There Are 'No Talking Cats' In Hocus Pocus 2, But Thackery Binx Will Return
For as much as humans are the stars of Disney's 1993 box office failure-turned Halloween cult classic "Hocus Pocus," they've got serious competition from Thackery Binx. Of course, it helps that the adorable, irritable feline — who, as seen in the film's 17th-century-set prologue, was once a teen boy cursed to live forever as a talking black cat by the Sanderson Sisters — is voiced by the talented Jason Marsden. The actor also provided the vocals for Max Goof in "A Goofy Movie" and has reprised the role in other Disney-animated projects since then.
"Hocus Pocus" seems to close the book on Binx's story in its final minutes. Having done his part to send the resurrected Sanderson Sisters back to the grave, Binx's soul is finally set free at the end of the movie, allowing him to join his sister Emily in the afterlife. So what's up with the black cat who briefly appears in the trailer for the fast-approaching (not to mention long-awaited) sequel, "Hocus Pocus 2?"
"That's Cobweb!" director Anne Fletcher informed Entertainment Weekly. She went on to clarify there are "no talking cats" in the sequel, lest anyone expect Cobweb to verbally scold the teens unwittingly responsible for lighting the Black Flame Candle and bringing the witchy Sandersons back this time. Nor is Marsden returning to voice Binx in his furry form, although Fletcher said the character will, in fact, be back in some other fashion.
'Billy and Binx, I wanted back'
"Hocus Pocus 2" picks up in real-time after the events of the first movie, with Bette Midler (Winifred), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah), and Kathy Najimy (Mary) reprising their roles as the Sanderson Sisters. Also returning is Doug Jones as Winifred's former boyfriend Billy Butcherson, which makes sense enough. The good-natured zombie merely went back to sleep in his grave at the end of the original film rather than joining Binx in the afterlife, so one assumes he's been napping there ever since.
"Billy and Binx, I wanted back," Fletcher told EW, although she refrained from saying how Binx will re-appear in the sequel. She also referred to Binx as "the heart, for sure" of the first "Hocus Pocus" movie, which points to him getting, at the very least, an earnest shout-out similar to what, say, "Jumanji" lead Alan Parrish (Robin Williams) got in 2017's "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" (to cite another belated sequel to a '90s family adventure). "We're having some fun with him, so we'll see," she added.
Other cast members in "Hocus Pocus 2" include Sam Richardson as Gilbert, Cobweb's owner and head of the Salem Magic Shoppe, along with Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, Tony Hale, and Hannah Waddingham. We shall see if they, Fletcher, and the stars of the original "Hocus Pocus" can succeed in putting a(nother) spell on audiences when the sequel begins streaming on September 30, 2022, on Disney+.