Will Smith’s Genie In New ‘Aladdin’ Movie Has Made People Incredibly Unhappy

The live-action version of Disney’s Aladdin isn’t even out until May 2019, but people are already going bonkers over it — and not in a good way. That’s mainly because we’ve now all seen what Will Smith will look like as the Genie in the beloved film and let’s just say that someone on the Closer staff thinks Will’s portrayal looks eerily similar to Shaquille O’neal’s character in Kazaam. We won’t reveal who said that. But we’re not the only ones scratching our heads at this new Genie look — in fact, people all over had no problem voicing their displeasure of Will’s character.

Once Entertainment Weekly shared the first look of Will as the Genie on their latest magazine cover via Twitter, people began speaking out against the movie. For starters, plenty of GIFs stating everything from “I hate it” to “Kill it with fire” were used by people who were not happy about the Genie’s look. Quite brutal. Some others simply used their words to let all know how disgusted they were by this new characterization. See Will in character on the EW cover below! 

We can show you the world… of Disney’s live-action #Aladdin! Get a shining, shimmering, splendid first look at the reimagined classic in our magical First Look issue: https://t.co/Kwkcdfen5v pic.twitter.com/7NbyiRRcLH

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) December 19, 2018

“2018 has officially taken enough from me,” one person wrote on Twitter. Another added, “This looks more like a knockoff film than an actual film” and a third stated, “We’re already suffering, please don’t make us suffer more.” Yes, the world is falling apart around us, but mess with any of our beloved Disney films and we will take it to the streets. To be fair, the movie is still a couple of months away, so Disney does have some time to fix any hiccups. Perhaps the final product will be something that fans can stomach. Or perhaps it will make them more upset and they will handcuff themselves to the Disney headquarters in protest. Either outcome is possible.

But if folks need some calming down (we know we do), Will did comment on his Instagram that his character “will be blue,” saying, “This is how the Genie is in Human/Disguise Form. My character will be CGI most of the movie.” If you say so, Will.

Aside from the nightmare that is the Genie’s new look, people have no complaints with how Aladdin, played by Mena Massoud, and Jasmine, played by Naomi Scott, look. But if this film falls apart, at least we can hold out hope that the live-action The Lion King or Dumbo will be a tad better.