Director Anne Fletcher Shares Details on ‘Hocus Pocus 2’; First Look at Billy Butcherson’s Return

We are less than a month away from the return of the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus 2. Entertainment Weekly recently spoke with director Anne Fletcher and she shared some details on the highly-anticipated sequel.

While we know that Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, and Doug Jones are all returning, fellow originals Omri Katz and Vinessa Shaw are not appearing but Fletcher says they tried to weave them into the story but says “it was difficult.”

“We wanted to weave in all of the people that the fans loved, and when you sat back with all the ingredients and story, you’re like, how do we make this work? It was very difficult to try to have them be a part of it, because we did talk about it — painstakingly. You’re trying to stay on track with story, even if they came in as a cameo. People would say, ‘They could be in the background!’ and I’m like, really? You’re going to put the leads of the first movie in the background and be satisfied? You’re not going to be satisfied, you’re going to be angry.”

Anne Fletcher

As mentioned above, Doug Jones is back as Billy Butcherson and EW has shared an exclusive first look at the character, which can be seen below.

It’s been 29 years since someone lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the 17th-century sisters, and they are looking for revenge. Now it is up to three high-school students to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before dawn on All Hallow’s Eve.

Newcomers to the cast include Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, Belissa Escobedo, Tony Hale, Sam Richardson, and Drag Queens Ginger Minj, Kornbread Jeté, and Kahmora Hall.

Hocus Pocus 2 will debut on September 30th, exclusively on Disney+!