Hey Iger, Enough With the Sequels, Give These Disney Villains an Origin Story Instead

When Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the Walt Disney Studios’ movie slate for the next few years, he made it clear that Disney was leaning heavily on sequels and existing IP. Moana 2, Toy Story 5, and Frozen 3 will all be in theaters in the next two years.

Only time will tell if Iger’s strategy of leaning into fan favorites will pay off for Disney. However, the company seems to be missing the boat on one particular IP that would crush the box office: Disney villains.

Having Walt Disney Animation Studios create animated backstories of Disney villains would absolutely bring fans to the theaters. Disney had success with Maleficent (2014),  but then the Cruella de Vil backstory starring Emma Stone bombed. However, there is a market for Walt Disney Studios to create movies about Disney’s greatest Villains and their original stories.

When Chairman of Disney Experiences Josh D’Amaro announced the “largest” expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, fans everywhere assumed that it would include a villain land. And the excitement on social media was palpable.

So, with fan excitement and a market for it, these are the Disney villains that most deserve their own origin story. This list excludes the villains that already have their a movie and Scar from The Lion King (1994). The assumption is that some of Scar’s backstory will be in Mufasa: The Lion King (2024). 

Jafar

How did a man of seemingly common origins rise up to become the right-hand man of the Sultan? There is something going on with him that audiences need to know.

At one point in Aladdin (1992), Jafar even utters, “You’d be surprised what you can live through?” What? What does that mean? This line is clearly said by someone who has seen some stuff.

The audience also needs some context for exactly how Jafar got his magical powers. He could put the Sultan under his trance, but how did he learn to do that?

And with Jafar would come the origins of his relationship with Iago. Sadly, Gilbert Gottfried passed away in 2022 and won’t be able to reprise his role. However, John Oliver has played a Disney bird before and could easily do it again.

Ursula

How does one become a sea witch? There must be some sort of special training or apprenticeship involved.

It’s about time we got to the bottom of Ursula from The Little Mermaid (1989) and her backstory. Why is she so angry with King Triton? What has he done, or what has she perceived him to do for such a beef?

But even better, when Ariel swims into Ursula’s hideout early in The Little Mermaid, she passes dozens of “poor unfortunate souls” who have been lost to Ursula. That opens the door to dozens of new stories or one big storyline about how each one ended up with her.

Captain Hook

No one seems to question that Captain Hook and his crew are the only adults in Neverland. Peter Pan seems to be the only person who knows how to get there, so how does Captain Hook end up there, and why doesn’t he just leave?

We already know that Captain Hook got his name from an unfortunate incident with Tic Tok Croc, but what really happened there? Was Peter Pan to blame, and that explains the animosity between the two?

And we need more information about Captain Hook’s crew. In Jake and the Neverland Pirates, we get to see more than just Mr. Smee, but not much more. How did Mr. Smee end up working for Captain Hook? Why is Smee always so nice to Peter Pan?

There’s a lot going on with these relationships that we need some context and background for. Perhaps Captain Hook was a banker who got lost in his work, and Peter Pan brought him to Neverland to save him. But somehow, their relationship soured. There are plenty of opportunities to explore the origins of Captain Hook and his nemesis, Peter Pan.

Mother Gothel

This one needs a deep dive. Exactly how old is Mother Gothel, and how long has she been running around in the forest using a flower to stay young?

Disney Animation Studios would have a field day with this one. It could be a deep dive into the science of aging and our own feelings of self-worth, but that would be too preachy, and everyone would hate it.

Instead, we need to know how Mother Gothel first realized that the flowers would keep her young and how she ended up turning evil.

The story could even explore Mother Gothel’s early years with Rapunzel in the tower. What exactly did they do to pass the time before Mother Gothel could leave for a few hours of downtime?

There’s clearly a lot going on with Mother Gothel that only an origin story could clear up.

Gaston

Who better to get a Disney villain film than Gaston? It practically writes itself, sort of. Most origin stories try their best to get the viewer to sympathize with the villain, but in the case of Gaston, we really need to go in the opposite direction.

This would be great if it were played as an over-the-top comedy. Instead of making the viewer feel bad for him, we just hate him even more. He is oblivious and narcissistic, and we love him for it.

Can you even imagine a teenage Gaston? He was this way as a grown adult. Imagine how bad he would have been when he was in his teen years.

Of course, there has to be LeFou. How exactly did these two meet and form a “friendship?” Is LeFou secretly in love with Gaston, like Josh Gag played in the live-action version? There’s only one way to find out.

So Many More…

Sure, every Disney villain deserves their own feature film. Would it be nice to know what Lady Tremaine really did with Cinderella’s father? Yes. And why is the Evil Queen so, well, evil? Of course.

This list doesn’t even touch on the Pixar villains. Sid, or the collector from Toy Story surely has an excellent story to tell.

And then there’s the possibility of a good version of Cruella De Vil or even heading to the animal world with Shere Khan. If you want to bring a more recent Disney villain into the picture, you could do a backstory to King Magnifico from Wish (2023). 

But not every Walt Disney villain deserves their own film, and after a while, the audiences would get bored of them, just like with live-action films.

Which Walt Disney Animation Studios villain would you most like to see in a film? Let us know in the comments.