I have seen every Descendants movie. I am not the target audience, as I am an adult, but I love a Disney musical original film. Sue me. I was “All in this Together” with everyone else my age. The Descendants films, which are all available with a Disney+ subscription, have been fun, but I didn’t like Descendants: The Rise of Red. It just didn’t have the same charm as the first films.
Therefore, I didn’t plan to continue the franchise or watch Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, which hit theaters this year on the 2026 movie schedule. However, one day, I was bored and needed something easy to consume. I turned on this Disney original movie. It really surprised me.
Warning: Descendants: Wicked Wonderland spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution.
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Descendants: Wicked Wonderland Had A Better Overall Story-Arc Than The Rise Of Red
Maybe it was because Kenny Ortega wasn’t the director, so it couldn’t join the ranking of his best movies, but Descendants: The Rise of Red immediately didn’t have the character and fun of the first three movies. It could have been because of the new characters, but something just didn’t work with this film. I thought the franchise just wasn’t going in a direction that I found as entertaining as the first series of films.
It turns out that screenwriter Tamara Chestna, Dan Frey, and Ru Sommer just needed another film to make it work better. Dan Frey and Ru Sommer wrote the screenplay for The Rise of Red, so it wasn’t the need for completely new screenwriters, just maybe some time to get comfortable with the characters. Maybe Kimmy Gatewood as director was the secret sauce. I honestly can’t say what made this movie such a major improvement, but the story arc, for one, was a lot more entertaining.
Like many great time-travel movies, I loved that we got to see the consequences of altering a timeline in a major way. We also got to see the personal conflict of the new besties mixed with a life-or-death type dilemma. Wicked Wonderland felt more like the original movies that we came to know and love, including the songs and performances.
I Really Liked The New Additions To The Franchise
One of the best things about the Descendants movies is that it can use any character in the Disney world. Therefore, we get to witness some fun combinations of characters. I never thought descendants of characters from Encanto would meet characters from Alice in Wonderland.
Luis Madrigal (Alexandro Byrd) is one of the best additions in Descendants: Wicked Wonderland. He’s a fun character with a really cute, budding romance with Red (Kylie Cantrall). If Encanto gets a sequel, now I need Luis in it, in animated form. The film also uses a time-travel loophole to give Red a little sister, Pink (Liamani Segura). I also liked that the Hatter family got more of a role and character change. The character adjustments and new additions really elevated Wicked Wonderland. It was a much better movie than Descendants: The Rise of Red
Descendants: Wicked Wonderland Made Me Excited For The Next Film
I now plan to watch the next Wonderland Descendants movie because this one was such an improvement that now I am curious how much better it can get. Descendants: Wicked Wonderland is one of the rare sequels better than the original, so imagine how great the third movie could be! Some of the songs may even rank among Descendants’ best.