The sobs of sad fans may have been heard when speculations spread that Julie and the Phantoms may return following a startling cancellation four years ago.
Julie and the Phantoms (JATP), created by High School Musical icon Kenny Ortega, aired for one season on Netflix and received near-perfect reviews.
The first season, starring Madison Reyes and Charlie Gillespie, received a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with admirers describing it as a’masterpiece’ on the website.
It follows Julie (Madison) as she pursues her ambition of becoming a musician with the support of a band of young lads – who have been deceased for 25 years.
While it was not widely successful, JATP received critical praise and earned three Daytime Emmy Awards, as well as ten more nominations.
Netflix has been frequently chastised for cancelling fan-favorite series for apparently no reason — but this one wasn’t going away quietly.
After months of uncertainty, supporters launched a Change petition to restore the musical series, which has received 330,000 signatures.
Nothing has been stated, but the Hollywood Reporter said that Kenny’s ‘overall arrangement with Netflix is no longer in place’.
That might free up his creative power, allowing JATP to be taken up by other networks.
Fans also noticed Charlie, 25, had cut his typically long hair in a skater boy style similar to his character Luke’s.
Fellow star Jeremy Stada who plays bandmate Reggie Peters also shared a clip of himself performing This Band is Back, a song from the show.
Julie herself, Madison, tweeted: ‘Missing Julie and the Phantoms, I knew what it could’ve been… BRUH 😭🥹 I’m dulu I don’t talk about it cuz it makes me sad 😮💨.’
Days later she confused things further by sharing on X a cryptic message: ‘Julie + Madison = Moth’
‘The answers to your questions are very much in the post, let’s just say can’t give you 1 thing you want but can give another #NewMusicAlert,’ she added.
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Stirring the pot, Kenny has also added a mention to JATP’s Instagram page in his bio for the first time in four years.
As fans speculated more and more online, Madison teased: ‘You guys are making me believe jatp is fr coming back lol.’
Other cast members, like Savannah Lee May and Jadah Marie, have fueled the flames with tweets and TikTok posts.
JATP was cancelled after a single season in 2020.
