“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” Poster Reveals Mysterious New Characters

Maleficent was the film that proved to Disney its live-action remakes and spin-offs weren't just a fluke. The dark 2014 original was one of the 10 biggest movies of the year in North America, and made more than $750 million worldwide. It's also one of only four films Angelina Jolie has starred in this decade. The Oscar winning actress spent much of the 2010s behind the camera, directing harrowing foreign language dramas like In the Land of Blood and Honey and First They Killed My Father. But with this and Marvel's upcoming The Eternals, it's clear she's back in movie star mode.

Disney has released the new poster for the film, and it's clear it won't be any lighter than its predecessor. Elle Fanning returns as Princess Aurora, as do Oscar nominees Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread). Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Ed Skrein (Deadpool) join the cast as two new characters who, like Maleficent, have giant horns. But of course the big casting news is Michelle Pfeiffer as the evil Queen Ingrith. Between this and Ant-Man and the Wasp, she's in the midst of a Disney-powered comeback.

Check out the poster below. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil opens October 18.

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.