The cast of Maleficent 2 just got an exciting new addition. According to the Hollywood Reporter , Michelle Pfeiffer will appear alongside Angelina Jolie in the follow-up to the 2014 live-action Disney film.
The only detail shared about Michelle Pfeiffer’s character in Maleficent 2 is that she will be a queen . In addition to Jolie, the returning cast includes Elle Fanning, who will reprise her role as Princess Aurora. Joachim Ronning ( Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales ) is directing the sequel, which was penned by Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton.
The original Maleficent movie took Disney’s animated classic Sleeping Beauty and gave it a new twist by making the titular dark fairy a sympathetic character. In the film, Jolie’s Maleficent is a nature-loving winged being who falls in love with a human named Stefan (Sharlto Copley), only to be betrayed by him when his thirst for power drives him to cut off her wings. After Stefan becomes king, she seeks revenge by casting a sleeping curse on his daughter, Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning).
Because of Stefan’s betrayal, Maleficent comes to believe that true love does not exist. However, she changes her tune when Aurora befriends her. Maleficent develops motherly feelings for the girl, and she desperately tries to undo the curse that will make her fall into a deep sleep on her sixteenth birthday. However, she can’t prevent the curse from happening; she can only break it with true love’s kiss. She awakens the princess by kissing her on the forehead.
ICYMI: #AntMan2 star Michelle Pfeiffer in talks to join Angelina Jolie in Disney’s #Maleficent sequel: https://t.co/aXV5yRxrH6 pic.twitter.com/9loGQJtfBb
— ComicBook.com (@ComicBook) April 28, 2018
The film’s happy ending didn’t include Princess Aurora marrying a prince. Instead, the single royal was crowned queen after her father perished battling Maleficent. So far, there’s been no word on whether actor Brenton Thwaites will be reprising his role as Prince Phillip, Aurora’s love interest whose kiss failed to wake her up.
It’s possible that the sequel will present a new threat to Aurora’s kingdom. Earlier this month, Variety reported that 35-year-old Deadpool actor Ed Skrein was in negotiations to play the movie’s villain. No details about his role were revealed, but he’s the right age to play the son of 59-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer’s queen character.
. @edskrein to play villain in ‘Maleficent’ sequel https://t.co/GcMIHi2RAi pic.twitter.com/zWFPPEIk36
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 17, 2018
This won’t be Michelle Pfeiffer’s first foray into the fairytale genre. In 2007, she played a evil witch named Lamia in the film adaptation of the Neil Gaiman fantasy novel Stardust .
