Moana 2 Directors Break Down Maui’s Big Change in the Sequel

Beloved demigod Maui is coming back for another adventure in Disney’s Moana 2, but the version of the character fans are going to meet in this film will be a little different than the one we all got used to in Moana. Of course, as much as things will change, there’s plenty more that will stay the same.

Maui, again voiced by Dwayne Johnson, is still going to be the powerful, fun-loving demigod that we all got to know back in 2016. But there’s a big change in him this time around, one that stems from the strong bond he formed with Moana.

Speaking to the Moana 2 filmmakers at a recent Disney Animation Studios event, ComicBook learned a little about Maui’s evolution, and how his inherent confidence sometimes works to mask his newfound vulnerability.

“He likes to think [he’s a different guy],” said co-director Dana Ledoux Miller. “Nothing says ‘I’m evolved’ like telling everyone you’re evolved.”

“But in many ways he does have a new vulnerability,” added director David G. Derrick Jr.. “There is that friendship and connection to Moana. So where he felt like he was invincible, when it comes to Moana there is a real vulnerability there.”

[RELATED: Moana Puts Together a New Crew in Disney’s Moana 2 Trailer]

Co-director Jason Hand went on to talk about Johnson’s return to the role of Maui, and how his excitement in the recording booth helps add even more to the Maui and Moana dynamic.

“I would never want to make this film without Maui in it,” Hand told us. “And having Dwayne come back in and step up to that mic and just become Maui. He’s larger than life as a person and that mana comes through in that voice work. And he’s just so much fun to be in the room with. He brings so much humor and heart and warmth. The Moana and Maui relationship, we take it to levels that are really unexpected, and it really grounds the film as their relationship grows even further.”

Another element that shapes the relationship between Moana and Maui is the uncharted territory that they explore together in Moana 2. Earlier this year, Miller told EW that these new challenges push the characters’ relationship to new places.

“We’re putting them through new tests, new challenges, and it really pushes them both to places that we haven’t seen them go yet,” Miller said of Moana and Maui. “It allows their friendship to grow and that relationship to become even more important to them. But it also means that Maui, a character who is so much larger than life, has vulnerability. It’s not easy for any of us to ask for help in our lives.”

Disney’s Moana 2 is set to hit theaters everywhere on November 27th.