The world received the first glimpse of Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka this weekend and the internet reactions were a chaotic mix of thirst, excitement, shock, and confusion.
What is it with origin stories recently? Cruella. Harley Quinn. Those unnecessary Harry Potter prequels. JOKER! Hollywood woke up one day and decided we all really wanted to unpack the trauma of film characters and here we are.
And I’ll be honest, I don’t relish finding out what makes a man who has no bloody qualms about killing annoying but innocent children in a chocolate factory into the way he is.
A Willy Wonka film is still in the works anyway because my opinion doesn’t matter. The musical fantasy will serve as a prequel to Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and stars Chalamet in the title role. It will focus on the young Wonka and his adventures prior to opening the world’s most famous chocolate factory.
It was the actor himself who shared the first look at the new Wonka, posting separate images on Instagram and Twitter; the boy knows how to play the game.
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Wearing a top hat and an immaculate raspberry turncoat, he sort of resembles his character from Little Women; his smouldering stare, though, hints at a far more sensual and serious version of Wonka than we’ve seen before. Gene Wilder had many talents but exuding sexiness was not one of them.
Reactions on social media started popping off as soon as the pictures debuted and emotions were all over the place.
“timothee chalamet willy wonka is what happens when a hollywood focus group tries to create a tumblr sexy man,” was a personal favourite, being a survivor of the ‘golden age’ of Tumblr.
timothee chalamet willy wonka is what happens when a hollywood focus group tries to create a tumblr sexyman. pic.twitter.com/k0Neh1DkwC
— Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@Hello_Tailor) October 10, 2021
Others thought he dressed very much like a hipster while many thought Hot Willy Wonka was definitely on the way. “In this one, Wonka fucks,” wrote Ben Schwartz, no stranger to confusing sex icons having portrayed Jean-Ralphio in Parks And Recreation.
In this one, Wonka fucks. https://t.co/pZOvmC7RsO
— Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) October 10, 2021
“If we’re not learning about wonka’s sex life, I don’t want it,” said writer Jourdain Searles and so long as said sex life doesn’t involve any Oompa Loompas, that’s fine with me.
https://twitter.com/judysquirrels/status/1447328467494883329?s=20
Just as many, though, disagreed with the possibility of Hot Willy Wonka. A Twitter user noted the bimbofication of the character, with many pining for the gentility of Wilder’s classic interpretation of Wonka. Seriously, how did we get here from Wilder melancholically singing ‘Pure Imagination’?
There’s no release date for the film yet so we’ll be waiting a while yet to see if Chalamet is up to the task of playing Wonka. Principal photography did begin in the U.K. last month, though, so hopefully it won’t be too long.
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Brave choice to make Willy Wonka’s origin story set in 2010 Williamsburg. pic.twitter.com/cqtJBCByJK
— sam greisman (@SAMGREIS) October 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/ifeeIkindafree/status/1447292103910887425?s=20
The bimbofication of Willy Wonka pic.twitter.com/iarh5IWoks
— J Goodie (@Frolicious98) October 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/chalamiz/status/1447406985670905856?s=21
Can they stop casting him in every single thing?? https://t.co/F3fXE8THGa
— ✨Miguelito✨ (@whorechata4ever) October 11, 2021