Hocus Pocus 2 Guide: Where to Watch, Cast and Hocus Pocus 3

A legacy sequel that knows what the first one was actually about

Hocus Pocus 2 is not trying to out-scare or out-plot the original — it is trying to be the same kind of hang. Twenty-nine years after the Sanderson sisters got banished by a bunch of Salem kids, three new teenagers accidentally relight the black-flame candle, and the film spends most of its runtime doing what the 1993 movie did: following three witches who are centuries behind on fashion, slang and basic city planning as they wander around modern Salem being baffled by Walgreens. The joke has not aged out, mostly because Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy clearly never stopped enjoying it.

The new trio — Becca (Whitney Peak), Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) and Cassie (Lilia Buckingham) — get less screen time than the Sandersons by design; this is a movie about the witches, and it knows it. Doug Jones returns as Billy Butcherson, the zombie ex, now with more dialogue than the original gave him. Where the film actually goes somewhere the first one didn’t is Hannah Waddingham’s Mother Witch, a cold open flashback to 17th-century Salem that gives Winifred, Sarah and Mary an actual origin instead of just a punishment. It’s a better piece of writing than the marketing let on.

Two practical notes. It streamed straight to Disney+ rather than getting a theatrical run, which is why there’s no disc release to track down — Disney+ has always been the only home for it. And Deadline’s May 2026 report confirms a third film is now in early development with all three leads returning, reportedly aimed at theaters this time instead of streaming. If you’re building a Halloween queue beyond this one, our Disney+ Halloween movie night picks has more in the same register, and our 2026 horror movie release calendar covers what’s new if you want something with actual teeth after.