'Alice Through the Looking Glass' trailer drops: Favorite characters return and dangerous villain debuts

Disney has dropped the first official trailer for Alice Through the Looking Glass, revealing an offbeat follow-up full of ticking clocks, quirky characters, time travel, and unconventional adventures.

Featuring Mia Wasikowska’s return as Alice, the movie – loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s 1871 sequel to his classic children’s tale – reveals its titular character going through a mirror and into the Underground, where an ailing Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) needs her help. “Friends cannot be neglected,” an ominous voice intones, as Alice takes off on her journey to save Hatter. “Hurry.”

Directed by Flight of the Choncords helmer James Bobin, the film appears to continue the colorful visual tradition that Tim Burton established in his Alice in Wonderland reboot. The entire original cast returns in Through the Looking Glass, including Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Depp as the Mad Hatter. And it’s worth noting that one brand-new character makes its debut in the trailer. That’d be Time himself, a half-clock, half-human character who’s set up as Disney’s newest villain. “He is not someone you want as your enemy,” Alice is warned.

As wildly whimsical as Through the Looking Glass appears, the central premise of the film – that time waits for no one – is aimed squarely both at older fans of Disney’s 1951 animated movie and its 2010 live-action blockbuster

“Because the first movie was so commercially successful, obviously there was this idea that we should make a sequel,” says producer Suzanne Todd. “But we took a really long time trying to figure out what the interesting themes were for us, which was this idea that we all inadvertently waste time. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.”

Alice Through the Looking Glass opens in theaters May 27, 2016.