Return of One of the Greatest Disney Villains of All Time Officially Teased by Star

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The actor who voiced one of Disney’s most iconic villains has hinted at their return. Disney is known for its memorable villains, from Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons) to Ursula (Pat Carroll) and Gaston (Richard White). What’s remarkable is Disney’s ability to get fantastic performances from both major stars – like Keith David as Dr. Facilier in The Princess & The Frog – and lesser-known actors, such as Jonathan Freeman’s chilling portrayal of Jafar in Aladdin. This is especially impressive when compared to some newer animated films that use celebrity voices but end up with characters that sound flat and lack personality.

Disney made a brilliant move when they cast James Woods as the voice of Hades in Hercules. Woods perfectly captured the god of the underworld as sarcastic, bitter, and hilariously evil – similar to villains like Jafar and Scar. He dominated every scene he was in, achieving a level of impact previously only seen with Robin Williams’ performance as the Genie. Recently, Woods hinted on X (formerly Twitter) that he’s been back in the studio recording more lines as Hades, confirming how much he still enjoys playing the character. He explained that he’s voiced Hades in every version of the character, and was recently recording new material, praising Disney’s creative team for consistently delivering high-quality work.

What Disney Project Could Hades Return in?

What truly sets James Woods apart in ‘Hades’ is that his performance outshone even a remarkably talented voice cast including Danny DeVito, Susan Egan, Rip Torn, and Tate Donovan. The difference wasn’t subtle, making his continued involvement with the character a real treat for Disney fans. It’s common for games and TV shows to replace popular actors with imitators – even Tom Hanks uses his brother Jim for Woody – but Woods insists he’ll always voice Hades. This raises the question: what new project could he be hinting at?

Fans on the X platform immediately inquired about Kingdom Hearts IV, which has been in development for over four years. Actor James Woods is well-known for voicing Hades – he’s played the character in all the Kingdom Hearts games, plus other video games, the Hercules TV series, a direct-to-video Hercules prequel called Zero to Hero, and the 2023 Disney short Once Upon a Studio, among other roles. He’s voiced Hades a total of 18 times, counting game re-releases. While fans would love to hear him as Hades in Kingdom Hearts IV, they’d also be excited to see him reprise the role in an animated project. It’s unclear if he’ll be cast in the upcoming live-action Hercules remake – that seems less likely – but it would certainly challenge his personal rule of always taking on the character if offered.

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2026-05-18 02:10