Why doesn’t ‘Return of the Witches 2’ bring back Dani, Max and the others?

SEE ‘THE RETURN OF THE WITCHES 2’

The sisters are back!

The long-awaited sequel to the 1993 Disney classic ‘Return of the Witches’, which has already become a cult movie, has finally arrived. Just in time for the “scariest” month of the year.

If in the original film the Sanderson sisters returned to Salem in 1993, in ‘The Return of the Witches 2’ we will see that three young girls accidentally bring them back to contemporary Salem. They will then have to figure out how to stop these witches thirsty for children’s souls, before they cause chaos in the world.

Fortunately, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy have reprized their roles as sisters Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson, respectively.

That said, fans will have noticed that many of the other original characters (with the exception of Doug Jones, in the shoes of Billy Butcherson) they have not returned – and we’re here to explain exactly why.

Thora Birch (Dani)

Sadly, Thora Birch, who gave us some iconic quotes like: “You are the ugliest thing that ever lived and you know it!“, does not reprise her role as Dani Dennison.

Although the actress was asked to return, she decided to decline the offer due to incompatibilities with her schedule.

“Everybody tried it. Everyone tried hard to make it happen, but it couldn’t be.” he commented later on comicbook.com.

Birch recently admitted that he was “shocked“for not being able to appear in the sequel, revealing that, were it not for those conflicts, she would have”definitely been in the set with the girls.”

With that said, he went on to say, “I can’t wait to see what they’ve done. I know you are taking a completely different and fresh point of view. I’m excited.”

At the time of production, Birch was hanging around the spin-off from ‘The Adams Family’, ‘Wednesday’. on Netflix. Despite that, he had to leave the project finally (after having filmed most of the scenes), for personal reasons.

Omri Katz (Max)

Max – also known as the “airhead virgin” who lit the black flame that brought the trio of witches back to life – He has not returned to the second tape either.

The director of ‘The Return of the Witches 2’, Anne Fletcherconfirmed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Omri Katz, along with other of the original characters, would not return in the sequel due to logistical problems in bringing them all together in the planned new story.

“We wanted to include all the people that the fans wanted and when we sat down to look at all the ingredients of the story, we thought: how do we make this work?” the director said.

“It was very difficult to try to make them a part of it and we talked about it thoroughly. We were trying to stay on track with the story, even though they cameo in cameo form.“

“People will say ‘They could appear in the background!’ and I’m like, ‘Really? Are you going to put the protagonists of the first film in the background and be satisfied? You’re not going to feel satisfied, you’re going to get angry’“.

Talking with Entertainment WeeklyKatz assured: “People have been asking, and unfortunately, I’m not on it. I would have loved to be part of it.I felt bad for the original fans knowing that we’re not in it, because I’m sure they wanted to see us reprising our roles… I think [la secuela] it will be good for everyone who enjoyed the original! I hope the fans go see it. I know I will too,” the interpreter concluded.

Vinessa Shaw (Allison)

3 is clearly not the magic number, since Allison (Vinessa Shaw), who was crucial in helping Dani and Max put an end to the sisters, does not appear in this new installment either.

This is again attributed to Fletcher’s reasoning mentioned above.

At the end of ‘Return of the Witches’, the spellbook makes room for a sequel by opening his eye, (which he does only in the presence of a witch). An old fan theory claimed that the witch he answered to was Allison, who is confirmed in the movie to be a descendant of witches.

In the sequel to the book we follow Allison and Max’s daughter, Poppy. A third movie could mean we’d see Allison and Max again, when her daughter – either by accident or on purpose – summons the sisters once more.

Larry BagbyIce

Larry Bagby played Ice, a member of the thug duo who gave the new kid, Max, a hard time and stole his shoes. We’re not in favor of kidnapping children and feeding on their souls, but seeing him and Jay locked up in the Sandersons’ cabin was satisfying, to be sure.

However, Ice also does not have his cameo.

“Unfortunately, I’m not part of this,Bagby commented, admitting that his agent had suggested him for a small role, playing the owner of the old Salem magic shop.

“I never got to audition for that,” continued. “But it would have been smart – or even playing the police or something.”

On how Bagby envisioned Ice and Jay in 2022, he was haunted by the idea of ​​them being “bad boys, authoritarian, cruel, and thugs.”

“It would have been fun to see him as a gym teacher or a local police officer in the area – or Tobias and I showing up at school. Maybe our kids are now bullies or they’re being bullied, and we have to pick them up from school because our children are being abused,” he added.

Yet another sequel, perhaps?

Tobias Jelinek (Jay)

In a separate statement, Tobias Jelinek confirmed his character’s absence. “Jay and Ice won’t be in ‘Return of the Witches 2’‘” he commented.

Regardless, there’s no sense of hard feelings, as the pair appeared in the 25th anniversary special directed by Kenny Ortega, who also directed the original film.

“It was the first time that the original producers and all the guys were there,Jelinek was saying.Although we are not in ‘The Return of the Witches 2’, we could feel that we had our meeting on television.”

Sean Murray (Thackery Binx)

“Thackeryyy Binnnxx!”

Fans of this witch comedy will remember the 17th century teenager, Thackery, who was sentenced by the Sanderson sisters to spend the rest of his days in the form of a black cat.

While Jason Marsden voiced him in his cat form, Murray played him as a human at the beginning and end of the film.

Speaking back in 2014 about whether he would return for a sequel, the ‘NCIS’ actor said he would be up for it if offered. “If they wanted me to be part of it in some way, I’d probably say yes.“I was telling AND! Newsadding: “‘The Return of the Witches’ has a huge following, and it was a big part of me as a kid..”

Although it has not been confirmed why Murray has not returned, it is likely that, again, it is due to the complex logistics to have the original characters star in the film.

Also, the end of ‘The Return of the Witches’ saw Thackery return to his spectral human figure and finally reunite with his sister Emily, after spending 300 years in cat form, thus concluding his story.

Jason Marsden (Cat Thackery Binx)

Following the speculations that arose after appearing a black cat in the trailer for the sequel, Entertainment Weekly reported that Jason Marsden would not give the cat a voice again.

Marsden answered all the questions on Instagram on June 28, sharing a video titled: “An entertainment newspaper has contacted me to find out if I was in the movie. I’ll tell you what I told them….”

In the video, he told fans: “I am not in the project. And nothing happens. It’s okay.” Then he added that the new movie looked like “fresh” Y “sinisterand hinted that there were no hard feelings and that he was excited to see the end result.

On whether he thinks the black cat in the trailer is Binx, he commented: “Why would it be? She has already had hers.“

SEE ‘THE RETURN OF THE WITCHES 2’

‘The Return of the Witches 2’ is available on Disney+, and ‘The Return of the Witches’ can also be enjoyed on streaming on Disney+.