Disney's long-awaited Hocus Pocus 2 will see the return of the three Sanderson sisters, but the story’s new villain could be an evil fourth witch. In 2019, it was announced that Hocus Pocus would be getting a sequel. The film’s plot revolves around three young women who bring the Sanderson sisters back once again. After accidentally releasing the child-eating witches, they are forced to stop them. The film is set to be released on Disney+ in the fall of 2022.
The idea of a Hocus Pocus sequel has been floating around for over a decade. Before production even began, the plot went through several major adjustments, and in 2012 Disney was reportedly working on a sequel titled Hocus Pocus 2: Rise of the Elderwitch (via NME). This idea did not last long, however. In 2017, Disney began planning a Hocus Pocus sequel in the form of a Disney Channel movie without the original witches (via Deadline). Eventually, the studio decided on a sequel that still stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy, likely due to audiences being upset over their potential absence.
The casting of Hannah Waddingham in an unknown role has led to theories surrounding a fourth Sanderson sister. Audiences have drawn on the original Elderwitch title as well as the Hocus Pocus sequel novel in hopes of uncovering the plot, and one idea has risen closer to the surface. Some viewers hypothesize that the fourth Sanderson witch will be the sequel’s new villain.
Who Is The Elderwitch?
Originally, the Hocus Pocus reboot would’ve followed a completely different cast and storyline. The unmade Hocus Pocus 2: Rise of the Elderwitch was meant to be the story of a witch hunter and a magical housewife working together to stop a new evil witch called the Elderwitch. The film would’ve featured comedic actors such as Melissa McCarthy and Tina Fey as the protagonists.
The Elderwitch was meant to be just as evil as her children’s soul-eating predecessors, but the plot was completely unrelated. On one hand, it’s unfortunate the story of the Elderwitch never came to fruition. On the other hand, it’s likely for the best considering viewer reception to the possibility of a Hocus Pocus film that expunges the original trio has been extremely negative.
The Secret Fourth Sanderson Sister From The Hocus Pocus Sequel Novel
In 2018, the novel Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel was released. The book included a novelization of the original film and a continuation that took place 25 years later. It introduced Elizabeth as the youngest Sanderson sister who was the exact opposite of her three siblings. She even attempted to stop Emily (Amanda Shepherd) from following Sarah’s “Come Little Children” lullaby during the events at the start of the first film. She was a good witch who wanted nothing to do with her family, but unfortunately, she was still hanged for witchcraft shortly after Winifred, Mary, and Sarah.
When Poppy—the daughter of Max and Allison—and two of her friends were tricked into performing a spell that brought the eldest Sanderson sisters back from Hell, Elizabeth’s ghost returned to help them defeat the witches once again. In order to stop them, the kids had to find the moonstone, a mystical object that could grant eternal life. Once destroyed, the stone undid every spell cast by the Sandersons, sending the wicked sisters back. The moonstone was passed down through the Sanderson family from mother to daughter for centuries before being gifted to Elizabeth. This caused some confusion because Elizabeth and her mother heavily disagreed with one another.
Unlike the witches from the original Hocus Pocus cast, Elizabeth didn’t believe in harming anyone or using her magic for evil, a lifestyle that their mother shirked. Elizabeth was so worried that the stone’s power would be misused that she gave it to her husband and told him to hide it somewhere no one could find it, including her. Later on, the return of the witches’ mother revealed that she passed Elizabeth the stone knowing she was the only one of her four daughters who wouldn’t use its powers. She was so jealous that someone else, even one of her own children, would use the stone that she decided to give it to her misfit daughter, instead of the eldest Sanderson sister, Winifred, in hopes that no one else would ever acquire it.
The Sanderson Sisters Could Be HEROES To Fight Their Sister
Hocus Pocus 2 was announced just over one year after Hocus Pocus and the All-New Sequel’s release, so many viewers speculate some plot points will carry over. Some theorize that Elizabeth will be in the 2022 film in a role similar to her role in the novel, but plenty of buzz has developed around the idea that she could be the second movie’s villain. One audience theory goes so far as to suggest that the original Sanderson Sisters could be turned into heroes, fighting against an even more devious fourth sister.
This would be a drastic change from the original and from the novel, and many long-time viewers of the 1993 family-friendly Halloween classic, which was originally drafted to be much darker, hope this won’t be the case. Winifred, Sarah, Mary, and their comical but frightening portrayal are the reason Hocus Pocus has stuck around so prevalently for nearly 3 decades. Making them heroes is enough to kill the nostalgia-based excitement that has stirred around a possible sequel since long before the young-adult novel. This would also require a heavy dump of exposition for the transformation to make reasonable sense. The little information that is known about the plot has also informed viewers that it will once again be about stopping the three Sanderson witches.
Nonetheless, there is one way an evil fourth sister could work as the new villain in a follow-up to the popular and nostalgic Hocus Pocus movie. If Elizabeth’s character takes on the role of the Sandersons’ mother from the book rather than being a force for good, she could transform into an even more evil Sanderson. The protagonists would be forced to fight to get the stone back from her, and the three other witches would be working equally as hard to stop her from gaining even more power over them.
The scheming trio would still be part of defeating their iniquitous youngest sister, but they wouldn’t lose their comedically nefarious personalities. After the stone is collected, the protagonists would be forced to thwart the witches from the cast of the first Hocus Pocus once again. The three sisters could potentially be obliged to work alongside the protagonists to collect the moonstone only to return to their old ways once it’s within reach. However, if the fourth Sanderson sister is the primary villain in Hocus Pocus 2, an even more likely scenario would see the protagonists racing against Winifred, Sarah, and Mary in an attempt to defeat their evil younger sister and beat them to the stone.