Cruella de Vil is one of Disney’s most famous and, like her name suggests, cruelest villains. The 2021 film Cruella starring Emma Stone dove into the villainess’ origins, but she was still largely an anti-hero as she still had some good in her and was fighting against someone as equally cruel. Tony McNamara, the film’s screenwriter, has teased where a potential sequel could go as it Cruella becomes more of the classic villain audiences know form 101 Dalmatians.
Cruella followed Stone’s Estella, a young woman who has battled her inner dark side all of her life and has dreams of becoming a fashion designer. As Estella plans revenge against the Baroness, her fashionista hero, she creates an alter-ego she names Cruella to publicly battle the Baroness while secretly working for her as Estella. By the end of the film, Estella is no more as she fully assumes her Cruella identity.
In an interview with Screen Rant, McNamara spoke about a potential sequel and where the story could go, especially as Cruella had not yet become a full-fledged villain by the conclusion. “It’s kind of interesting that she ends the first movie, and she’s got power, and she’s got agency,” McNamara said. “It’s sort of like, What does she do with that? And how in your life, if you suddenly get agency and power, do you exercise it? What are you looking for now? She had this sort of family-versus-past thing going on, [with] her made family. I guess [in] the second movie, I think that’s an aspect that could be explored. If there was a second.”
What has made Cruella de Vil such an iconic villain in Disney’s long list of evil doers is she’s not out to take over a kingdom, rule the world or gain more power. No, her objective is to make a line of fur coats by killing close to 100 dalmatian puppies. Cruella did reference this by having the Baroness (and by extension the audience) believe Cruella made fur coats out of the Baroness’ own two grown dalmatians, but revealed it was just a trick as she was not that evil. A Cruella 2 could continue her descent into villainy and explore just how she takes her wealth, power and agency and decides the best way to use them is to skin and make coats out of puppies.
Meanwhile, McNamara and Stone have reunited for his latest script Poor Things, which was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The film was just nominated for seven Golden Globes, including Best Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress for Stone, Best Screenplay for McNamara and Best Director for Lanthimos. Starring alongside Stone is Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, who were both nominated as Best Supporting Actor for their roles in the film. You can read our review of Poor Things here.
Would you like to see Cruella 2? What would you hope for in a sequel? Let us know on our social channels at @flickeringmyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
