With the cancellation and scrapping of the live-action Lilo & Stitch lately, this has been stirring up the vicious fandom. Say what-now: Captain Gantu, the big alien villain of the original animated film, will not be making an appearance in the new rendition! And YES, NOW THE FANS ARE NOT HAPPY.
So the news literally exploded on Twitter with views going from disbelief to total outrage. Those following it closely would hear some horror stuff coming from some like Christian Tracey, who had said, “You can’t have a Lilo And Stitch film without Gantu! You had one job Disney, and you blew it!” or Jovan Howard who speculated from his own perspective that maybe it was cost, especially since this movie was supposed to be a Disney+ original before getting a theatrical release.
Things get so weird- some think it may all be a smokescreen. MarioBobFan mentioned that Disney has hidden major characters before in marketing (think Tamatoa in Moana 2), so maybe Gantu is secretly in the film after all. Then another fan Fe@rleSS_A113 offered the theory that maybe Disney is holding off on making Gantu appear in the film so they can save him for a sequel where he’ll team up with evil Dr. Hamsterviel.
Then goes the question if it matters at all. Some, as Wiiknight, just shrugged this off because it is not surprising since other alien characters such as Jumba and Pleakley are mostly in human form for this one. Others, though, like The Amazing Spider-Frizz, have just one question: “Why?”
Scarcely meeting on the other hand, a few weeks ago, rumors about Gantu *being* in the picture had some laying into Disney (or leakers) as outright lying about it. With increasing anger, a disgruntled fan named Samuel drowned the original tweet out, shouting, “You said that Gantu would be here last month. WHERE IS WHAT WAS PROMISED?”
So what? Is Disney really going all in and scrapping one of the most iconic villains of the Lilo & Stitch world? Or could this just be another cheeky marketing ploy to keep the fans on their toes? Either way, the backlash is real and isn’t going away anytime soon.
At least for now, the verdict is still out. With or without Gantu, the live-action Lilo & Stitch still remains in development. But if Disney thinks the fans are gonna let this slide… well, they might wanna rethink that.
And if you’re lucky enough to have caught one of the early screenings, please, drop some hints in the comments (but don’t spoil *everything* — the rest of us want to be surprised). Maybe.
