Frozen 3's Villain Reveal Fixes A Disney Sequel Problem (& May Debunk A Major Theory)

The first look at Disney’s hotly-anticipated Frozen III is already promising to address one of the biggest drop-offs from the first movie. As well as revealing first looks at the newly redesigned lead characters, Disney’s presentation at D23 revealed some of the movie’s story, with Anna and Kristoff’s wedding at the heart of the action. And while Frozen II heavily built on the identity-based narrative of Elsa’s storyline in the first movie, the Frozen III D23 footage confirmed that the franchise is returning to one creative choice that made the original so great.

Despite making $1.4 billion – somewhat predictably – Frozen II wasn’t quite the wholesale success it might have been. The original became an instant cultural legend, with multiple earworm songs, and a tidal wave of marketing power that inevitably lit the beacons for a franchise, and rightly so. The first sequel, while still a great movie in its own right, simply hasn’t achieved the same level of cultural footprint and that’s at least partly down to the sequel’s creative choice to throw out a tried-and-tested Disney formula that the upcoming Frozen 3 is actively addressing: the use of a real villain. And that should be great news for the threequel.

Frozen 3’s Villain Avoids A Big Frozen 2 Problem

Frozen II was a good sequel, but it never quite hit the heights of the original. The songs weren’t instant earworms, the story is more difficult to recall in as precise detail as the more conventional original, and the new elements didn’t exactly land the same way. The natural response for other threequels in the same circumstances has been to double down on what originally worked, while dialing things up. That doesn’t always work, because it ignores why the original magic landed so well. But Disney’s reintroduction of a real villain is the kind of smart decision that could mean we get another truly great Frozen movie.

Great Disney movie villains change everything: releases often live and die on the strength of their villains just as much as the impact of their songs. Even lesser movies can be transformed by a great antagonist, and Disney classics that deserve far higher praise fade because nobody remembers the villain. Brother Bear, for instance, is a joy, but its lack of a traditional villain feels like a giant hole in it. The same can be said of Frozen 2, which instead dealt with the more intangible villainy of legacy. Just what the kids want. Worse, the choice to make King Runeard’s evil the “big bad” meant fans were robbed of one of the great difference makers in the Disney quality spectrum: a great villain song. Now, finally, we might get the franchise’s answer to “Be Prepared,” “Hellfire,” or “Gaston.” And it’s only possible because of the introduction of Frozen 3‘s mysterious new villain.

Frozen 3’s Villain Isn’t Prince Hans – And That’s A Good Thing

Prince Hans smiling with his horse in Frozen

When Frozen III‘s directors promised that the threequel (and its follow-up) would answer some “lingering questions,” speculation turned to what those loose ends might be. Given Frozen II‘s lack of a villain, the theory that Hans – who survived the first movie after being arrested for his crimes – could return to set up a revenge-driven story blossomed within the fandom. As a solution to the missing villain issue, Hans appeared fairly logical, especially as his betrayal of Anna ranks satisfyingly high on the list of Disney heel-turns, but a franchise with aspirations of longevity can’t go backwards. A new villain is far better for Frozen III than reviving Hans’ story.

All we have on the new villain right now is hints: she seemingly has powers comparable to Elsa, and her outfit suggests aura, and comments about Frozen 4‘s timeline suggest her involvement may not be wrapped up in one movie alone. It’s particularly compelling to theorize that the villain will be introduced as a dark mirror of Elsa (another familiar Disney trope); the result, perhaps of her predecessor gaining powers and being less able to “Let it Go”. That moral complexity is another worthy trope, and could guarantee the unnamed villain’s depth in a way that simply reviving a disgruntled, already-defeated villain wouldn’t match.

Frozen III will be released in theaters on November 24, 2027.