Why Hocus Pocus 2 Will Feature Sanderson Sister Origin Stories

Director Anne Fletcher explains why Hocus Pocus 2 will explore the Sanderson sisters’ origin story

In 1993, horror-comedy Hocus Pocus introduced audiences for the first time to the villainous Sanderson sisters, a trio of witches who consume the souls of children to stay young. Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker portray the sisters Winnie, Mary, and Sarah, respectively.

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In Hocus Pocus, the three sisters are accidentally resurrected on Halloween by teenager Max who must work together with his sister, a friend, and a magical cat named Binx to defeat the witches.

Although Hocus Pocus wasn’t an immediate Halloween hit, over the years, its audience has grown exponentially, launching the film to cult classic status. In 2019, Disney announced a sequel that would be released exclusively on Disney+ on September 30.

Hocus Pocus 2 is helmed by Fletcher and will see Midler, Najimy, and Parker return to their roles as the Sanderson sisters. The three will star alongside Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, Belissa Escobedo, Hannah Waddingham, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, and Doug Jones who is reprising his role as Billy Butcherson. Hocus Pocus 2 will pick up 29 years after the events of the first film and follows three high school students – Becca, Cassie, and Izzy – who must thwart the witches in present-day Salem.

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In addition to seeing the Sanderson sisters return to the present day, Hocus Pocus 2 will also finally reveal the witches’ mysterious origins. Fletcher told EW that the sequel film will begin with a flashback to the 1600s that shows young Winnie, Mary, Sarah, and Billy. The director also explained why the sequel chose to travel back to the spooky sisters’ histories. Check out Fletcher’s full explanation below:

The opening sequence of the movie, we get some history of our witches and Billy. We get a little kiss — pardon the pun — of the Billy aspect of it and the world that they lived in and what happened to the witches. I always missed that in the first one. Like, what are the witches the way they are? I did have that question, and the script came, and I loved the opening 1600s. I pushed that a little bit more, because I really wanted to point at, ever so slightly…. the idea that the 1600s and the now are the same. There’s no difference. I just want to poke at the irony of it. But, in the joy of the film you get to see the young version of them and have a great time and understand the what and why of what happened to them.

While an image of the young Sanderson sisters (played by Taylor Paige Henderson, Nina Kitchen, and Juju Journey Brener) has already been released, this is the first hint Hocus Pocus news audiences have received about their role in the sequel.

Based on Fletcher’s words and the trailer released in June, it seems that Becca, Cassie, and Izzy’s story may echo the Sanderson sister’s witchy origins. After all, Fletcher stresses in her explanation how the 1600s and the present day are actually the same. That storyline would be completely different from the original’s, considering Max shared no similarities with the Sanderson sisters.

There is another possibility that Fletcher’s explanation could hint at: the events which led to the Sandersons’ witchcraft will threaten Salem again in the present. Perhaps the three witches will return to their origins and not be the final villains in Hocus Pocus 2. However the film decides to handle the sisters’ origin story, Hocus Pocus 2 bringing them back and expanding on their beloved story is interesting enough, but there seems to be a few tricks that have yet to be revealed.

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