There has been quite a bit of an enthusiastic reaction towards Disney Channel’s newest original movie The Descendants, so you know it’s going to be getting a sequel.
Even before the movie premiered, those who were fortunate enough to watch it early on DisneyChannel.com started talking almost immediately about how a sequel has to happen and how fun the movie was. The Descendants has such an interesting premise and we can’t help but want even more of it ASAP.
Because it’s such a fun movie and because it literally leaves the door open for a sequel, here are a few things that we need to see (or that we need addressed) in The Descendants‘ inevitable sequel.
No musical numbers
We can’t stress this enough. The musical numbers are the weakest and most awkward parts of The Descendants. We’d even go so far as to say that they were painful. But the weirdest thing is that they’re not all that necessary; the actors and the dialogue did enough to further the major ideas and themes of the movie that the numbers felt redundant. We think the sequel would be much better served without them. (Descendants sequel plot idea: Ursula steals all of the teens’ singing voices? Eh? Eh?)
However, we realize that it’s pretty much impossible for this sequel not to have musical numbers, so we at least ask that more care and taste goes into them. PLEASE.
An explanation for Mal and her mother’s eye connection
Seriously though, what’s with the bright green eye thing? We get that it’s hereditary because her mother has it too, but we don’t understand exactly what it is. Is it a type of magic? Both times it’s used in a stare-down in the movie, one of the two ladies folds. Is it a sign of dominance? Is it a sign of Mal’s potential to go full dark side? We need to know what it means!
An explanation for why Ben roars when charging at things
So, it took us a few scenes to figure out that the weird roaring/growling comes from Ben. The question is “Why?” Besides being a throwback to the (now) King’s days as the Beast, it’s kind of odd (especially when you consider that Mal’s mom can become a dragon but you don’t see Mal breathing fire from time to time). Are Ben’s beast noises hereditary? Is the “Beast” part of his DNA even though it was just a temporary curse on his father? Or was it just some fun Easter egg the creators threw into the story without much thought? We need answers!
More of the teens’ villainous parents
WE WANT MORE KATHY NAJIMY. And Kristen Chenoweth. And Jafar and Cruella because, let’s be real, they were barely in the movie. They were pretty much just in the movie to give us, the viewers, context on why Jay and Carlos look the way they do. It’s these villains who drew us to the movie in the first place. Without them, the movie would just be about some random troublemakers running around and creating havoc. We want to know their stories within the context of the movie and we want to see just how evil they can be. Yes, we love the teens, but give us more of all of the adults!
On a related note…
Hints to Mal’s father’s identity
Though we didn’t think about it while actually watching The Descendants, Mal has to have a father right? Maleficent mentions once in the movie how it’s just her and Mal, but what happened to Mal’s dad? Did he die? Was he a villain or a good guy? We just have so many questions and think that the investigation into who her father is could be super interesting!
(And hey, if there could be some investigating into Jay, Evie, and Carlos’ absent parents too, that would be an extra bonus!)
Continue on to the next page for more ‘Descendants’ sequel wish list items (like more fairy tale characters’ kids)!
Ben making royal decisions
Why did Ben have his coronation at 16 when his father was still King? The coronation of the heir apparent hasn’t happened since 1830 (except for that of the current Prince of Wales in the 1960s). Seeing him interact with his father and even making more decrees of his own may help us better understand why he was crowned King so early in life (aside from the obvious fact that the coronation ceremony could have just been an easy and convenient plot device).
Background and character development for the guys
This is definitely something we’ve rarely ever uttered before: The ladies in this movie got far more character development than their male counterparts. We’d love to see more background on the main (and supporting) male characters like Jay, Carlos, and Ben. Obviously, we want more of the ladies as well, but we’d love to know more about what makes these teens tick since we didn’t get much of an insight in The Descendants. (For instance, Jay is Jafar’s son, so why is he such a klepto? Is he related to Aladdin?)
More of the Isle of the Lost
Not all of us are going to run out to read The Isle of the Lost, the sort of prequel novel that came out this past May, and we shouldn’t have to in order to find out more about the interesting prison island (and who else was being held there until the barriers broke). There’s this whole world that we only caught a glimpse of. We know that the kids have a hard time deciding to stay in Auradon, so what is it about the Isle of the Lost that’s so cool and homey? We want to know!
Introductions to other fairy tale characters’ offspring
Did the other dwarves have kids? Does Cinderella’s jerkface son have any siblings? Is Robin Hood and Maid Marion’s child a knave too? There’s so much potential for the Descendants series (we’re just assuming there will be a series of movies here) to introduce so many fun twists on characters we already know and love by introducing new teens! Besides, the teens (well, at least the heroes’ kids) are all mostly hybrids of their parents’ personalities, so we’d love to see what sorts of kids other fairy tale characters would have!
Another game of that strange lacrosse-like sport
This may just be our Teen Wolf obsession talking, but we love watching big games in our favorite movies and TV shows. The game that the high schoolers play in The Descendants is so new and interesting, what with the cannons or whatever they are, so we want to know more about it! High School Musical revolved around basketball so, since it’s a part of who Jay and Carlos are in Auradon now, this sport can play a sizable role in The Descendants, right?
An explanation for what Mal hints to at the end of ‘The Descendants’
She literally says that we’re not at the end of the story before the credits start to roll. That’s a pretty bold move for a movie that hasn’t been guaranteed a sequel yet. That means that they must have had other storylines and character beats in mind in the beginning, doesn’t it? It was just such a blatant tease to end on that we just want to know if it was included with a specific plot point in mind or just as a giant nudge for a Descendants sequel.
What would YOU like to see in the inevitable ‘Descendants’ sequel?
Related: The Descendants review: Villains’ kids just wanna have fun
