The highly anticipated Malcolm in the Middle revival, titled Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, is set to premiere on April 10 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. It brings back almost the entire original cast for a four-episode limited series. The show picks up nearly 20 years after the original Fox series ended in 2006.
One key cast member is missing, though. Erik Per Sullivan, who played the youngest brother Dewey, chose to focus on his studies at Harvard instead of returning, turning down what was described as a massive paycheck. According to Page Six, Sullivan has reportedly retired from acting since the original series ended.
The new series follows a grown-up Malcolm, played by Frankie Muniz, who now has a daughter named Leah, played by Keeley Karsten, and a girlfriend named Tristan, portrayed by Kiana Madeira. Malcolm has tried to build a calmer life away from his chaotic family, but gets pulled back in when his parents, Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), ask him to attend their 40th wedding anniversary.
Coming back to the show was a deeply personal moment for Frankie Muniz
Muniz shared that returning to Malcolm was an emotional experience. In December 2025, he told PEOPLE that it was “the first time in my entire life that, when I was done filming the reboot, I was happy to call myself an actor.” He added, “I’ve always been like, ‘Oh yeah, I act, but I also do these other things too.'” He also said, “It was just really fun and a really cool experience, so I’m hoping that everyone loves it for sure.”
Muniz also admitted he was unsure how filming would feel. He said he “didn’t know what it was gonna be like [to film the revival] – if it was going to be easy to be Malcolm,” and wondered “if it was gonna be awkward back with the cast.” But he quickly found that “not to sound like cliché, but it was as if not a single day went by,” adding that “All of us, every single person, like instantly fell back into their characters with, I’m talking the first table read.”
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Other returning cast members include Chris Kennedy Masterson as Francis, Justin Berfield as Reese, and Emy Coligado as Piama. As for Dewey, Jane Kaczmarek gave an update in April 2024, saying Sullivan is “very, very well.” She explained that he did Malcolm for seven years, starting at age seven and ending at 14, and simply “wasn’t interested in acting at all” after that.
His role has been recast, with Caleb Ellsworth-Clark stepping in. Ellsworth-Clark has previously appeared in The Expanse, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Fargo. A new character is also joining the family. Vaughan Murrae plays Kelly, Malcolm’s youngest sibling, adding a new dynamic to the already chaotic household.
The official trailer dropped on March 12, opening with Lois shaving a nude Hal’s back while on a video call with Dewey. In the trailer, Malcolm addresses the viewers directly: “Yeah, I look different, but hey, everything about me is different. I have a girlfriend and the best thing in the whole world, my daughter, Leah. My life is fantastic now. All I have to do is stay completely away from my family.”
The series was originally pitched as a movie before becoming a four-episode limited series. Muniz explained in a February 2025 interview with Screen Rant that “It’s four 30-minute episodes, but it’s really one storyline, if that makes sense,” adding, “You’re gonna see everybody and figure out where they’ve been and what they’re doing. And we leave it on a great note, you know, and then we’ll see what happens after that.”
Streaming continues to dominate entertainment consumption, and even online personalities are getting in on the action; IShowSpeed recently revealed how he stays fit without a gym membership, showing just how varied online entertainment has become. All four episodes will be available on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+, alongside all 151 episodes of the original series.
Published: Apr 5, 2026 11:45 am