The first time we saw Will Smith as the Genie from Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin, it was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, where he was “rockin’ the top knit ponytail vibes.” Perhaps knowing that a controversy would follow, the Suicide Squad star wrote on his Instagram, “Yes, I’m gonna be BLUE… This is how the Genie is in Human / Disguise Form. My character will be CGI most of the movie.” Can we go back to that simpler day, before Smith blue himself?
The most-talked about moment from the 2019 Grammys wasn’t Ariana Grande’s absence or Dua Lipa and St. Vincent incredible (and incredibly sultry) performance — it was the latest teaser for Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin, featuring Smith’s “genie with abs.” The reactions quickly rolled in, with Twitter users cracking jokes at the Fresh Prince of Agrabah for looking like “the first Smurf to have a Four Loko” and “a thumb person from Spy Kids,” but there’s one similarity that the internet has really picked up on. I am very sorry in advance.
and in the morning, I'm making
~~~~~𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙼𝙰𝚁𝙴 𝙵𝚄𝙴𝙻~~~~~ pic.twitter.com/UNtZ4rpL2t— david (@_elvishpresley_) February 11, 2019
producer's notes: it's cool that Will Smith is in this movie and all, but what if we face swapped him with blue Shrek, and also had the worst guy from DeviantArt do it pic.twitter.com/hvi2NGlRe9
— priscilla page (@BBW_BFF) February 11, 2019
I've never seen a movie go from zero to Shrek so fast pic.twitter.com/R63tdA8ijM
— Lawrence Sonntag (@SirLarr) February 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/CaillouPettis/status/1094777489610629125
https://twitter.com/5lefaa_/status/1095021455895683073
https://twitter.com/lisswolverines/status/1095022339178168320
Replace will Smith genie with blue shrek
— Kevin Lieber (@kevinlieber) February 11, 2019
Stoked to see all the old Shrek memes turn into Genie memes.
— Benjamin Frankenberg (@BenHorrible) February 11, 2019
will smith in aladdin is literally just shrek gone crip
— touché (@quadaintshit) February 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/PlayMorriconeFM/status/1094946637955371008
Will Smith's Genie looks like Shrek's cousin from a Christmas special no one talks about
— Christine Cherry, the Beep of all Meeps (@chriscereza) February 11, 2019
In less ogre-y news, Smith said he took on the role after he realized that Robin Williams, who voiced the Genie in Disney’s 1992 original (and again in Aladdin and the King of Thieves), “infused the character with a timeless version of himself.” That opened up possibilities “to really say and do anything, so I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Williams but was musically different and just the flavor of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane.”
Aladdin opens on May 24.
