Hocus Pocus 2 will finally reveal how the Sanderson Sisters' witchy existence came to be.
In a conversation with EW, director Anne Fletcher revealed what we can expect from the movie's opening, which will begin with a flashback to 1600s New England, and features child actors playing younger versions of the witches Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy).
And a young Billy Butcherson will also make a surprise appearance years before his unfortunate fate as Winifred's lover.
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"The opening sequence of the movie, we get some history of our witches and Billy," the director explained, "We get a little kiss — pardon the pun — of the Billy aspect of it and the world that they lived in and what happened to the witches."
Fletcher said she always missed the origin in the first film, saying: "Like, why are the witches the way they are?"
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She continued: "I did have that question, and the script came, and I loved the opening 1600s. I pushed that a little bit more because I really wanted to point at, ever so slightly.... the idea that the 1600s and the now are the same.
"There's no difference. I just want to poke at the irony of it. But, in the joy of the film you get to see the young version of them and have a great time and understand the what and why of what happened to them."
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Fletcher also confirmed that there would be some "wonderful surprises" in the trio's mythology, saying they were not witches initially. She also revealed the sister's story would intertwine with the three modern-day teens who resurrected them in contemporary Salem.
"[We] give each girl not only the same colour in the vein of our witches — Becca [Peak] being Winnie, Izzy [Escobedo] being Mary, and Cassie [Buckinham] being Sarah — but their hairstyles in a way are similar. It's a modern-day twist on it," the director said.
"It's the intention of playing into that. At the end of the day, the movie is about sisterhood, it's about sticking together through thick and thin, and being there for one another."
Hocus Pocus 2 arrives on Disney+ on September 30, 2022.
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