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    Pre-Release Theories 

This movie will finally add Aladdin's mother and/or "Proud of Your Boy" to the story.
It seems Disney has been upset to have lost the original version of Aladdin and especially that song. Since they included it in the Broadway show, they could find a way to include it in the film. And since they're interested in adding more female characters, using Aladdin's mother would be a good starting point.
  • If so, hopefully they don't decide to kill her off while Aladdin is imprisoned by Jafar, as a result of dying from sadness of the news of Aladdin's supposed beheading.
    • Eeh, no, why would they do that? Still, I can go and say my theory was jossed. But parts of Proud of your Boy are heard as instrumentals in the final soundtrack.

Prince Anders will be either Jasmine's brother or one of her suitors.
If the former, he'll be an overprotective brother who dislikes Aladdin, until they eventually become friends; he also distrusts Jafar. If the latter, he'll be an Expy of Jafar's son from the original tale.
  • It's already been confirmed that he's a Scandinavian prince who's come as a suitor for Jasmine.

Jafar will trick Aladdin into getting him the lamp
As seen in the trailers Jafar will not be disguised as an old man in the film. He will still tell Aladdin to fetch him the lamp and will probably again promise him a ‘reward’. Judging how a guard is also with them it can be assumed that once Aladdin gets the lamp Jafar will reveal his true nature and get the guard to kill him now that his services are no longer required.
  • Confirmed. Jafar frees Aladdin in his official capacity as a vizier and offers him cooperation. Still a lie, of course.

Genie was once human
Unlike his animated counterpart Genie is actually human in the film. One minute Genie is blue like the original film and the next he is a person. We could get a backstory on how Will Smith’s character became the Genie and that the only way for the spell to be broken is to be free. In fact it could be suggested that like the Prince in Beauty and the Beast Genie himself was once full human and was a selfish person and was punished by being made a Genie and unless someone freed him he would be a Genie for all time. And at the end of the film not only is Genie free but he returns to a full human for good, powerless but free.
  • Just to point out, the Genie in the animated film took on a human form too, during the "Prince Ali" number. This Genie is also shown to spend a lot more time with Aladdin in front of other people, meaning it's only sensible to assume a human form. (As well as a way to save on the special effects budget. It's not as if him being blue and CG really adds anything to the character.
  • Not confirmed, but implied when the Genie warns Aladdin against becoming power-hungry, recognizes how Aladdin will trick Jafar into wishing for ultimate power, and becomes human when he is freed.

Jasmine's song will be "Call Me a Princess".
The lyrics will be different from the cut song in the original film (about her being a spoiled brat) and the Broadway musical version (about her scaring off her suitors), it'll be about her limited position in society.
  • She gets an original song titled "Speechless".

Aladdin will have a trio of friends besides Abu.
Babkak, Omar, and Kassim who were originally intended in the original film, and were featured in the Broadway musical.
  • Possibly, since Abu will be Adapted Out.
    • Jossed. A preview pic shows Abu.

Sadira will appear as another friend of Aladdin instead of a Stalker with a Crush.
Though it'll be briefly mentioned they used to date.
  • Jossed.
    • The female thief who tried to rob Aladdin in the beginning could be Sadira.

Jasmine will have a best friend in the palace.
She'll be a servant girl and/or harem girl. Those three harem girls in "One Jump Ahead" and "Prince Ali" would be suitable candidates.
  • Confirmed. Jasmine now has a lady-in-waiting named Dalia.
  • Possibly, since Rajah will also be Adapted Out.
    • Rajah will appear in film.

There will be a dedication to Robin Williams.
  • There is no dedication or acknowledgement of Robin, unfortunately.
    • Unless you were to count the two brief instances where we see drawings of The Genie in cartoon form, similar to his 1992 appearance.

This film will take inspiration from The Thief of Baghdad (again) and portray Jafar as having a villainous crush on Jasmine.
They've significantly aged him down by casting Marwan Kenzari, who was 35 at the time of filming, probably to make it (slightly) more palatable when/if Jafar wishes for Jasmine to fall in love with him, and Jasmine kisses him to distract him. This way they could also address the Plot Hole of why Jafar doesn't just hypnotise Jasmine into wanting to marry him along with her father; he wants her to love him for himself.
  • Jossed: Jafar actually didn't want to make Jasmine fall in love with him in the first place; he wanted to make her suffer by making her live her worst nightmare: marrying the one she hates.

Genie will have some Adaptational Villainy.
  • Genie will be more angry at Aladdin for going back on his promise to free him. He ends up giving the Lamp to Jafar or is more accepting of Jafar getting the lamp. He will be a Dragon-in-Chief to Jafar but has a change of heart when he apologises.
    • Adding to this, he could be a Composite Character with the evil genie of the bottle from "The Fisherman and the Jinni".
  • Possibly confirmed; Genie notes the Exact Words of a wish are important, implying a streak of Jerkass Genie.
    • Though the fact that he's willing to point out such a thing may mean he's trying to avoid such a situation with Aladdin.
  • Jossed. He's definitely more cynical, but still ultimately warms up to Aladdin, even saving him at a couple of points. He never sides with Jafar at his own will.

Jafar will have a longer Villain Song this time.
They may add more lines to "Prince Ali - Reprise", or they might even use one of the songs cut from the original movie. Hopefully they don't cut out the villain song entirely...
  • Jossed. Jafar doesn't have a villain song.

The Genie will be given a more fleshed out backstory
Maybe he used to be a human and was a "Diamond in the Rough" just like Aladdin but was somehow tricked into becoming a genie or into trading places with the genie that was already in the lamp.
  • Jossed: There is no explanation for it, but it's very weakly implied.

The climax of the movie will be changed slightly
Instead of tricking Jafar into using his last wish to become a genie and then be imprisoned in a lamp, Aladdin will use his own last wish to fulfill his promise to Genie and free him. No longer bound by the rules of the lamp, Genie will show Jafar what a being of phenomenal cosmic power is really capable of and get revenge for his mistreatment at the sorcerer's hands.
  • Jossed.

The Canon Foreigner prince is to set up the next live action remake and will likely be a Canon Character All Along
Throughout the film he'll be referred to by his title or last name and at the very end he'll say something along the lines of "After all of this, just call me Eric." To further this, one of the stingers will be him and his crew goofing around on the ship home while a woman with red hair watches them in amazement or he will see the silhouette of a woman with a fishes tail in the water.
  • Jossed. There is no stinger, and he isn't referred as Eric.

The Genie is going to rap at one point.
He's played by Will Smith, who is famous for rapping. It will be either an entirely new song, or a cover of "Friend Like Me" and/or "Prince Ali".
  • By the looks of the trailer, he'll definitely sing "Friend Like Me".
  • And further videos online show a minute or so of "Prince Ali", over-the-top parade and all. He sings there too.
  • Humorously confirmed. He actually does rap "Friend Like Me"... for a couple of seconds. He then gets singing.

Genie will have a different personality.
Although Genie will befriend Aladdin again his personality will probably be different. For example Genie will likely be less forgiving and ally with Jafar for Aladdin going back on his promise to free him with the third wish. Genie will probably not shape into celebrities or pop cultural characters either. However he may have the power to shapeshift into normal people such as posing as a royal guard or villager.
  • Though we may see a lot of Actor Allusions of his previous roles.
  • Yes and no. While he is definitely more cynical, and shapes himself more into Aladdin's servant, or at best some flight attendants, he otherwise stays as the character from the original.

Iago will appear, but he won't be sapient.
If the scene with the teaser is anything to go by, it implies that Iago will be featured in the movie, but just not as he appeared in the original. Instead, he'll be a regular, non-sapient parrot who may repeat certain phrases, but he won't actually do any real talking like his animated counterpart. Instead, he may be seen more often either simply sitting on Jafar's shoulder or in a cage in his lair squawking rather than speaking.
  • Alternatively, he'll not only be sapient, but as a surprise, Gilbert Gottfried will reprise his role and make Iago an Audience Surrogate regarding the nature of the live-action remakes.
  • It is confirmed that Iago will indeed talk and Alan Tudyk will voice him.
    • Iago does in fact speak, but it's mostly in short sentences. His intelligence is probably a little higher than most parrots as he does understand humans and can respond, as well as being just as cruel as Jafar.

Abu and Rajah will make a cameo appearance.
There will a piece of art in the Palace with a monkey wearing a hat and waistcoat, as well as a tiger holding a rag with hearts on.
  • In the latest trailer, both Abu and Rajah make an appearance, so it seems like they will be present as supporting characters rather than cameos.
    • They have significant roles, definitely not cameos.

Jasmine won't actually seduce Jafar to help Aladdin
Instead, Jafar, having been made more powerful in magic thanks to his wish, will hypnotize Jasmine into thinking she's always been his bride or concubine. Her (sort of willingly) draping herself on him, praising him, and making out with him will be a way to mock Aladdin and try to make him submit to Jafar. Aladdin will instead snap her out of it with True Love's Kiss.
  • Don’t think it will happen like that as it will make Jasmine more of a damsel in distress.
  • Also it would take away some of the chemistry between Aladdin and Jasmine. In the animated film, her catching on to Aladdin's plan by seducing Jafar harkens back to when he helped her escape the fruit merchant by pretending she was crazy and shows how good they both are at improvising and working off of each other, without needing things to be explained to them. Dumbing that dynamic to something as common and cliched as true love's kiss breaking Jasmine out of her hypnosis would be detrimental to the quality of the movie.

Iago will pull a Heel–Face Turn
They did it for Lefou in Beauty and the Beast (2017), and Iago would eventually join the heroes in the animated films/series, so it wouldn’t be unlikely for them to let Iago do good here and be spared from joining Jafar in the lamp.

The Genie will attempt to be a Literal/Jackass Genie when it comes to granting Jafar's wishes.
The trailer shows him teasing Aladdin with the ambiguity of "make me a prince", showing he's already savvy to the idea of twisting wishes around.

Of course, in order to keep the climax interesting, this will probably only work to Jafar's detriment with the first wish — which even in the animated film turned out to be pretty pointless. And Jafar will learn his lesson and be forced to word his final two wishes as specifically as possible, so that Genie isn't able to twist them against him.

  • Confirmed on Genie’s side, but Jossed on Jafar’s. The wording of Jafar’s first and second wishes are almost the exact same as in the original, but it’s his third wish, to be “the most powerful being in the universe” that’s ambiguous enough for Genie to completely screw him over.

Iago's transformation will be a replacement for cobra!Jafar
I'm picturing it being so that both Iago and Jasmine can have something to do in the climax—Iago chases after and has a big climactic battle with Aladdin, while Jafar and Jasmine duke it out back at the palace.
  • I dunno, that sounds kinda anti-climactic. To have the titular character and the one learning a lesson running away from The Dragon while the princess takes on the Big Bad.
    • Confirmed, in a way; there is no cobra!Jafar, and the Giant Iago is indeed in the climax, but Jasmine doesn't fight.

Aladdin being tied and thrown into the water will happen under different circumstances
In the trailer, we see that Aladdin is tied to a chair when he is thrown into the water. If he's on a chair, he was most likely tied to it indoors. Perhaps it was done in the Sultan's palace by his guards, probably under some lie told to them by Jafar.
  • Tying up seems to be the same, but the throwing part is done by Jafar himself, after an attempt to force Aladdin into confessing as to his true identity fails.

Jafar and/or Iago will have a Death by Adaptation
Neither of them were killed when Jafar was defeated in the original, but it could happen here.
  • Jossed. Jafar is sucked into the lamp, taking Iago with him. In the 1992
film, it seems as though he grabbed Iago by mistake. This time, Jafar grabs him on purpose just to spite the bird for trying to leave.

    Post-Release Theories 

Jafar murdered the Sultan's wife
Going by Jasmine's words, her mother was outspoken in her concern for peace and the people of Agrabah, which would likely put her at direct odds with Jafar's war hawk agenda. As the Sultan's wife, she'd also have had his ear, which would have made her even more of an obstacle to him. Then there's the fact that she was a princess of Shirabad, the kingdom so despised by Jafar, which would have made things personal for him.

There will be a sequel adapting the animated home video sequel, The Return of Jafar.
I mean, the clues were there. When Jafar was being sucked into the lamp, he screamed to Aladdin that he will never forget him, as he caused Jafar to wish to become a genie. And the Genie kicked Jafar's lamp into an unknown place, so there is a chance that somebody can find it...
  • Obviously there will be some major changes though. Iago in this film wasn't quite as intelligent as he was in the animated films and played a huge role in the sequel. And then there was the fact Genie turned human at the end of this movie. But it could be theoretically possible to create an adaptation.
  • Those issues would be easily fix. Just because Iago didn’t get demonstrate as much intelligence as he has in the animated movie in this one, doesn’t mean his role can’t be increased in the live action sequel. For the genie becoming human, did the movie actually state that, or just that he became free. If the latter, maybe it’s just assumed he’s fully human.
  • One thing is for certain. Iago will certainly hate Jafar for forcing him to live inside a lamp.

The contract Genie wrote to save Aladdin's life was still in effect when Jafar became his Master
Since Genie backdated the contract for a "future"/present moment need to save Aladdin, he accidentally created a loophole that allowed him to send Carpet to Aladdin after Jafar banished him.

Iago doesn't engage in wisecracking conversation as in the animated original, but instead is much more sinister, and does of a lot of work monitoring events of his own accord. In particular, he recognizes that Aladdin is the Diamond in the Rough, a feat which required a powerful magical ritual in the original. What if Iago were some kind of malevolent magical creature who found Jafar in a Shirabad prison, engineered his escape, helped him to learn sorcery, showed him the Cave of Wonders, and fostered his ambition to gain power? Note also that Iago keeps parroting the word "second", which he, of all people, knows is Jafar's Berserk Button. He's doing everything he can to stoke Jafar's ambition and ruthlessness. And when it all goes wrong in the end, he tries to abandon Jafar to his fate and find a new pawn, but Jafar drags him into the lamp with him. Oops.

Aladdin will end up being recruited by the Assassins.
Obviously this won't be something that we'll see onscreen because of the rights nightmares around the two properties, but with parkour and stealth moves like that as well as the sense of social justice and freedom that he and Jasmine share would make him a prime candidate for the Assassins. Possibly he could even run the Agrabah branch of the guild.

The movie takes place in the same universe as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

The last person the Genie served created both the Sultanate of Agrabah and the Cave of Wonders.
A thousand years before the events of the film - a length of time mentioned by both the Sultan and the Genie when discussing the age of Agrabah and the Genie's last master, respectively - a man found the Genie's lamp and wished to become a Sultan, so the Genie created the Sultanate of Agrabah for him to rule by turning a small cove or fishing village into a massive city. By the time the newly-made Sultan was down to his last wish, he became alarmed at the thought that someone else could take the lamp afterwards and use it to take his power from him, and thus he used his final wish to get the Genie to hide himself in an enchanted and booby-trapped cave in the middle of the desert, where only a select few would be able to get to it...for instance, if something went wrong and his descendants were overthrown by another house and reduced to peasants (thus making them secretly royalty; 'diamonds in the rough'), they'd be able to retrieve the Genie's lamp and put themselves back in power...

...so, does this mean Aladdin is a distant descendant of a former ruler of Agrabah, making him a Prince all along? Or was he indeed just a 'street rat' who still met the criteria of 'diamond in the rough' by virtue of being more than whom he seemed (the Genie does make a point that the wording of the wish is everything, so the first Sultan might have inadvertently created a loophole)? Up to the viewer to decide...

Jafar has entered the Cave of Wonders before
Perhaps back when he was just a street thief, Jafar actually qualified as a "Diamond in the Rough" (assuming he wasn't power-hungry and evil yet at that time) and was able to enter the Cave of Wonders himself. However, he got lured by one of the treasures there (possibly the snake staff), failing the Cave's "test", and somehow managed to escape before the Cave collapsed. That's how he knew so well that the treasures in the Cave (except the lamp) must not be touched, and that anyone who enters the Cave will be tempted by the treasure.

The sequel (if it actually happens) will take elements from both The Return of Jafar and The King of Thieves and combine them into a single story
That's why this version of Aladdin ends with a wedding: because the sequel will follow that with the wedding raid scene from the beginning of The King of Thieves.

Of course there'd be many changes and wouldn't just be the two stories mashed together. For example, Cassim would be looking for the magic lamp, rather than the Hand of Midas like in the original King of Thieves, and enter the Cave of Wonders (which he'd successfully do so as he's also a Diamond in the Rough, much like Aladdin), only to find Jafar's lamp instead. Also, Abis Mal and Sa'luk may or may not be combined into a single character, and would become Jafar's ally after stealing the lamp from Cassim.

And, regarding Iago's lack of intelligence mentioned above, his story arc from Return will be combined with Cassim's from King of Thieves.

Aladdin and Jafar are long lost brothers
Jafar somehow got separated from the rest of the family when both he and Aladdin were at such a young age (or possibly before Aladdin was even born) that Jafar doesn't recognize Aladdin as his brother in the present, and Aladdin doesn't even know he has a brother because their parents never told him (presumably because they didn't want Aladdin to get distressed about having a missing brother—or perhaps they just never had a chance to tell him, as Cassim left the family a long time ago and his wife died when Aladdin was a child). Aladdin and Jafar sharing many similarities (including being thieves, a trait also shared with Cassim) might have been foreshadowing this all along.

If this WMG is true, it's also possible that this thing that Jafar always carries around under his belt is actually Cassim's dagger (the handle looks different but the sheath is curved in a similar way, it might just be redesigned though). However, the problem in this case would be that as live action Aladdin doesn't have the dagger, he won't be able to prove to Cassim that he's his son (if they ever meet in a potential sequel) the way animated Aladdin did in The King of Thieves, though the song that Aladdin's mother taught him might work as enough proof. Or maybe Cassim had two daggers that he gave to both sons?

Not only would this be a nod at the rumor (?) that Mozenrath from the TV series (who is so similar to Jafar to the point where Iago calls him "Jafar Jr.") would've been revealed as Aladdin's brother in The King of Thieves, had he been the villain in that film like it was originally planned, but also a nod at the sorcerer from the original tale (one of the characters Jafar is based on) having a brother, as well as at the protagonist of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (the tale The King of Thieves is inspired by) having an evil brother.

This would also explain why live action Jafar is so much younger than his animated counterpart (other than maybe to make the whole forced wedding scene less creepy), as he'd have to be at an age where it would make sense for him to be Aladdin's brother/Cassim's son, whereas animated Jafar looks more like he's old enough to be Aladdin's uncle or something. Even Jafar's Adaptational Attractiveness could technically be explained by him being related to Aladdin and Cassim who could both be seen as attractive, unlike animated Jafar who's canonically considered as ugly (at least by Genie).

If Jafar gets to sing in a possible sequel, he will sing a Dark Reprise of "One Jump Ahead" and/or "Speechless"
The former because he used to be a street thief like Aladdin, and the latter because he was often silenced and told to "know your place" by the Sultan. These will likely be sung during flashbacks to Jafar's past.

This is also assuming some of the songs from The Return of Jafar and/or The King of Thieves (if the sequel is based on either/both of those films) will be Adapted Out in favor of the reprise(s).

  • Alternatively, Jafar will keep the villain song from Return of Jafar - this movie made such a point of calling Jafar "second" over and over again, and how it was his Berserk Button, that it would feel odd NOT to use "You're Only Second Rate".
    • Why not both? If the sequel gives Jafar more focus then he could get more than 1-2 songs (also maybe to make up for his lack of song in the first movie).

Aladdin's and Jasmine's mothers were friends
They both knew the same song because one of them taught it to the other. Aladdin's mother was either a commoner that Jasmine's mother befriended, or her handmaiden (similar to Dalia) who left the palace after falling in love with Cassim.

Genie's human name is/was Sinbad
Just a hunch based on how Genie's current occupation as a human is a sailor.

If Mozenrath ever appears in a sequel, he will be played by Mena Massoud
He does already look kinda similar to Aladdin in the animated TV series. Bonus points if there's actually zero connection between them whatsoever.

Jafar's ring is some kind of magical ring
In the original tale, the sorcerer's ring that he gave to Aladdin contained another genie (albeit weaker than the one from the lamp). In the animated film, while Jafar himself didn't own a ring, he did take one from the Sultan and used it to find out who the Diamond in the Rough is. So it's possible that Jafar's ring in the live action movie also has magical properties of some sort and may turn out to be important in a sequel. If the above WMG about the sequel being based on both The Return of Jafar and The King of Thieves turns out to be true, the ring could be where the Oracle is summoned (instead of a staff like in The King of Thieves) similar to the original tale's genie of the ring.

Aladdin has a twin
When Aladdin talks to Jasmine at the party, he mentions how he doesn't have a twin (for context, the full quote is "Hi! I'm sorry for the jams, and the jewels... and the buying you. That wasn't me. It was me, I don't... It was me, I don't have a twin or anything, but I..." before getting cut off by Jasmine). Maybe this is foreshadowing how Aladdin actually does have a long lost twin sibling that he doesn't know of. However they don't necessarily have to be Jafar (unlikely anyways, even if we assume they're fraternal twins, since the actors' ages are like 8 years apart) or Mozenrath.

Alternatively Aladdin doesn't literally have a twin, but rather the quote is foreshadowing how there will be a new character that simply looks just like him, like Evil Aladdin (also from the TV series).

Mozenrath will find Jafar's lamp
Perhaps Jafar will get a taste of his own medicine. Not only that, but he'll also be ticked off by Mozenrath's resemblance to Aladdin (if Mozenrath does end up being played by Mena Massoud).

The sequel will adapt Aladdin and the King of Thieves with the central conflict being about Jasmine being pregnant
Since Aladdin and Jasmine are already married, Aladdin's central conflict will be coming to terms with his becoming a father. Therefore, finding his long-lost father will be a bigger deal since Aladdin's greatest fear will be turning out like his father whom he blames for abandoning him and his mother. Jasmine meanwhile will be trying to balance her work as ruler of Agrabah and being a mother.

Alternatively, the sequel will have Aladdin and Jasmine's child/children already born and will center mostly around them
This makes the most sense thematically wise, and could also be a nice callback to most of the older Direct-to-video Disney Sequels like Lion King 2 and Little Mermaid 2, which put the spotlight on Simba and Ariel's children. It could have them finding the Genie travelling the ocean and becoming friends with his kids, or maybe they find a second Genie: the Genie of the ring.

Jasmine is a Princess.
  • Calling is definitely Grace, as seen by both her desire to lead and uplift her people and the fact that she does lead and does inspire others. Graces also have a love for people and a desire to see new societies and cultures, and they have affinity for the kinds of Charms needed to break the Genie's glamours.
  • Her Court affiliation is almost certainly Hearts: her primary motivation is a desire to do her duty to her people and a conviction that she would be the best leader for them, and Hearts philosophy does allow for overturning harmful or outdated traditions.
  • She's the only one who is able to break the Genie's glamours (realizing that there is no such place as Ababwa, getting other people to understand that Jafar is not the rightful Sultan), which could be any of several Charms, or simply Supernatural Tolerance from Inner Light.

In the sequel, Iago will be turned into a human
The Disney Remakes keep turning evil bird sidekicks into people. Diablo the raven became Diaval the shapeshifting raven, to give Maleficent someone to converse with. Hayabusa the falcon became Xian Lang the shapeshifting witch, to give the film a less "boring" villain. If this trend continues for the Aladdin sequel, Jafar will turn Iago into a human and send him back to Agrabah as The Mole. Whether or not this will lead to a character arc like in The Return of Jafar, only time will tell.

Iago will become more sentient and intelligent in Aladdin 2 and his role would be as his animated self in The Return of Jafar.
It is possible that Iago from Live Action was not as talkative as his animated version but it is possible that he is more sentient and intelligent like his iconic animated version of Disney, thanks to the magic of the Genie Jafar, it is possible that Iago after being caught in Jafar's lamp, his sentient would begin to develop more and more and Iago somehow escaped from Jafar's lamp and began to hate him for forcing him to live inside his lamp with him, then Iago would flee the place leaving behind the Jafar's lamp where a new version of Abis Mal would find him, Iago now with a better sentient would make a Heel–Face Turn after being treated in a better way by Aladdin than with Jafar and Iago would now help Aladdin and his friends defeat to Jafar as in The Return of Jafar.


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