Darren Criss and Sherry Cola join Hidden Heroes Descendants film
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The Disney Channel and Disney+ film "Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story" has finalised its ensemble with six additional cast members joining a project that expands the popular "Descendants" franchise into a new spin-off format. Darren Criss takes on Jiminy Cricket, Sherry Cola plays Yzma, Broadway veteran James Monroe Iglehart voices Genie, and Hugo Ateo, Sean Yves Lessard and Dan Bakkedahl fill out roles as Kronk, Lumiere and Yen Sid respectively, joining previously confirmed cast members Dior Goodjohn, Momona Tamada, Jacob Rodriguez, Eva Fossaceca Smedley and Harry Jones.
The film centres on a hidden training academy where children of legendary sidekicks compete to become official partners to heroes, with a fresh group of recruits forced to defend the fairytale realm from a villainous duo without help from their parents. Production began on 7 August 2026, with Jude Weng directing from a script by Tamara Chestna, Eydie Faye and Emma Fletcher; Mark Ordesky, Jane Fleming, Gary Marsh and Chestna serve as executive producers. The project follows the franchise's fifth and most recent instalment, "Descendants: Wicked Wonderland," which premiered on 16 July 2026, and forms part of Disney Kids & Family's ongoing expansion of the "Descendants" universe across film and television.
- Six actors join Disney's "Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story" cast
- Darren Criss and Sherry Cola voice Jiminy Cricket and Yzma
- Film expands the "Descendants" franchise via a new sidekick academy
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Disney's Descendants films imagine a world where the children of classic Disney heroes and villains attend school together, blending characters from different animated films into one shared universe. Since the first film launched in 2015, the franchise has grown into a major hit for Disney Channel and Disney+, spawning several sequels, spin-off series and a large ensemble cast of young performers.
'Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story' is a new instalment that shifts focus away from villains' offspring and instead follows the descendants of Disney's famous sidekick characters, such as Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio, Yzma from The Emperor's New Groove and Genie from Aladdin. In the story, these young descendants attend an academy where they train to become companions and helpers to future heroes, and must work together to protect their world from danger.
The film's casting news matters because it signals how Disney is expanding the Descendants brand further, bringing in established actors and Broadway performers to play beloved characters' offspring, and building on the franchise's continued popularity following its most recent theatrical release.
More coverage
- The Hollywood Reporter — Darren Criss, Sherry Cola Join Disney’s ‘Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story’
- Deadline — ‘Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story’ Adds Darren Criss, Sherry Cola, James Monroe Iglehart & More As Iconic Disney Characters
- Billboard — Darren Criss Cast in ‘Descendants’ Spin-Off ‘Hidden Heroes’ as This Disney Icon
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Originally published by Variety as “‘Hidden Heroes: A Descendants Story’ Adds 6 to Cast, Including Darren Criss as Jiminy Cricket and Sherry Cola as Yzma From ‘Emperor’s New Groove’”.