In the build-up to the release of Zootopia 2, co-director Jared Bush has come out to invalidate a popular theory regarding the film’s main villain that has been circulating on the internet for some time now. In a recent social media interaction, the Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer clarified the status of newly-recruited ZPD officer Nick Wilde’s family in the much-awaited sequel, debunking a major rumor in the process.
Nick Wilde’s family won’t be in Zootopia 2
On September 29, Bush took to X (formerly Twitter) to conduct a brief Q&A session with fans. In the thread, one user posted a multi-part query about the characters in Zootopia 2, including the father of Jason Bateman’s Nick Wilde. While Bush failed to reveal the specifics about any featured member of his upcoming film, he did confirm that Wilde’s family won’t play a major part in the sequel.
“Nick’s family is not explored in this film,” the Encanto co-director noted in his reply. In doing so, Bush put an end to a fan theory that positioned Nick’s father as the primary antagonist of Zootopia 2.
Many Disney fans had previously deduced that the charismatic fox’s dad would turn out to be the movie’s villain after watching the sequel’s teaser trailer. In the snippet, the duo of Nick and Judy Hopps comes across a menacing, shadowy figure with a pair of glowing eyes beneath his hood. With the said entity sharing an uncanny resemblance to the physical features of Nick, netizens came to the conclusion that it could be none other than the father of Bateman’s character.
However, Bush has since debunked this theory, thereby intensifying the mystery around the identity of Zootopia 2’s real antagonist. Given that the 2016 outing featured a twisted reveal regarding who the actual villain of the film was, Disney may choose to follow a similar route in the sequel.
At the time of writing, Zootopia 2 is on track to hit theaters on November 26, 2025.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on SuperHeroHype.
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