The first Cruella trailer that dropped last month shocked the internet by making us side with one of the most evil villains in Disney’s pantheon, with fans jokingly calling the Emma Stone vehicle the Mouse House’s answer to DC’s Joker. That vibe continues in this new minute-long preview for the upcoming movie, inspired by the 101 Dalmatians franchise, which shows off more of the La La Land actress’ turn as the Queen of Mean.
The trailer reveals that Stone’s Estella – not Cruella at first – DeVil starts out in the fashion industry as a lowly cleaner working for Emma Thompson’s icy Baroness Von Hellman, before she receives some advice to embrace her “killer instinct.” She looks to take that to heart a little too much, though, as the trailer skips forward to the newly dubbed Cruella upstaging the Baroness on the red carpet, with the words “the future” painted on her face. “I am woman,” she says in voiceover. “Hear me roar.”
Once again, the promo doesn’t make clear whether Stone’s Cruella is actually going to abduct some adorable puppies and plan to kill them like she usually does, which might be difficult to swallow in this version if she’s being portrayed as a feminist antiheroine. But we definitely get signs of the villainess’ increasing madness and that she’s losing her grip on her sanity, which is where the Joker comparisons kick in. Though it’s more accurately like Joker mixed with The Devil Wears Prada, which is something we didn’t know we needed until now.
Directed by I, Tonya’s Craig Gillespie, Stone and Thompson are joined by the likes of Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beecham and Mark Strong in the prequel film. Cruella is on course to hit cinemas this May 28th, though it’s currently unclear whether it’ll receive any kind of simultaneous release on Disney Plus as with the studio’s other recent movies.
