The Little Mermaid adds to its cast, and makes a huge change to Ursula

The Little Mermaid
(Image credit: Disney)

Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has added to its cast and made a m𒆙ajor change t♊o its villain Ursula.

According to , Jessica Alexander has been cast in an unknown role in ജthe movie. Alexander is probably best known for൩ her part as Olivia in the Netflix/BBC series Get Even. She's also appearing in Kelsey Egan's sci-fi movie Glasshouse, and Ruth Paxton's horror film A Banquet.

). The Deadline report describes her as Ariel's "evil aunt Ursula". In the animated original, the villain was simply a scheming sea witch with no familial relation to the titular mermaid. Ursula planned on taking the underwater throne for herself, though, and used Ariel's wish to walk on the surface to further her plans.

Though for the animated classic Ursula was at one point se♛t to be King Triton's sister, making her Ariel's aunt, the idea was eventually abandoned – so this twist to the mermaid-tale is probably taking inspiration from the previous plan. Plus, part of Ursula's backstory includes her formerly living in the royal palace, which means tweaking her past in this way shouldn't be too difficult, and could make for an even more i𝓡nteresting dynamic between hero and villain.

In the remake, Ariel will be played by Halle Bailey, one half of the singer duo Chloe x Halle. Javier Bardem will portray King Triton, with Hamilton's Daveed Diggs as Sebastian the singing crab, and Luca's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Ariel's sidekick fish-friend. Jonah Hauer-King will play Prince Eric, with Raya and the Last Dragon's Awkwafina as Scuttle the seagull. The Little Mermaid will be a musical, including the original songs as well as new numbers from the animated movie's composer Alan Menken, and lyrics from Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda – who also wrote lyrics for Moana. Rob Marshall will direct.

This is one of many live-action movies based on classic Disney films on the way, which includes the 101 Dalmatians prequel Cruella, releasing May 26, 2021, and a live-action Hercules produced by 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

The Little Mermaid doesn't currently have a release date, but in the meantime, you can check out our guide to all of 2021's upcoming 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:movie release dates, and find the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best Disney Plus deals.

Molly Edwards
Deputy Entertainment Editor

I'm 🦋the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I🔥 previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.