Whether they've watched it or not, everybody seems to have an opinion on Wicked Wonderland. Some people think the movies should have ended at the third, some people love the new movies (me!!), and some people don't have a problem with the movies continuing, but do have some complaints (also me).
I've loved the Descendants movies since the first one came out in 2015. For some reason as a kid I always found interest in the villains of movies more than the heroes, so Descendants was perfect for me.
To be honest, when Cameron Boyce died, I assumed Descendants would end too. But I'm glad it didn't. A lot of people are upset that it continued on without him, or even just the original cast in general, but Descendants was never the original fours story.
Descendants is the story of ALL the fairytale children, and Wonderland was a really cool route for them to take in continuing the story.
NOW for my thoughts on the fifth movies in this series.. Descendants: Wicked Wonderland.
1. Chloe becoming a villain makes no sense
Chloe's villain arc stems from being upset Red isn't paying enough attention to her after she, according to Chloe, helped Red so much in Rise of Red.
The thing is though.. She didn't. Chloe spent almost all of Rise of Red calling Red an evil villain who could never change. She disagreed with and argued with every decision Red made, all while Red was doing everything in her power to try and save Cinderella's life, which Chloe does not seem to have anywhere near enough appreciation for.
Red saved Chloe's mother's life and Chloe does nothing but complain.
Not to mention Red barely knows Chloe. It's not all that odd that she isn't being super close and friendly with Chloe in Wicked Wonderland.
While there were years between the release of the two movies, Red and Chloe have only known each other for about three or four days.
They meet at Auradon Prep, time travel the same day, spend two days in the past, return, and then the next day after they each return to their homes is when Wicked Wonderland starts.
So Red and Chloe haven't even known each other a week, Chloe spent those days complaining about and insulting Red constantly, and then she has a villain arc because Red isn't treating her like a life long best friend?
It makes no sense.
2. Pink should have been the villain
Well, the secondary villain. Maddox, of course, would still have been the primary villain. However, if anybody in the main friend group was going to have a villain arc, Pink would have made the most sense.
Pink has spent her whole life with this presumably wonderfully loving sister who is the only person in the world who understands her. Then one day Red suddenly has no interest in her, and thinks she's the most annoying, overdramatic person on Earth.
Pink could have perfectly mirrored Bridget. She's sweet, kind, and finds the best in every situation, and everybody thinks that makes her weak. She is exactly like her mother was at her age. It would have been an interesting consequence if Bridget being good meant her daughter becoming evil for the same reasons anyway.
(I do think she will MAYBE have a villain arc in the next movie though.. Depends if I'm reading into certain things Disney has been putting Descendants content correct or not)
3. What was Red and Pink's relationship like before?
I don't think enough people talk about how Red and Chloe effectively stole the lives of alternate universe versions of themselves. Red is not the Red who Pink grew up with.
Red has lived an entire life without Pink, and Pink has never known a day without her big sister.
So how big was the switch between before and after the old timelines Red replaced the new timelines Red?
We see some big differences mentioned in
Perfect Princess.
The biggest is of course that Red is not a villain kid anymore, as stated by the title itself. She's suddenly expected to be proper royalty. A "
Perfect Princess" after a lifetime locked away in her mother's palace with no freedom.
Even her bedroom is way more pink in Wicked Wonderland compared to Rise of Red.
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| Red's room in Rise of Red |
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| Red's room in Wicked Wonderland |
Her entire aesthetic is different in the new timeline, also confirmed by lines like "Your favorite bow is right here" which Red responded to with "This is weird". The new timelines version of Red was at the very least incredibly aesthetically different from the old timelines Red.
She was also more than likely incredibly different in personality. The original timelines Red was raised by a tyrannical queen who believed love was weak, and kindness only gets you hurt. The new timelines Red was raised by a loving mother who probably kept all of her joy we see she had in high school in Rise of Red.
Those are VERY different circumstances to grow up under, and would absolutely result in different personalities forming for each timelines Red.
Which leads back into how I think Pink should have had a villain arc instead of Chloe.
New timeline Red was probably the only person who truly understood her sister. Pink seems confused every time Red gets annoyed with her, and probably thinks she did something wrong to make Red start being so distant.
We see some flashbacks to Red and Pink's relationship when they were really little, but I am incredibly curious what their relationship looked like even just a couple days before new timeline Red was replaced with original timeline Red.
4. Why doesn't Red seem to care that Maddox's life is ruined in the new timeline?
Maddox was Red's only real friend in Rise of Red. He invented the pocket watch just so she could have a chance at a happy life despite knowing it could change so many other things too.
So why doesn't Red care that his entire life is ruined in the new timeline? He spent years on the Isle of the Lost, and even when he returns to Wonderland he's still seen as crazy.
The worst part is Red could have cleared everything up as soon as she arrived in the new timeline because he's not crazy. He's telling the truth, and she knows it.
So, why doesn't Red say anything to her mom? Why does she let the man who was previously her best friend suffer instead of just owning up to the fact that she did in fact alter the timeline. If she told Bridget what happened she still wouldn't have been evil.
There was no damage to be done by telling Bridget the truth. All it would have done was give Maddox and Max a better life.
