By Kamille Q. Cabreza
Christmas in 2026 will turn brighter and greener with the return of everyone’s favorite ogre and his now established family of five.
Universal Pictures and DreamWorks have unveiled singer and actress Zendaya as an addition to the main voice actors for “Shrek 5” as Felicia, the daughter of Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz).
Her casting may have been a dream come true considering her 2017 post on X about her “too” frequent viewing of “Shrek” in her early years of adulthood.
New chapter as a voice actor
Zendaya as Felicia is expected to broaden her experience as a voice actor following her previous characters: Meechee in 2018’s “Smallfoot” and Lola Bunny in 2021’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy.”
She’s also not new to showing her fun and creative side as an artist, given the mark she left as a child star with her iconic roles as Rocky Blue in Disney Channel sitcom “Shake It Up” (2010-2013) and her titular character in the channel’s sitcom “K.C. Undercover” (2015-2018).
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“Shrek 5” will hit the big screen on December 23, 2026, the same year that Zendaya has several other huge projects in place.
She is set to take a role in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” and also continue her famous character as MJ in an untitled fourth Spider-Man movie from Marvel Studios.
The actress will also return as Rue Bennett, a struggling drug-addicted teenager, in the third season of HBO’s teen drama series, “Euphoria.”
The comeback of legendary characters
Myers, Diaz, and Eddie Murphy will all reprise their renowned voices as Shrek, Fiona and Donkey, respectively, as the film’s premise remains unknown, according to a report from Billboard Philippines.
Shrek 5 will be directed by the franchise’s longtime partners, Walt Dohrn and Conrad Vernon.
Prior to becoming head of narrative and voicing Rumpelstiltskin in “Shrek Forever After,” Dohrn worked as a story artist and writer on “Shrek 2” and “Shrek the Third.”
Vernon voiced the Gingerbread Man and co-directed “Shrek 2.”
Teaser’s ‘ugly’ Shrek causes online frenzy
The release of the film’s short teaser on February 27, along with the voice cast and revised character designs appear to reflect the latest Gen Z trends and culture.
The video clip shows Shrek and Donkey, looking into a magic mirror, asking: “Who’s the fairest of them all?” before it replies: “Shrek of course’.
A series of images of the ogre pouting, dancing in a black leather bodysuit and shirtless with a ripped chest in TikTok style are then shown.
Users took to social media to criticise the animation redesign with some likening it to the “Ugly Sonic” tactic.
This alludes to the dispute around the original Sonic design of the 2020 live-action Sonic the Hedgehog, which received a lot of backlash for deviating from the original.
Some argue that studios now employ this scheme, releasing controversial designs to create a stir and start discussions, which increases the public’s anticipation of the project.
A success since 2001
With over $2 billion in worldwide box office and home video sales, the Shrek franchise has been an enormous hit.
“Shrek 2” ($919.8 million) is the franchise’s highest-grossing movie, following “Shrek the Third” ($799 million), “Shrek Forever After” ($752.6 million) and “Shrek” ($484.4 million).
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