Sometimes there are good zombies that you just can't help but love, and that's what happened with Billy Butcherson in Hocus Pocus. Played by the ever-brilliant Doug Jones, Billy is a character that many fans still dress up as for Halloween, and we all love him unconditionally. So heading into Hocus Pocus 2, it delights us to no-end to know that Billy is back and just as lovable as before. Now, Entertainment Weekly is giving us a new look at the undead character, and we get to see Billy back and better than ever and with some wonderful new quotes from Jones and the director of the sequel, Anne Fletcher.
For Fletcher, it was surreal seeing Jones step back into the role of Billy and how he brought the beloved former lover of Winifred of the Sanderson Sisters back for the sequel.
"It does something to your soul, it's so surreal, it's so mind-blowing," Fletcher said. "He's in a moment of betrayal [in the scene], so you're looking at this beloved character in such a way who's been hurt, and it blows your socks off. I'll never forget that."
The new image in question has Billy standing in a graveyard with the dark of the night around him, and has an eerie look to him despite the fact that we all, as fans of the original, know how sweet Billy is, and it feels right to have him back for the sequel with the same look to him.
For Jones, he was happy to come out of the grave talking. "I was really happy that Billy comes out of the grave talking," he said to EW. "It is seamless between the first movie and the second, that's the first thing I felt. It keeps the pureness and nostalgia alive and well for those who grew up with the first movie, and for any new fans we're gathering now will be excited about modernization for the current time we're in. Billy came back to me immediately, it was frightening how he's been alive while I've been playing other characters all these years, but, Billy's like, 'I wanted my chance again.'"
The nostalgia that we have for this film rears its head every Halloween season and it is going to be a nice change to have Hocus Pocus 2 to bring us into the season this time around, and if it means getting to end back into the world of the Sanderson Sisters with Billy? All the better!
Hocus Pocus 2 premieres on Disney+ on September 30.