Moana 2! It’s happening! Moana is back, and so is Maui, but beyond that… the first couple of teaser trailers have given absolutely no plot information beyond the fact Moana will be sailing on the ocean. This time, with some more characters!
What the new Moana teaser does give fans of the 2024 original, however, is some glimpses of new creatures. And there is one creature that stands out: THIS HUGE WHALE SHARK FRIEND!
Maybe it’s not a friend? I don’t care. I see a whale shark and the only thought in my mind is can I pet it? Hopefully the directors of Moana 2 took notes from Avatar: The Way of Water’s tulkun and Moana can speak to the big watery friend via a psychic link.
Anyway BIG WHALE SHARK FRIEND (!!!!!!) aside, there’s not much plot info beyond some other cool new creatures, a few more characters in the background, and some quips from Maui.
Maybe the official synopsis will help?
Moana 2 reunites Moana and Maui three years later for an expansive new voyage alongside a crew of unlikely seafarers. After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.
… or not! Mysterious! The gist with this Moana sequel is that it was originally supposed to be a Disney Plus series. But in the grand tradition of the DTV era of the early 2000s, the TV show was retooled into a movie. Hopefully it’s more seamless than Atlantis: Milo’s Return (the bar is low, and yet).
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Auliʻi Cravalho will reprise their roles as Maui and Moana. Unlike the first movie, which featured music from Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, Encanto), the sequel’s music will be composed by Grammy winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear (The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical), composer and Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i, and three-time Grammy-winning film composer Mark Mancina. Moana 2 will be directed by David Derrick Jr., who previously worked as a storyboard artist on Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto. This sequel is not the live-action Moana, which is still in development.
Moana 2 sails into theaters on Nov. 27.