Disney has found its new Genie, and it’s an actor who’s already familiar with the role. The late Robin Williams memorably brought the crowd-pleasing character to life in Disney’s animated Aladdin film and its second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, but he’s far from the only performer to have played the comedic blue shapeshifter.
Actor Dan Castellaneta, best known for voicing Homer Simpson and numerous other characters on The Simpsons, voiced the Genie in Aladdin’s first sequel, The Return of Jafar. He returned to lend his voice to the character in Aladdin: The Series and several video games, including the first two entries in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Other actors who have brought the genie to life include Jim Meskimen and Will Smith, who starred as the character in 2019’s live-action Disney adaptation. However, a different actor with extensive experience portraying the Genie has been tapped for an upcoming Disney project.
According to Deadline, James Monroe Inglehart, best known as the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway from 2011-2017, has been tapped to reprise the role in the upcoming Disney Channel movie Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story. The actor won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 2014 for his portrayal before moving on to play Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the Broadway smash hit Hamilton from 2017 to 2021.
The film is the latest entry in Disney’s popular Descendants franchise. Inglehart’s Genie joins an adult cast that also includes Emmy-winning actor Darren Criss as Jiminy Cricket, Sherry Cola as Yzima (originally voiced by Eartha Kitt in The Emperor’s New Groove), and Sean Yves Lessard as Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast. Other cast members include Dior Goodjohn from Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians adaptation, who will portray the Genie’s daughter Jennie, as well as Momona Tarada as Yzima’s daughter Zara.
Tamara Chestna, Eydie Faye, and Emma Fletcher will pen the script for Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story. Jude Weng will helm the film as its director, while Mark Ordesky, Jane Fleming, and Gary Marsh will join Chestna as executive producers. Louise Hradsky and Jeffrey Mortensen will choreograph the television musical. The movie’s official logline reveals its plot and the impending threat its characters will face:
“Hidden in the center of each fairy tale is a portal to a secret training facility where the descendants of legendary sidekicks are challenged to join the elite ranks of partners to heroes. When a villainous duo comes to Sidekick Academy, a group of fresh recruits must band together — without heroes, without parents — using only their new skills to save the fairytale realm before it’s too late.”
The long-running film franchise began with the original 2015 television movie Descendants. Director and choreographer Kenny Ortega, known for directing the High School Musical films and Hocus Pocus, helmed the first three Descendants films. A fourth entry in the series, Descendants: The Rise of Red, was released in 2024, while Descendants: Wicked Wonderland arrived in July 2026. No release date for Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story has been announced. Until then, fans can watch all previous entries in the franchise on Disney+.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
