Hocus Pocus 2 massively underutilizes Hannah Waddingham's fun character, The Witch Mother, but it should capitalize on the character's massive potential in Hocus Pocus 3, or her own spinoff show. Hocus Pocus 2 debuted on Disney+ on September 28th, 2022, and includes the long-awaited return of the Sanderson sisters. Almost thirty years after the three sister witches first appear on-screen, the Sandersons are on the hunt for more children's souls.
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This time around, a flashback sequence including Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) as The Witch Mother, introduces the young Sanderson sisters to a forbidden spell, the Magicae Maxima. This spell provides immense power, turning a witch into an all-powerful being. The Witch Mother warns never to use the spell, as it exacts a heavy toll on the user. It is later revealed that the cost for the spell is losing what the user loves most. For Winnie Sanderson, this means losing Sarah and Mary, her two sisters. Faced with this, Winnie decides that she would rather join them in the afterlife than live without them as an all-powerful witch. The Witch Mother, portrayed by Hannah Waddingham, was an extremely important and fun character that gave the Sanderson sisters their book of spells and set up the plot of the movie, but they were wasted as a character by only being included in one flashback scene. Waddingham, an Emmy award-winning actress, had incredible potential that largely was not capitalized on. Waddingham brings an impassioned performance to the new character, Witch Mother, in Hocus Pocus 2, and displays a whimsical energy with the character that would have fared incredibly well interacting with the adult Sandersons throughout the movie. Confining her to the flashback sequence denied Waddingham the opportunity of creating on-screen chemistry with the likes of Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, which would bring new dynamic to the characters and have the viewers clamoring for more. Not to mention that Waddingham has an incredible singing voice that is only briefly displayed in the flashback scene and would have combined magically with the Sanderson sisters for the musical numbers.
How Hannah Waddingham's Witch Mother Can Return In Hocus Pocus 3
Hopefully the character of The Witch Mother can be properly utilized in Hocus Pocus 3 or even a potential spin-off project focused on The Witch Mother herself. A Hocus Pocus 2 post-credit scene shows a box that appears to contain a second black flame candle, the object that resurrects the Sanderson sisters. The bird form that The Witch Mother's character shape-shifts into can also be seen flying overhead at the end of the movie, suggesting that she is still alive in the present day. A potential Hocus Pocus 3 plot could see Waddingham's character steal the black flame candle and resurrect the sisters once more.
Waddingham's glowing blue eyes in the opening flashback sequence are the same as Winnie Sanderson's after she becomes an all-powerful witch. This suggests that The Witch Mother herself at one point also performed the Magicae Maxima spell. This could also be the reason why The Witch Mother suggests that she is without a coven, as the spell takes what the user loves most. A spin-off show or a Hocus Pocus 3 movie featuring The Witch Mother could explore the character losing her coven due to the spell and beginning a journey to try to bring them back with the black flame candle. Hocus Pocus 2's inclusion of Hannah Waddingham's Witch Mother in only one flashback scene was a waste of both the character's potential and Waddingham's talent and will hopefully be corrected in a future Hocus Pocus project. The Witch Mother's energy and character are a perfect fit to work with or against the Sanderson sisters. .