Acting and comedy legend Danny DeVito is the latest cast member added to the upcoming sequel to ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’.  His role is currently under wraps.  This announcement comes just after the news that ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ scene-stealer Awkwafina has also been cast in the film.

Star Dwayne Johnson reacted to DeVito’s casting, by saying:

“The magic of ‘Jumanji’ is who becomes who. And the idea of Danny DeVito joining our cast was too irresistible and something we knew we wanted to deliver to our audience this upcoming Christmas. Dwanta Claus loves everyone.”

Arriving in the wake of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ in 2017, many thought ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ would crash and burn, but excellent word-of-mouth encouraged audiences of all ages to check it out, driving it to become Sony’s #1 movie of all time, besting the first ‘Spider-Man’.

Johnson headed up the cast of ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’, which also included Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, Nick Jonas, and Colin Hanks, plus Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, and Alex Wolff.  The latter four played high school students who find themselves sucked into an old 8-bit video game called ‘Jumanji’.  Johnson, Black, Hart, and Gillan portrayed their in-game avatars.

The plot to the sequel, however, is a secret, but Johnson, Black, Hart and Gillan are all confirmed to be returning, while their young counterparts are not.  That could mean that a different group of players will be transported into the video game, meaning that the characters will all have different personalities this time around, which could be interesting.

DeVito has been acting for almost 50 years.  Most recently, he lent his voice to the animated movie ‘Smallfoot’ and he has appeared in the flesh on the series ‘The Kominsky Method’ and ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’.  He will be seen in March, in Disney’s live action remake of ‘Dumbo’.  For older fans, he is reportedly re-teaming with Arnold Schwarzenegger for a sequel to ‘Twins’ called ‘Triplets’, which will also feature Eddie Murphy.

Are you excited that ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ is getting a sequel?

Source: Variety