‘Descendants 3’ Announced by Disney Channel

It’s official: Descendants 3 is coming to the Disney Channel.

Disney released a teaser trailer for the third installment of the popular musical film franchise during an airing of Zombies on Saturday night and not only did the teaser confirm for fans that the third film is coming in 2019, but that they might just be getting an answer to the mystery of who Mal’s (Dove Cameron) father really is. You can check out the trailer above.

The teaser is only about thirty seconds long, but it’s more than enough to set up some intrigue for the upcoming film. In the teaser, Mal — daughter of Sleeping Beauty villain Maleficent — is seen walking through the forest towards a mysterious light. That light turns out to be a glowing orb and when Mal approaches, it’s whispering her name. While that might seem a touch creepy, Mal doesn’t appear to be frightened. Instead, she’s surprised and as she looks directly at the orb she only has one question: “Dad?”

The question of who Mal’s father is has been a mystery that fans have tried to unravel since the first Descendants premiered in July 2015. That film, a made-for-TV move that explored the lives of the children spawned by the wicked and infamous villains Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, the Evil Queen, and Jafar, was a massive success for Disney leading to Descendants 2, which debuted in July 2017. The sequel itself was hugely popular, with 5.3 million viewers tuning into its premiere.

While Descendants 3 won’t hit television for at least a year, fans don’t have to wait quite that long to see its star, Dove Cameron, on the small screen. Cameron will next appear on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD as Ruby, the daughter of General Hale (Catherine Dent) who has a strange obsession with Daisy “Quake” Johnson (Chloe Bennet). Cameron’s Agents of SHIELD casting was announced via social media in November 2016 and according to executive producers Jed Whedon and Jeff Bell, her role is going to be a bit of a surprise.

“Who Dove is playing is a wait and see,” Whedon said. “All I can say is we were looking at different people and she surprised us. The role she’s playing, she’s not an obvious fit for.

“But she came in and nailed it,” interjected Bell.

“She’s perfect for the role,” added Whedon. “So, we’re excited about it.”

Descendants 3 will premiere on the Disney Channel Summer 2019.