Last we heard, Mark Rylance was in the frame to play Mad Hatter Johnny Depp's father in James Bobin's upcoming Alice In Wonderland sequel. That now turns out not to be the case - perhaps due to Rylance's casting in **Alone In Berlin - but the role is far from vacant, since Rhys Ifans has stepped up to don the crazy headgear in **Through The Looking Glass.
With that comes the news that Hatter Sr. has a name. Ifans will be playing Zanik Hightopp, who we're told wears a topper that entirely fails to cover up his brightly coloured hair. For the record, Ifans is actually four years younger than Depp, so it's safe to assume that either prosthetic make-up, digital jiggery-pokery, or both will play a large part in Ifans' onscreen appearance.
Since no such character appears in Lewis Carroll's books, we can also safely assume (if we hadn't already) that Bobin's film will play as fast and loose with source as Tim Burton's. The first film was a peculiar mash-up of elements from both Alice novels and original sequel elements. Where Through The Looking Glass will take us is currently anyone's guess.
Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter and, of course, Depp are all already confirmed as returning for the follow-up, with The Muppets' Bobin replacing Tim Burton in the director's chair. Through The Looking Glass is produced, as was Alice, by Joe Roth, with a screenplay once again by Linda Wolverton (who also wrote Maleficent). The Disney production is set to kick off over the summer, for a release in May 2016.