King of the Hill is coming back after 15 years with a brand new season of episodes hitting Hulu later this Summer, and the new showrunner behind the series is teasing a tribute to Brittany Murphy and Tom Petty’s Luanne and Lucky. King of the Hill is coming back for a new series that jumps forward years from the events of the original, and with it fans will get to see what Hank and the others’ lives have been like since that original show came to an end. But unfortunately, some of the stars behind that original are no longer around.
While the new King of the Hill series will be recasting Johnny Hardwick’s Dale Gribble as the star had passed during the production on the new episodes, there are a few other characters whose actors have since passed that will likely not be fit for a recast. These are Brittany Murphy’s Luanne and Tom Petty’s Lucky, so fans have been concerned as to how the new show would handle the duo. But as showrunner Saladin K. Patterson explained during the ATX TV Festival (of which ComicBook was in attendance), the team has found “opportunities” to reference them.
How Will King of the Hill Pay Tribute to Luanne and Lucky?
Brittany Murphy had voiced Luanne Platter, Peggy’s niece, in the original series but passed away back in 2009. Her character would go on to marry Lucky, who was voiced by Tom Petty (who died in 2017). The two characters played such a big role in the original King of the Hill that fans were wondering how the new episodes were going to address such a massive absence. Whether one or both would be recast, or never mentioned again was still in question, and that’s only been more curious ever since it was revealed that there’s a big time skip heading into the new King of the Hill.
During the King of the Hill reunion and Season 14 sneak peek at the ATV TV Festival, Saladin K. Patterson teased, “We found opportunities to let them be referenced in the show, so that we know the importance that they had both in the characters’ lives. And I feel in a very respectful way that people are going to appreciate.” While the showrunner didn’t reveal any concrete details about what this reference could be, it does seem like they’ve found a way to respect both the stars and the characters.
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What Does This Mean for New King of the Hill?
As for what kind of “opportunities” that this could present, there are a few ways that King of the Hill could go about things. It’s been revealed that Hank and Peggy are returning to the United States after spending the last few years in Saudi Arabia thanks to a new propane job, and they are now going to spend their retirement years back in their old home of Arlen. They might not be the only ones who have moved away.
It’s entirely possible for Luanne and Lucky to have since moved away as well, and maybe they have found dream careers of their own. This could just be a small reference to how well they’re doing off screen, and really settles it that way. Or there could even be a huge shake up with their daughter, Gracie, maybe even making her debut in the new King of the Hill as a young kid who Hank and Peggy need to take care of. That would present all kinds of “opportunities” to honor her now gone mother and father too. But we’ll see how it all shakes out soon enough as King of the Hill premieres with Hulu on August 4th.
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