Disney and Guy Ritchie’s live-action take on Aladdin, the classic love story sprinkled with a hint of magic, had the lid blown off of it late last year, and though the reaction to everything we saw was generally pretty positive, the internet seemed to be a little bit split over Will Smith’s portrayal of the world-famous Genie.
Though no one had any issue with the actor himself or the performance he looks to be giving, many people noticed that Smith’s Genie wasn’t bright blue. Yes, one of the most striking features of Robin Williams’ version of the character was how he stood out against the dusty yellow and brown surroundings of Agrabah, and given that Smith’s iteration appeared pretty human-like in the recent trailer and photos, fans were concerned.
To his credit, Will Smith has since gone on record to assure us that his genie will manifest as a blue, god-like deity throughout the movie, and now, we’ve got an idea of what that may look like thanks to the promo art down below. Though it’s far from an official glimpse of how the Genie will appear in the film, it does at least paint a bit of a picture of what may be in store for us.
Again, it’s far from the best look at the blue version of this beloved character, but with Aladdin quickly approaching its May 24th release, we’ll surely get something a bit better sooner rather than later. With any luck, the Super Bowl next month may bring with it a new trailer for the film, as that’d be as good a place as any to debut the first official glimpse of the Genie in all his glory.
In the meantime, we can tell you that Ritchie and his team have promised to deliver a modern-day yarn with Aladdin which is both nuanced and faithful to the original. And given how beloved that film is, Disney’s going to have to really hit it out of the park with this one in order to please fans.
That being said, none of their live-action remakes have disappointed so far, and we have no reason to think that’s about to change. Regardless, we’ll get to see for ourselves if this is another smash hit for the studio when Aladdin shows viewers a whole new world on May 24th.