Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt Le Blanc are all coming back for Friends reunion special

Since Friends concluded in 2004, hopes and rumours about a reunion have been loudly voiced by fans. They just didn’t want it to end, even after 236 episodes. The sitcom continues to fill TV schedules, and even found a place on Netflix before HBO’s streaming service, HBO Max, bought the rights for $425 million. That momentous purchase ignited more credible whispers of a Friends reunion.

Finally, after 15 years of prayers, dead ends and endless repeats, HBO have announced that the six funny Manhattanites are returning for a one-off special. Could we be any more surprised?

What’s the Friends reunion special story?

At the time of publishing, the script hasn’t yet been written – so it's all theory at this point. We’re guessing that the children will play a significant part in the special. In the series finale, Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) adopted twin babies who, by now, will be Gen-Z teenagers; the same goes for Emma, the daughter of Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston).

And let’s not forget Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Mike (Paul Rudd), who wanted ‘a whole bunch’ of kids and to raise them to sing like the von Trapp family. Considering Pheebs gave birth to her brother’s triplets (not as gross as it sounds), parenthood will probably suit her – though they’ll probably be very strange kids.

And what about Joey (Matt Le Blanc)? Will he be the only childless member of the Friends clan? If the Joey spin-off is considered part of the Friends canon, he was last seen trying to make it as an actor in Los Angeles, while also being in a serious relationship. Has he found fame and love at last?

Who will be in the Friends reunion special?

All the main cast announced their involvement via their Instagram accounts, with a reported payment of $2.5 million each. With the chief characters confirmed, who else could return?

Cole Sprouse, who played Ross’s first child Ben, continued child acting in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on Disney Channel and can now be seen in Netflix’s Riverdale. Considering the number of kids likely to feature, it’d be a shame if he wasn’t involved.

Will Paul Rudd, whose career has since launched into the multiverse as Ant-Man in the Marvel movies, come back as Phoebe’s pianist husband?

And what about Anna Farris – will she return to play the birth mother of Monica and Chandler’s adopted twins?

What’s the Friends reunion special release date?

Considering there’s no script or title, the announcement of an air date is way, way in the future. Marking 30 years since the pilot aired, 2024 would be a great year to release it. But will HBO wait that long to treat us, considering how much they’ve spent on the series? One thing’s for certain: Friends fans will wait as long as it takes.