From sweeping layoffs to new higher administration, there are massive adjustments occurring behind the scenes at Disney. There are adjustments occurring on display screen too, although, with none extra obvious than the shocking replace to the primary character of Hexed.
Loads of film tasks endure main adjustments throughout manufacturing, however Disney followers had been stunned when a presentation at CinemaCon 2026 in Las Vegas this month revealed the protagonist of the studio’s upcoming animated film Hexed, out this Thanksgiving, has inexplicably switched from hero to heroine.
The approaching-of-age fantasy movie, set to be Disney’s sixty fifth animated characteristic movie, was first revealed throughout Disney’s Vacation spot D23 occasion again in August 2025, the place it was first shared the primary character within the film could be a teenage boy.
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Based on the movie’s preliminary logline, Hexed was going to comply with “a clumsy teenage boy and his Kind-A mother” as they “uncover that what makes him uncommon, may simply be magical powers that can flip their lives and a secret world of magic, the wrong way up.”
Nevertheless, lower than a 12 months later, a brand new synopsis reveals the protagonist of the movie is now a teenage lady.
Based on Selection, the film will comply with “a teenage oddball and her Kind A mother, who discovers her weirdness is definitely hidden magic, transporting them to a world the place magic can run free.”
The teenager, named Billie, shall be voiced by Hailee Steinfeld (who voices Gwen Stacy within the animated Spider-Verse motion pictures), with Rashida Jones enjoying her mother, Alice.
It’s unclear why manufacturing swapped the primary character’s gender, a change that occurred someday up to now eight months and is now drawing comparisons to already current Disney titles corresponding to Halloweentown and The Owl Home—each about teenage women who’re whisked away to magical realms the place they unlock highly effective talents and kind new bonds with their households, specifically their moms.
On-line, it appears many Disney followers had been excited to see a narrative about magic with a central male protagonist and a concentrate on the connection between a mom and son. That mentioned, it’s doable the field workplace failure of Disney-Pixar’s 2025 house journey Elio gave execs chilly toes about telling one other story about an eccentric younger boy embarking on a journey of self-discovery, regardless of being very completely different tales.
Hexed releases in theaters on November 25, 2026.
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Gallery Credit score: Erica Russell
