A zero to hero story is coming to a movie theater near you. In a cover story for Variety, filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo revealed their plans for a live-action adaptation of the beloved animated-musical Hercules which will be “more experimental” and inspired by TikTok, to the chagrin of some fans. 

Featuring classic Disney songs like “Go The Distance” and “I Won't Say I'm In Love,” the 1997 animated Hercules was directed by Little Mermaid filmmakers John Musker and Ron Clements. The filmmakers took the mythology surrounding the Greek demigod and repurposed it into a moving musical tale about the pitfalls of celebrity, deals with the devil, and finding where you belong. Per Variety, the live-action Hercules will be directed by Guy Ritchie, who directed the successful 2019 live-action remake of Aladdin. “Guy is perfect for it because he has a penchant for experimentation,” said Joe Russo, who then went on to highlight the experimental ethos behind the forthcoming live-action remake. "Hercules [will be] a little bit more experimental in tone, a little bit more experimental in execution,” he added. 

Russo pointed to TikTok as a source of inspiration for the adaptation. “There are questions about how you translate it as a musical,” he said. “Audiences today have been trained by TikTok, right? What is their expectation of what that musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little bit on how you execute a modern musical.”

While the Russo brothers are pro-experimentation, fans of the beloved 1997 animated Hercules have expressed concern about the new direction online, joking about the TikTok-ification of the beloved movie musical. “Finally, Disney knows what we want,” tweeted @visimillero. “Watching Hercules in 30-second intervals with minecraft parkour underneath.” Another user, @Nortuet, tweeted “Hades gonna make Hercules lose his power by convincing him to eat a tide pod.” While we're skeptical of a TikTok Hercules, as long as they get the Muses right, we're open to it.