New stills from Disney's Cruella tease what the titular character was like before she went full-villain.

A live-action prequel to 101 Dalmatians, Cruella stars Emma Stone as Estella de Vil, an aspiring fashion designer who catches the eye of Baroness von Hellman, the legendary head of the clothing label House of Baroness. New photos released by Total Film offer a sneak peek at the movie's setting -- 1970s London during the punk-rock revolution -- along with Estella both before and after she adapts her Cruella persona. Also pictured are Estella's accomplices Jasper and Horace, her journalist friend Anita and the Baroness' untrustworthy valet, John.

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Cruella - Estella, Jasper and Horace
Emma Stone as Cruella
Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Anita in Cruella
Mark Strong as John in Cruella

The Cruella trailer drew a lot of attention when it premiered last month, racking up an impressive first-day view count. It also courted controversy by drawing a line between Cruella's evilness and mental health, recalling similar criticisms of the film Joker. "It’s hard to call someone a bad ’un completely when you see them from the very beginning," Stone said, talking about the ways the film tries to empathize with Cruella without justifying her actions. "You know, once you’ve seen the origin story, things start to piece together and make a bit more sense, even though her [behavior] as an adult is not necessarily excusable in any way. I think by the time you get to the end of [this film], you start to understand how this narrative around Cruella developed," she added.

It's familiar territory for director Craig Gillespie, who's tackled stories about complicated protagonists before in the movies Lars and the Real Girl and I, Tonya. “Whenever I approach any character, I try to understand where they’re coming from, which I think inherently gives you empathy,” he explained. “It was important to go on this journey with Cruella. And so the audience, while they may not necessarily agree with what she’s doing, they can understand it, and the choices that she’s had to make, given the situation that she’s in.”

Academy Award® winner Emma Stone (“La La Land”) stars in Disney’s “Cruella,” an all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinemas most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil. “Cruella,” which is set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, follows a young grifter named Estella, a clever and creative girl determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they are able to build a life for themselves on the London streets. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman, a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute, played by two-time Oscar® winner Emma Thompson (“Howards End,” “Sense & Sensibility”). But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable and revenge-bent Cruella.

Directed by Craig Gillespie, Cruella stars Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, Joel Fry, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mark Strong and Emily Beecham. The film arrives in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access May 28.

KEEP READING: Cruella Drops New Footage of de Vil's 'Killer Instinct'

Source: Total Film magazine, via GamesRadar+