Hocus Pocus 2 Director Teases A Clever Binx Return

Disney's "Hocus Pocus 2" may be reuniting the infamous Sanderson Sisters this Halloween season, but there's going to be a very important ingredient missing from the "Hocus Pocus" character cauldron. According to reports, Binx — the legendary black cat who helped stop Winifred "Winnie" Sanderson (Bette Midler), Sarah Sanderson (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary Sanderson (Kathy Najimy) in the 1993 original — won't be making a talking appearance in the Anne Fletcher-directed sequel (via Entertainment Weekly). But what about the man behind the feline? 

As "Hocus Pocus" fans all know, Binx was actually a human once named Thackery Binx from the 1600s who was transformed into a cat by Winnie Sanderson. The Thackery character was played by Sean Murray, while Binx was voiced by Jason Marsden. According to EW, Marsden will not be reprising his role as everyone's favorite immortal kitty, with him confirming so on Instagram. "I'm not in it," Marsden said. "And that's OK. It's fine. It looks cool, though. I'm very happy it looks cool ... It looks like they're taking the fans seriously maybe. It looks sinister with a little bit of silly, just like the first one is. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it." 

Murray, meanwhile, has neither confirmed nor denied whether he will be in "Hocus Pocus 2." When we last saw Thackery, the character had taken his human form again after the defeat of the Sandersons and reunited with his sister in the afterlife. Now, for the sequel, it looks like fans could be getting an updated peak into Binx's 17th-century past.

According to director Anne Fletcher, while fans aren't getting an official Binx the cat appearance in "Hocus Pocus 2," the movie will feature a nod to the character in the form of a 17th-century flashback, per Entertainment Weekly.

"Billy and Binx, I wanted back," Fletcher told EW, referencing Winnie's exhumed ex-lover William "Billy" Butcherson (Doug Jones), aka the "Hocus Pocus" zombie, who is officially reprising his role in the sequel. Asked about what sort of scenes we will see involving the Thackery Binx nod, "The Proposal" filmmaker said: "We're having some fun with him, so, we'll see."

In addition to Jason Marsden, there will be at least three other stars from the original "Hocus Pocus" missing from the second installment — Omri Katz, Thora Birch, and Vinessa Shaw — who played the movie's main characters, Max Dennison, his sister Dani, and the romantic interest Allison Watts, respectively. Fletcher recently revealed the real reason why the trio of stars isn't in the follow-up, saying they simply couldn't find room for them.

"We wanted to weave in all of the people that the fans loved, and when you sat back with all the ingredients and story, you're like, how do we make this work?" Fletcher told EW. "It was very difficult to try to have them be a part of it because we did talk about it — painstakingly. You're trying to stay on track with [the] story even if they came in as a cameo." Disney's "Hocus Pocus 2" is set to drop on Disney+ on September 30.