Zootopia 2 Directors Tease a Mystery Fourth Character Poised to Steal the Show
Zootopia 2 reunites Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde—but the real curveball is Winddancer, a Horse Mayor voiced by Patrick Warburton, charging into the political arena as a surprise fourth lead set to make a big splash.
Judy and Nick are back, but Disney is clearly not making Zootopia 2 a simple victory lap. The big curveball? A brand-new power player trotting into office: a horse named Winddancer, voiced by Patrick Warburton. Yes, the Horse Mayor. And yes, the filmmakers are treating him like the sequel's secret weapon.
The Horse Mayor crashes the party
Co-director Jared Bush told Collider that Winddancer was not on his bingo card when he first sat down in the story room, but the character quickly became a team favorite. The directors keep hinting that Winddancer is more than a cameo; he is the fresh angle that shakes up Judy and Nick's world and brings a new kind of chemistry to the franchise's politics and city dynamics.
"the secret fourth character" who will make a "big splash"
That is how the directors are talking about him. Bold claim. But based on the trailer, they might actually deliver.
The trailer: a snake, a song, and a bigger city
Disney dropped the new trailer on September 29, and it finally lays out what Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) are up against. Enter Gary De'Snake, a pit viper voiced by Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, whose sudden arrival starts tearing up the city and forces the duo into new territory. Along the edges of all that chaos, the film is quietly widening the bench with a few blink-and-you-miss-them newcomers and some unexpected casting swings.
- New villain: Gary De'Snake (Ke Huy Quan) rolls in and starts doing real damage, pushing Judy and Nick out of their comfort zone.
- New faces: Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster) and Dr. Fuzzby (Quinta Brunson) pop up, plus a tag-team of Zebra Buddy Cops voiced by Roman Reigns and CM Punk. Did not have that pairing on my 2025 bingo card either.
- Music upgrade: Shakira returns as Gazelle with an original track called "Zoo," co-written with Ed Sheeran and Blake Slatkin. The vibe feels bigger and shinier this time.
- Score continuity: Michael Giacchino is back, keeping the musical DNA consistent with the first movie.
- World expansion: Bush has been saying they are taking us into parts of Zootopia we have not seen before, and the trailer backs that up with new neighborhoods, more varied environments, and species we did not get last time.
Between the political shake-up (Winddancer), the slinky new villain, and that broader city map, this does not look like a copy-paste sequel. It looks larger, louder, and more kinetic.
Box office heat before opening
Early signs say this thing might light up the holidays. A box office analyst on X claimed China presales hit 7.1 million dollars from Nov 25-30. That number is not officially verified, but it is already being echoed across early coverage.
On the domestic side, BoxOfficePro is tracking a 95-110 million dollar three-day opening in North America, and 140-160 million dollars over the full Thanksgiving five-day stretch. Deadline has floated 125 million dollars or more for the five-day. In short: it is tracking like one of the biggest animated openings of the year and could be exactly the kind of family hit theaters need after a soft October.
The date
Zootopia 2 opens worldwide in theaters on November 26, 2025.