Disney has released a new trailer for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. The sequel to the 2014 spin on Sleeping Beauty has Angelina Jolie reprising her role as the misunderstood sorceress and this time putting her at the center of a new battle to protect the magical creatures from humans. Now having taken Aurora under her wing, Maleficent has become protective. When Aurora finds a suitor she’d like to marry, a battle between Maleficent and the girls’s soon-to-be-mother-in-law (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) ensues. And on top of all that, this trailer reveals that the film also aims to dig deeper into Maleficent’s origin story.
Maleficent 2 has been in development for years, with Disney basically holding the door open for when/if Jolie ever wanted to return. She finally said yes, but times have changed. Maleficent was one of the first Disney live-action “remakes” to be released, but we’re now in the wake of mega-nostalgia successes like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, so I’m unsure of the prospects of this sequel. Moreover, while I like the idea of Disney telling unique stories related to their classic films, the Maleficent franchise just seems kind of… boring. This trailer does the sequel no favors, as it brings to mind another star-studded fantasy sequel that landed with a thud: The Huntsman: Winter’s War.
Anyway, check out the Maleficent: Mistress of Evil trailer below. The film opens October 18th and also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sam Riley, Harris Dickinson, Ed Skrein, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville.
