Glee Has a Reboot Script: Is a McKinley High Reunion Really Possible?

Jenna Barr

Ryan Murphy, the co-creator of Glee, told Entertainment Tonight he had “just finished the script an hour ago”, at an American Horror Story event in New York on Wednesday, Sep. 23. Nothing has been officially green lit, and before anyone starts planning a watch party, there are some things we need to know

Murphy co-wrote the script with Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, who all collaborated on the first two seasons. He said he’s been in touch with around ten of the original cast members, who had many questions but were very enthusiastic about the idea. He also noted that nobody has read the script yet, and no details about the plot or cast have been made public. What exists is a finished script and a lot of goodwill.

Murphy’s reason for this secrecy? He says he wants the cast’s approval first. He wants to write a couple of scripts first to see what people think, “particularly the cast, cause we were very close when we were making it.” 

He has also said the idea grew out of reuniting the American Horror Story cast, which made him want to “get the band back together”. He first got fans’ hopes up in July, when he told People, so many young people now watch Glee  that he wondered, “Maybe we should revisit that show.” 

Earlier, he told The Hollywood Reporter that many people now in their twenties grew up on the show and that it meant something to them. The timing fits. Glee aired on Fox from 2009 to 2015 and won six Emmys out of 40 nominations.

The cast’s appetite for a return isn’t new. Before Murphy’s announcement, Lea Michele, who played Rachel through all six seasons, told E! News at New York Fashion Week that she will “always love Glee.” Jenna Ushkowitz has also expressed willingness to return, while some fans have mixed feelings about a revival. Murphy also took a moment at the event to say he’s rooting for former cast mate Harry Shum Jr., who is currently competing on Dancing with the Stars.

But any Glee return has to face a painful fact: Cory Monteith, Naya Rivera and Mark Salling all died young.

Monteith’s death is the one the show already had to face in public. He was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on July 13, 2013, from a mix of heroin and alcohol, and he was 31. The fifth season premiere was pushed back a week, and the show honored him in the episode “The Quarterback,” which features the death of Finn Hudson and acts as a tribute to Monteith. 

Murphy told Deadline the writers decided not to say how Finn died, and called the episode “a celebration of that character’s life.” In the episode, Kurt says it isn’t a question of how Finn died but how he lived. Finn was the show’s heart, so a reboot that ignores him would feel wrong, and one that leans on him too heavily could feel exploitative. That question may feel sharper given that Michele, the most eager returnee so far, was Monteith’s on- and off-screen girlfriend.

Rivera’s loss is more recent. She was found dead at 33 on July 13, 2020, after disappearing on Lake Piru in California with her young son. Medical examiners confirmed the cause was accidental drowning.

Murphy, Falchuk and Brennan published a tribute in The Hollywood Reporter calling her “one of the most talented, special stars” they had worked with. Santana mattered beyond the show, too. Variety wrote that Rivera took a flat character and made her vital through sheer charisma. 

In 2023, much of the cast reunited at the GLAAD Media Awards to honor the character’s legacy, and Demi Lovato, who played Santana’s girlfriend, said the character was “groundbreaking for closeted queer girls like I was at the time.” Kevin McHale called Rivera “the most talented person I’ve ever known.” 

Mark Salling died from suicide. Having played Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the show, he died in January 2018 at age 35, several weeks after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography. Though many fans still love the character of Puck, they see the actor very differently. A reboot would have to decide whether to mention Puck at all. 

So what could a reboot do? It could acknowledge the characters absences, as the original did with Finn. Or Murphy and his team could recast, which is risky and probably the option fans would be most opposed to. Whatever Murphy chooses will say a lot about why he’s doing this reboot in the first place.

 A Glee return that treats its lost members as an afterthought will lose the audience it is counting on.

Murphy has the writers, the cast’s enthusiasm, and a fan base that never left. What he doesn’t have, at least publicly, is a plan for Finn, Santana, and Puck. The first real test will be how the reboot handles the people who can’t come back.