The trailer gives fans a first look at Timothée Chalamet's portrayal of the iconic character, and it also might clear up some speculation about whether the actor is playing a younger version of Gene Wilder's or Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka. The upcoming 2023 film serves as a prequel to Roald Dahl's 1964 novel since it chronicles Willy Wonka's life before he became a success and opened his chocolate factory. As showcased in the movie's first trailer, Chalamet's character is a young, starry-eyed chocolatier with big and inventive dreams that not many people can understand.

, which also features Hugh Grant, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Jim Carter, and many others, is the third project to bring Dahl's story to the big screen.

The first was the 1971 film , starring Gene Wilder as the titular character, and the second was , starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, in 2005. Now, it's Chalamet's time to step into the spotlight as the eccentric inventor, but since is a prequel to the chocolatier's story, some wonder if it is connected to Wilder or Depp's movies. Thankfully, the trailer contains some clues.

The indicates that Timothée Chalamet is playing a younger version of Gene Wilder's character from . A couple of scenes from the video are directly connected to the 1971 film — Hugh Grant's Oompa Loompa and the "scratch that, reverse it" line.

Since the trailer is only a two-and-a-half-minute tease of , there are likely many more references to come when the movie hits theaters on December 15, 2023.

As fans know, the Oompa Loompas in are very different from the ones in . The chocolate factory workers in the 1971 movie have green hair and orange skin, but in the 2005 picture, they have dark skin and wear red leather jumpsuits. Hugh Grant appears as an Oompa Loompa in the trailer, and his appearance is identical to the beings from the older film.

This is a small detail, but Chalamet's character says, "Scratch that, reverse it," in the trailer, and one of Wilder's most memorable quotes from

is, "strike that, reverse it." undoubtedly included that line as a callback to the original movie. However, it also further proves that Chalamet plays a younger version of Wilder's character in the 2023 film.

Whereas the trailer features a handful of references to Gene Wilder's version of the character from , the video contains no connections to Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka from . Yes, Timothée Chalamet might resemble Depp more than he does Wilder (aside from the crazy curly hair, of course). However, the evidence points toward the upcoming movie serving as a prequel to the 1971 film rather than the 2005 one.

If were going to be an origin story for Depp's character, the trailer would have had callbacks to . Instead, the first look featured two obvious allusions to and Wilder's character. Plus, Tim Burton's 2005 reboot included an origin story for Willy Wonka. So it wouldn't make much sense if was related to . The two projects would completely disregard the other, and fans can't just forget what happened in Depp's film. Related:

Aside from the clues in the trailer, the movie's director, Paul King, confirmed that the film is related to the 1971 picture.

King told that his movie would serve as a "companion piece" to . The entire quote reads:

"I didn't want to reinvent those things 'cause it felt like that '71 movie had come up with these incredibly enduring, iconic looks. What I wanted this movie to be was like a companion piece to that movie. If you imagine those people in that world 25 years earlier, that was my starting process. Eventually, he would grow into that person and that factory ... I'm just happy to embrace that and walk in those enormous footsteps."

Officially, it sounds like Timothée Chalamet is playing a younger version of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka in . King never wanted to reinvent 's story, but he wanted to tell his own tale that would do the original film justice. According to the director, will certainly be able to stand on its own, but it still honors Wilder's character and movie.

Source: Entertainment Weekly