Yes Salem, they’re back! The Sandserson sisters are resurrected once again in the new trailer for Hocus Pocus 2, just in time for spooky season.
The trailer, which was released at Disney’s D23 Expo Friday, travels back 370 years to a dark and desolate Salem where three young sisters have been banished, forever. A bedazzled witch played by Ted Lasso‘s Hannah Waddingham gives 16-year-old Winifred the key to her and her sisters’ magic, the living book of spells.
Just like Max (Omri Katz) did in the 1993 original, Becca, played by Gossip Girl‘s Whitney Peak, lights the black flame on All Hallows’ Eve and brings the sisters Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) back to life. You know the drill: the sisters must steal the children’s souls if they intend to live past sunrise.
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A feline friend gets a quick cameo, but it’s not the beloved chatterbox Binx, instead it’s Cobweb. A resident of Gilbert’s (Sam Richardson) Salem Magic Shoppe, Cobweb will not be talking in the film but will be paying homage to Binx’s legacy, according to director Anne Fletcher. Another familiar face in the trailer is Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), Winifred’s undead ex-lover, who we see clawing himself out from under his grave reminding Gilbert he’s a “good zombie!”
Matt Kennedy/Disney+ Doug Jones returns as Billy Butcherson in ‘Hocus Pocus 2’
EW previously confirmed that almost all of the actors who played youngsters in the original film, Omri Katz, Vinessa Shaw, Thora Birch, Larry Bagby, Tobias Jelinek, and Jason Marsden, will not be reprising their roles in the sequel. Katz told EW he would’ve loved to be involved in the new film, but praised Fletchers “new direction.” “I feel bad for the original fanbase saying we aren’t, because I’m sure they wanted to see us reprise our roles,” Katz says. “I think it’ll be good for everyone who loved the original! I hope fans will go see it. I know I will.”
Now that the candle is lit, magic deterring salt is in hand, and the Sanderson sisters are back, all that’s left to do is wait for Sept. 30, when Hocus Pocus 2 premieres on Disney+.
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