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Theadora James Says Returning for New "Descendants" Film Was Very 'Healing'
See the First Look (Exclusive)
People
Mar. 5, 2024

As PEOPLE unveils the first look at 'Descendants: Return of Mavis', star Theadora James says working on the film ended up being a 'healing' journey after costar Cameron Boyce's death.

Mavis is shaking things up in Disney+'s Descendants: Return of Mavis — and PEOPLE has the exclusive first look!

In the new teaser, Uma, daughter of Ursula (played by China Anne McClain) makes her wicked return to the hit Disney Channel franchise as she steps into a new role as the Principal of Auradon Prep.

"Mal came to me with an offer I couldn't refuse," Uma teases in the voiceover as a shot of her office is shown on screen.

Promising to switch things up in her new role, she reveals that she'll finally be opening Auradon Prep to "all the kingdoms," including Corona, the island kingdom home to Rapunzel.

As she addresses a personal letter to Princess Ruby, daughter of Queen Rapunzel, we get the first glimpse of Theadora James as the film's titular character.

The original Descendants trilogy ran on Disney Channel from 2015 to 2019 and chronicled the lives of four teenage children of Disney villains, including Maleficent's daughter Mal (Dove Cameron), the Evil Queen's daughter Evie (Sofia Carson), Jafar's son Jay (Booboo Stewart) and Cruella de Vil's son Carlos (Cameron Boyce). James' character, Mother Gothels daughter Mavis, was introduced in the second installment.

An animated special titled Descendants: The Royal Wedding centering Mal and King Ben (Mitchell Hope)'s nuptials was later released in 2021, with many of the actors reprising their roles.

The special marked the first Descendants installment without star Cameron Boyce, who tragically died at age 20 in July 2019 after suffering a seizure in his sleep due to epilepsy. Both Descendants 3 and Descendants: The Royal Wedding paid tribute to Boyce and his beloved character.

In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, James says she was nervous about taking on the role of Mavis again following Boyce's death, but it ended up being a healing journey for her.

"I was hesitant to revisit the Descendants world at first, because losing Cam was the first, like, real heartbreak I've ever experienced," she says. "But once I saw how excited the new generation of kids were, it reminded me of myself when we created the original films."

"Everything came together beautifully," she adds of the movie. "There's one scene that is very special to me, I'm sure the audience will be able to guess which one it is once they see the movie. Stepping back into Mavis was very fulfilling, and healing for me."

Marking the fourth film in the Descendants franchise, the upcoming spinoff will revolve around Mavis (James), the daughter of Mother Gothel (Helena Bonham Carter), and Ruby (Mckenna Grace), the daughter of Rapunzel (Florence Pugh), who must join forces in a time-traveling adventure to prevent a catastrophic coup on the kingdom of Corona.