King of the Hill revival series is in the works, set to debut on Hulu in 2025, says show creator Greg Daniels, though some changes to the cast are still being discussed.
The show paused while the dual Hollywood strikes carried on, but Daniels says the writing staff is back at work “rewriting the third episode or the fourth episode and getting notes on the first episode… it’s chugging along,” in an interview with TVLine. A premiere date has not been set, although 2025 is possible.
While most of the original cast is returning, Daniels said he wasn’t sure if Kahn, Hank’s neighbor, would be coming back.
“I think we would most likely replace Toby’s voice for Kahn,” Daniels told TVLine. “If we were casting today, we wouldn’t have cast him. But we cast it in 1997.”
Kahn is voiced by Toby Huss, a white actor who originally played Cotton Hill, Hank’s father. While it’s common for voice actors to play multiple roles on a show, several animated shows are recasting white actors voicing minority roles. Hank Azaria stepped down from the role of Apu and Carl on The Simpsons, as did Mike Henry, who voiced Cleveland Brown on Family Guy, and Jenny Slate, who played Missy on Big Mouth.
“Most productions, especially back then, didn’t have the budget to hire a special performer for each voice,” said Daniels. “But it’s different now.”
Also missing from the revival is Johnny Hardwick, who voiced Dale Gribble. He voiced a couple of episodes before passing away in August, and it’s not yet known how his character will be handled in the new season.
Hulu gave the King of the Hill revival the greenlight in January. Mike Judge will reprise his role as Hank Hill, propane enthusiast, along with Kathy Najimy as his wife Peggy, Pamela Adlon as their son Bobby, and Stephen Root as their neighbor Bill. The original series ended in 2009 and is available to stream on Hulu.