WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the DuckTales three-part series finale -- "The Last Adventure!" -- which aired on Disney XD and DisneyNOW on Mar. 15.
Launchpad has been one of the most consistently entertaining characters in the modern reboot of DuckTales -- with the well-meaning goof getting the chance to inspire a host of heroes while protecting his family. This element reaches its apex in the series finale and is one of the best moments in an all-around impressive show.
During an exclusive CBR interview with DuckTales, Executive Producer Matt Youngberg and Co-Executive Producer/Story Editor Francisco Angones broke down Launchpad's role in the series finale and how his more heroic side ended up making him the true heart of the series.
In "The Final Adventure!," Launchpad is part of the team sent to deal with the forces of F.O.W.L.. Ending up alongside a bickering Darkwing Duck and Gizmo-Duck, Launchpad comes to believe that the two heroes don't need him around. Soon, the trio are confronted by Steelbeak, one of the most dangerous fighters the heroes have ever encountered.
Holding his own against all three, Steelbeak becomes more dangerous when he enhances his mental capacity with Black Heron's intelligence affecting ray. Steelbeak quickly defeats Darkwing and Gizmo-Duck, figuring out how to deactivate Fenton's suit and remove him from it. Both heroes are soon constrained within a cell, leaving Launchpad to face off against Steelbeak, as well as the mind-controlled Glomgold, Ma Beagle, the Beagle Boys and Magica de Spell.
Initially, Launchpad has no way to keep up with the assault and believes there's no way he can win, but he receives some surprise encouragement from his constrained friends. Even beyond Darkwing and Fenton -- who both tell Launchpad it was him who inspired them in the first place -- they're soon joined by the likes of Penumbra, Storkules, Gosalyn and the Rescue Rangers.
All of the Duck family allies cheer Launchpad on, telling him he has a true heroic side to him and that the unassuming and crash-prone pilot might be the best hero of them all. Embracing this, Launchpad dons the Gizmo-Duck suit and makes quick work of the mind-controlled villains, sending Steelbeak fleeing in terror and allowing Launchpad to free all their allies in time to help save the day.
The moment is the culmination of Launchpad's role in the show, with his infectious optimism helping play a part in the origins of many side-characters, such as Darkwing, Gizmo-Duck and the Rescue Rangers. Angones explained that this aspect of Launchpad was always at the core of their take on the character.
"That was the thing that we set up," Angones said. "It was not an accident that Gizmo-Duck's first appearance was in a Launchpad episode. Any Darkwing episode was actually a Launchpad episode. Because in the original Ducktales, Launchpad was introduced as this blowhard dude who goes around saying that he's a hero, and advertising himself as a hero. And then by Darkwing Duck, he had kind of softened into a sidekick and was a little bit more lovable."
"We liked the idea that he's essentially the Patron Saint of Heroes for all of DuckTales," Angones added. "He's the dude who doesn't have powers. He's the dude who doesn't have a robot suit or weird origin story, but he cares more, and he gets up, and that's what powers him through. And so, after we introduced Gizmo-Duck, we made a conscious decision to have him tied to pretty much every character that you could consider a hero, certainly in the larger Disney Afternoon. It's why he's there with the Rescue Rangers in that episode. It's why he was paired up with Penumbra in that episode, and obviously with Darkwing and Gosalyn. I think that was an important thing for us."
Based on the 1987 series of the same name, DuckTales stars the voices of David Tennant, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, Bobby Moynihan, Kate Micucci, Beck Bennett, Toks Olagundoye, Tony Anselmo and Paget Brewster. The three-part series finale, "The Last Adventure!," airs March 15 on Disney XD.