Netflix is bringing back one of cinema's most recognizable voices — with the help of artificial intelligence, and the blessing of the actor's family.
The show
The streaming service says "Wonka's The Golden Ticket," a competition series set inside a recreated chocolate factory, will use AI to reproduce the voice of Gene Wilder, who played the candy maker in the 1971 film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." Wilder's voice serves as narrator and guide as pairs of contestants take on a series of challenges, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The series is due to premiere on September 23, 2026, with its first episodes released together and a finale to follow, according to Deadline.
Netflix and the producers, Eureka Productions, said they obtained permission from Wilder's estate and worked with the AI audio company ElevenLabs to reconstruct his voice from the original film. Wilder died in 2016.
The family's blessing
Wilder's widow, Karen B. Wilder, endorsed the project in a statement. "We are delighted that Wonka's The Golden Ticket celebrates the warmth and imagination that he brought to the role," she said, adding that it would introduce his performance "to a new generation while honoring the fans who have cherished it for decades."
That approval sets the series apart from AI recreations made without a family's involvement. But it has not settled the larger questions the technology raises.
A growing debate
The Wonka show is one of several recent projects to digitally revive late actors. Studios and filmmakers have used AI and visual effects to reproduce the images or voices of performers who have died, and the practice has drawn both interest and unease across the entertainment industry.
Supporters argue that, when a family or estate consents, the technology can preserve a performer's legacy and bring beloved work to new audiences. Critics counter that consent from relatives cannot substitute for the wishes of the performer, who had no way to agree to appear in productions made after their death, and they warn about the risk of misuse as the tools become more capable and widespread.
Rules catching up
Actors' representatives and lawmakers have begun to respond. The performers' union SAG-AFTRA has pushed for stronger protections around digital replicas of performers, living and dead, and states including California and New York have adopted laws restricting the use of a deceased performer's likeness or voice without the consent of their estate.
Those measures aim to balance new creative possibilities against performers' rights, though how they are interpreted and enforced is still developing. The Wilder project, undertaken with his estate's approval, fits within that emerging framework — but it will also serve as a prominent test of how audiences feel about hearing a familiar voice, decades on, generated by a machine.
