Hocus Pocus Bullies Not Returning for Sequel

Another day, another confirmation that a fan-favorite character from the original Hocus Pocus won't be back for the highly anticipated sequel. Following the official teaser trailer for the Disney+ original, another pair of characters from the first film have bene revealed to not be returning with Entertainment Weekly bringing word that  Larry Bagby and Tobias Jelinek won't reprise the parts of Jay and Ice for the sequel. The pair confirmed the news to EW, revealing that while attempts where made to try and get them into the movie by their management, it didn't happen.

"Unfortunately, I am not a part of it," Bagby told the outlet, "I never got an audition for that. But that would've been clever, even me just playing a cop or something." Jelinek added, "Jay and Ice will not be in Hocus Pocus 2. The 25-year bash, that really felt like Hocus Pocus 2, because we had Kenny Ortega directing, and it was the first time the original producers and all the kids were there.... even though we're not in Hocus Pocus 2, it felt like we got to have our reunion on TV."

The pair join a growing list of cast members from the 1993 original which includes Jason Marsden, the voice of cat Thackery Binx, and which also seems to include the targets of the witchy sisters in the original movie played by Omri Katz, Vinessa Shaw, and Thora Birch.

Plenty of cast members from the original will return however including all three Sanderson sisters, played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, plus Doug Jones, who played their zombified henchman Billy Butcherson. The new film will see them targeting new characters Becca (Gossip Girl's Whitney Peak), Cassie (Dirt's Lilia Buckingham), and Izzy (American Horror Stories' Belissa Escobedo). Others set to appear in the film include Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, Hannah Wadingham, Juju Brener, Froy Guiterrez, Taylor Henderson, and Nina Kitchen.

Hocus Pocus 2, set to premiere on Disney+ on September 30, is described as follows: "It's been 29 years since someone lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the 17th-century sisters who were executed for practicing witchcraft, and they are looking for revenge. Now it is up to three high-school students to figure out how to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before midnight on All Hallow's Eve."