Descendants: The Rise of Red has just unveiled the first trailer, which puts a wild time travel spin on the franchise!
Descendants was one of Disney Channel's biggest-ever original movie hits. The idea was the classic Disney heroes banished the villains to an island. In the present day, Ben, the son of Beauty and the Beast, allowed the sons and daughters of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar and Cruella DeVille to attend Auradon Prep for the children of the heroes. At first having evil intentions, the newcomers were won over to joining the good guys to redeem themselves.
The film's success led to two sequels and an animated series. It seemed to end there, but Disney can't let any successful franchise rest for good. Thus, The Rise of Red is coming for a big new spinoff, playing off of Uma (China Anne McClain), Ursula's daughter, who is taking over the school. She decides to reach out to the long-distant Wonderland and invite Red (Kylie Cantrall), the daughter of the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora), to join. The fact that the Queen runs Wonderland like a dictatorship should be a warning sign.
Red clashes with Chloe (Malia Baker), the daughter of Cinderella (Brandy reprising her role from the 1997 Wonderful World of Disney movie). Too late, Red discovers this whole thing is part of her mother's plot to pull a coup and take over the kingdom.
In desperation, Red and Chloe use an artifact to go back in time to stop the coup only to go too far and land decades in the past to Merlin University, when Cinderella (Morgan Dudley) is friends with the younger Queen of Hearts, known as Bridget (Ruby Rose Turner). Red is stunned to see her cold mother was once a bubbly and friendly gal until bullied by a pack that includes the younger versions of Ursula, Maleficent, Captain Hook and others.
Thus, Red and Chloe figure by keeping Bridget from falling into darkness, they can stop the coup and make a better Wonderland to boot. Of course, changing history isn't that easy, especially when magic is involved.
Expect more takes on classic Disney characters, from a young Aladdin and Jasmine to Rapunzel's daughter, mixed with some brand new songs.
It's an intriguing direction mixing the time travel antics with the fairy tale setting and the lack of original stars like Dove Cameron and Sofia Carson. However, it also proves there's more potential in the Descendants franchise and should make this a notable addition when it debuts on Disney+ this summer.
Descendants: The Rise of Red premieres July 12 on Disney Channel and Disney+.