Aladdin: First Look At Will Smith As Genie in Disney's Remake

CBR

By Ian Cardona

Published Dec 19, 2018

After the Aladdin teaser trailer held off on showing the Genie, we finally have our first look at Will Smith as the magical character.

In October, Disney released the teaser trailer for its live-action remake of the beloved animated classic, Aladdin. However, the teaser didn't reveal much of anything about the film, save for a shot of the title character finding the Genie's lamp in the magical Cave of Wonders. But what everyone really wanted to see was Will Smith as the fan-favorite Genie.

Now, thanks to Entertainment Weekly's Aladdin special issue, we finally have an official look at the Suicide Squad actor as the musically inclined, all-powerful Genie.

Judging from the images, Smith will appear as himself for a good portion of the film, wearing a costume that echoes the character's look in the animated original. Upon close inspection, the character's signature gold bands can be noticed -- shackles that serve as a prison for the Genie, and a very important part of Aladdin's story.

But fear not, you will get to see the Genie in his iconic, glowing blue form in the film -- eventually. As it stands, the blue form isn't finished yet, given that there are still many special effects to work on. However, director Guy Ritchie assures that, for his vision, he "wanted a muscular 1970s dad. He was big enough to feel like a force — not so muscular that he looked like he was counting his calories, but formidable enough to look like you knew when he was in the room."

Speaking to EW, Smith revealed a little bit of his take on the character made popular by Robin Williams. "The question is always: Where was there meat left on the bone?" Smith says. "Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character."

"I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Williams but was musically different," the actor added. "Just the flavor of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete."

Directed by Guy Ritchie, Aladdin stars Mena Massoud in the title role, with Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine, Will Smith as Genie, Marwan Kenzari as Jafar, Navid Negahban as The Sultan, Nasim Pedrad as Dalia, Billy Magnussen as Prince Anders, and Numan Acar as Hakim. The film arrives May 24, 2019.