Genie Plays the Wingman in New Aladdin TV Spot

The Genie is getting a whole new style at the end of the month, when Disney's live-action remake of Aladdin arrives in theaters. Replacing the iconic voice of Robin Williams is Will Smith, who will take on the role of Genie this time around, guiding Mena Massoud's Aladdin through the challenges of becoming a prince. However, as we're seeing in a new TV spot for the upcoming film, this Genie isn't just a mentor and wish-granter, but also a professional wingman.

This TV spot, which was released online on Wednesday, shows just how hard Genie will work to help Aladdin win over the heart of Princess Jasmine. Sometimes that comes in the form of an impressive new hat. Other times, it means giving the young man a literal push in the right direction. You can watch the new TV spot in the video above!

Going into this new Aladdin, Smith knew that his iteration of Genie would always be compared to Williams' performance. So instead of trying to recreate the magic of the original, Smith wanted to make his Genie as different as possible.

Last year, when the first photos from Aladdin were released, Smith spoke with EW about setting his Genie apart from the one that came before.

"Whenever you're doing things that are iconic, it's always terrifying," Smith said. "The question is always: Where was there meat left on the bone? Robin didn't leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character.

"[Williams] infused the character with a timeless version of himself," he continued. "I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Williams but was musically different. Just the flavor of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete."

Are you looking forward to Aladdin? What do you think of Will Smith's new take on Genie? Let us know in the comments!

Aladdin hits theaters on May 24th.

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