“Inside Out 2” Official Trailer Released! Is Riley Going to be a Queer Character?

Disney/Pixar has released the official trailer for the upcoming animated feature film Inside Out 2. With Riley becoming a teenager, the narrative will introduce a bunch of new emotions. Also, is Riley going to have a crush on another girl? Hmmm.

I’m going to be honest. I didn’t care about the first Inside Out movie that was released back in 2015. It was a box office success (grossing more than $858 million worldwide), but I was quite “Meh!” about it. However, the trailer for Inside Out 2 has me intrigued. And yes, I know about the unfortunate news about Mindy Kaling and Bill Hader not returning to reprise their roles as Disgust and Fear due to a pay dispute. But as they say, the show must go on.

The official trailer does a good job setting up the scene featuring the OG emotions helping Riley live her life in a somewhat comfortable manner. However, everything changes when Anxiety arrives. Her appearance ushers in other emotions including Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui. It appears that the OG emotions try to work with the new batch, but then Anxiety has to take over (get it?) and bottle up the OG team. The line about them being the “suppressed emotions” made me laugh.

I highly doubt the new emotions will be deleted from existence. So, I would wager the narrative is going to focus on the OG and the new batch of feelings trying to figure out how to work together for Riley’s well-being as she continues to grow older. Until new emotions pop up to set up a third movie. Ha!

Here’s the trailer!

Of course, the online fandom is already speculating about Riley possibly having a crush on the long-haired girl shown in the trailer. 

I mean, I’m not saying that Inside Out 2 is going to definitely make Riley a queer character. But if it happens, I will have to applaud Disney for taking such a step, especially after their continued weak track record of queer representation in such type of media content.

The fandom also caught an interesting Easter Egg of Riley having a 4*Town poster in her bedroom. 4*Town is a boy band introduced in Turning Red (another movie about growing up and dealing with lots of emotions). Said connection could mean nothing or it could mean that Inside Out and Turning Red take place in the same universe and time period. I can already see the crossover fanart being drawn!

The cast of the upcoming movie includes Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, Tony Hale as Fear (replacing Hader), Liza Lapira as Disgust (replacing Kaling), Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Ayo Edebiri as Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui, Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment, and Kensington Tallman as Riley Andersen (replacing Kaitlyn Dias from the first film).

Inside Out 2 is looking at a June 14, 2024, theatrical release in the USA.

What did you think of the Inside Out 2 official trailer? Will you be watching it on the big screen?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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