What are the Villain Kids up to in Disney Channel’s Descendants 2?

With the release of Descendants 2 on the horizon — this summer! — it’s time to check in with Disney Channel for an update on the much-anticipated sequel.

In the fall, we found out about three evil additions to the group of Disney villains’ offspring:

** Harry, the son of Peter Pan’s Captain Hook, will be played by Thomas Doherty.

** Uma, daughter of The Little Mermaid’s Ursula, will be played by veteran Disney Channel actor China Anne McClain.

** Gil, son of Beauty and The Beast’s Gaston, will be played by Dylan Playfair.

Now, Disney Channel is telling us more about how they fit into the sequel’s storyline: “When the pressure to be royally perfect becomes too much for Mal, she returns to her rotten roots on the Isle of the Lost where her archenemy Uma, the daughter of Ursula from The Little Mermaid, has taken her spot as self-proclaimed queen of the run-down town. Uma, still resentful over not being selected by Ben to go to Auradon Prep with the other Villain Kids, stirs her pirate gang including Captain Hook’s son Harry and Gaston’s son Gil, to break the barrier between the Isle of the Lost and Auradon, and unleash all the villains imprisoned on the Isle once and for all.”

Plus, we’re getting our first look at the Descendants 2 movie poster and a teaser trailer.

OhMy.Disney.com describes the trailer this way: “The teaser starts with Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay, who are all looking cooler than ever. We then get a quick look at Mal surrounded by flames, Evie throwing papers in the air, and the rest of the cast busting out some seriously cool dance moves. Most adorable moment: Carlos hugging a dog. Most wicked moment: the brief glimpse of Uma, Ursula’s daughter, at the very end of the teaser trailer. Her evil laughter, combined with her flawless hair and outfit absolutely gave us chills! We can’t wait to see more of Uma.”

In the original Descendants, the story explored the premise that the Disney villains (and some heroes) had children. The group was granted permission by the benevolent teenage son of King Adam and Queen Belle to leave the remote Isle of the Lost where they had been banished and attend prep school with the Disney heroes’ kids. This, of course, led to a battle of good versus evil set amidst the backdrop of typical teenage angst.

Booboo Stewart, Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson and Cameron Boyce will reprise their roles as Jay (son of Jafar), Mal (daughter of Maleficent), Evie (daughter of the Evil Queen) and Carlos (son of Cruella de Vil), respectively. Kristin Chenoweth returns as Maleficent, too.

Kenny Ortega returns as the director, executive producer and choreographer of the sequel, which is as much of an early indicator of success as you can get. After all, Ortega is the force behind Disney Channel’s biggest franchise, “High School Musical.” Since its debut, “Descendants” ranks as cable television’s fifth highest-rated movie of all-time. It only falls behind “High School Musical 2” as the most-watched movie on Disney Channel.

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