailer, The Mysterious Benedict Society suffered a heartbreaking loss behind-the-scenes when executive producer Jamie Tarses (The Wilds, Happy Endings) passed away in February at age 56. Tarses was seen as a trailblazing figure in television and The Mysterious Benedict Society will be among one of her last credits as a producer.
The Mysterious Benedict Society will premiere June 25 on Disney+, but hopefully a full-length trailer ahead of the pilot episode will bring more Hale on Hale action.