Maleficent came out in 2014. That’s so long ago! Now that we live in a nightmare where every year feels like a decade, five years ago is a lifetime. Maleficent 2 comes out in 2020, making six whole ass years between movies. There are children who will go see Maleficent 2 who were not alive when Maleficent came out, and that is real, not a joke. The joke is that by the time Maleficent 2 comes out, we will all have aged into crones over the course of another interminable year.
But had they not waited six years between films, perhaps Maleficent 2 couldn’t have gotten Michelle Pfeiffer. She was on hiatus for a few years in the mid-teens. She had new movies resume releasing in 2017, so had Maleficent 2 come out before then, maybe we don’t get the all-time inspired pairing of Angelina Jolie and Michelle Pfeiffer, who joins the cast to play “Queen Ingrith”. Pfeiffer teased her appearance in the movie with a sneak peek at her character. She’s Michelle Pfeiffer, she looks amazing even if we can barely see anything of her costume. What we can see, though, reminds me of the Snow White and the Huntsman movies. Say what you will about those movies, the costume design is INCREDIBLE. And it’s not like the first Maleficent was anything to sneer at. One of the best parts of a fantasy movie is the costumes. Even if the movie is bad, there’s usually something nice to look at.
And with Angelina, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Elle Fanning, Maleficent 2 should be, at the very least, a visual feast. And while we know nothing of the plot, I bet there is some conflict between Maleficent and Queen Ingrith. Why else cast Michelle Pfeiffer unless she’s going toe to toe with Angelina? We’re over a year away from this movie but I’m already interested.
