What is ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ about?

The Sanderson Sisters are finally back!

Almost 30 years after the release of the original Hocus Pocus movie back in 1993, Disney+ will be bringing us the sequel to the campy comedy horror at the end of September. But, whilst we’re all excited to see the witches back in action, what is Hocus Pocus 2 going to be about?

Hocus Pocus 2 synopsis

According to the movie’s official trailer, the sequel looks to bring us all the humor and excitement of the original Halloween flick, with some extra backstory. The film will give us an explanation as to how the Sanderson Sisters came to be the witches that later terrorized Salem in the ’90s, attempting to kill the Hocus Pocus protagonists: Max, Dani, and Allison.

Hocus Pocus 2 will show us that Winnie (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) are given the spellbook by a mysterious witch (Hannah Waddingham) on Winnie’s 16th birthday after they are banished from Salem, during the period of the witch trials.

We can expect to see some experimentation with magic as the girls learn to be witches. Also to be seen is the return of Winnie’s zombie ex-boyfriend Billy Butcherson — talking to EW, actor Doug Jones confirmed his reprisal of the role, hinting towards more of Billy’s history pre-zombification:

"Jones confirms that Billy is still a friendly zombie, and that his backstory in the sequel further fleshes out the soul hiding beneath his decayed flesh.“His hatred for the witches puts him on [the teens’] side,” Jones says, promising that fans will get a clearer glimpse into his past relationship with Winifred “back in the day,” before she poisoned him on May 1, 1693 for cheating on her with Sarah."

Fast-forward to the present day, and the sisters are once again resurrected, this time by two teenage girls (Melissa Peak and Belissa Escobedo) when they light the Black Flame Candle given to them by the owner of the local ‘Magic Shoppe’ (Sam Richardson). In typical Sanderson fashion, the witches are fully intent on once again getting revenge on Salem and taking the souls of the town’s children.

In an exciting parallel to the original movie, we can hope to see a musical number from the sisters once again, with the teaser trailer showing us that the witches are always “looking for the stage”. This combines perfectly with a brief glimpse of the sisters onstage at the ‘SalemScareFest’, so our fingers are tightly crossed.

Whilst the two Hocus Pocus 2 trailers give a clear indication that the movie will be a fairly straightforward, family-friendly Halloween heist, we couldn’t be more excited for what more the sequel has to offer, particularly after so long.

The Anne Fletcher directed movie is sure to be ”delightfully wicked” and full of “comedic mayhem”, so bring on Sept. 30!