Original Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz has broken his silence about the much-anticipated reboot, apparently against the wishes of those in charge.
Most of the Original Cast Returning for Reboot
Last December, it was announced that most of Malcolm in the Middle’s original cast would be returning for the four-episode Disney+ series. Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston, playing Malcolm’s parents, were the first to sign on, followed by Muniz and his on-screen brothers, Justin Berfield and Christopher Masterson.
On Thursday, the actor and, more notably of late, race car driver posted to X a photo of himself alongside Berfield (Reese) and Masterson (Francis). “I was told not to post this yet, but then I remembered the theme song,” Muniz captioned a picture of the three beaming brothers. “I’m just too excited for y’all to see the new episodes and I miss my brothers.” Muniz was playfully referring to Malcolm’s ear-worm theme song, They Might Be Giants track “Boss of Me,” which features the refrain, “you’re not the boss of me now.”
I was told not to post this yet, but then I remembered the theme song. I’m just too excited for y’all to see the new episodes and I miss my brothers. pic.twitter.com/LT2aXgsAOK
— Frankie Muniz (@frankiemuniz) October 23, 2025
But One Major Player Will Not Return
One of the original stars who won’t be returning is Erik Per Sullivan, who played Malcolm’s youngest brother, Dewey, on the original series. Caleb Ellsworth-Clark will take over the role on the reboot. During an appearance on David Spade and Dana Carvey’s Fly on the Wall podcast, Cranston revealed that Per Sullivan decided not to return despite overtures from himself and other cast members.
”I talked to Erik and I said, ‘Hey, we got the show! It’s gonna come back,’” Cranston recalled back in June. “He goes, ‘Oh, that’s fantastic!’ And I go, ‘Yeah, so we’re looking forward to having you back.’ He goes, ‘Oh, no, no, I don’t want to do it. But it’s fantastic that you are.’”
Cranston continued: “He’s actually going to Harvard. He’s really, really smart, and I think he’s getting his master’s at Harvard right now. He said, ‘Oh God, no, I haven’t acted since I was nine or something. So I’m not into it.’…It’s amazing how these boys—who were my boys on that show—are now around the same age I was when we first started. They’ve got children of their own.”
