Though Will Smith was on the special Aladdin cover of Entertainment Weekly last year, fans were deflated when he appeared as himself and not as the jolly blue version of the iconic cartoon character.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Now, thanks to some leaked promo art, we have our first look at how Smith will look like in his full animated glory. Originally posted to Instagram by @la_stregatta_luna, the promo art is apparently from a set of mugs the House of Mouse is planning to release in an effort to help promote the movie.
After Smith’s human look first surfaced on the EW cover, the actor quickly took to social media to confirm that he would, in fact, be blue throughout the majority of the film.
“BAM!! First look at the Genie, Princess Jasmine, and Aladdin,” Smith wrote in the post. “Check me rockin’ the Top Knot Ponytail Vibes in Entertainment Weekly (and yes, I’m gonna be BLUE!)”
In EW’s cover story on the Disney live-action remake, Smith admitted it was a bit terrifying thinking of the legendary performance Robin Williams put in when the cartoon was originally released.
“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.”
Guy Ritchie is helming the new Aladdin movie, from a script he co-wrote with Vanessa Taylor and John August. The film stars Mena Massoud (Aladdin), Naomi Scott (Jasmine), Will Smith (the Genie), Billy Magnussen (Prince Anders), Nasim Pedrad (Dalia), Marwan Kenzari (Jafar), Numan Acar (Hakim), and Navid Negahban (Sultan).
What do you think of the Genie promo art above? Does it ease your concerns over the previously-released images? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Disney’s Aladdin is set to hit theaters on May 24th, 2019.
