“Why Maleficent... What ginormous wings you have!” “All the better to scare you with, my dear. Also, to go as Batman for next Halloween... with... my dear.” While the majority of the Maleficent marketing has focused on Angelina’s horns and cloak, here comes a new wide banner with a proper look at her in all her winged glory.
Aiming to explore the untold story of the character from Sleeping Beauty, the new live-action take on Maleficent presents her as a wronged woman whose pure heart is slowly turned to stone by betrayal and anger.
All the usual Sleeping Beauty elements are here – fairies, magic, a princess – but viewed from a different standpoint. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. As the young woman grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realises that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions...
While we’ve seen her turn into a dragon in the original Disney ‘toon, the new image suggests they’re taking the idea of her fairy's wings and giving her more of a dark, angelic look. You can see them in action during the trailer tease at the bottom of the page. With VFX man turned director Richard Stromberg marshalling a cast that includes Elle Fanning, Miranda Richardson, Sharlto Copley, Peter Capaldi, Lesley Manville and Juno Temple, Maleficent will land in cinemas on May 30.