The long-in-development Shrek 5 means the return of the franchise’s best characters, a few of which I am especially looking forward to seeing again. It is a given that Shrek (Mike Meyers), Fiona (Cameron Diaz), and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) will be returning. More than likely, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) will be brought back into the story, following his successful spinoff movies. Puss in Boots and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish expanded the Shrek universe to include several more characters who could also appear in Shrek 5.

The Shrek cast has always included a wide array of wacky, subverted fairy tale characters, making up Shrek’s crew of friends and some enemies. I am a huge fan of deconstructed fairy tale characters, with a few from the Shrek movies standing out to me as particularly clever. However, as fairy-tale movies of this nature are not exactly groundbreaking anymore, the characters need to be able to stand on their own. Luckily, there are numerous from the franchise’s previous installments who always provide plenty of laughs and action.

10

Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek)

From Puss In Boots & Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Firstly, I hope it is not too much to ask that Shrek 5 uses the same animation style as The Last Wish. With it having been so long since the last Shrek movie came out, a stylistic revamp is in order. Meanwhile, it would be appropriate to include some of the characters exclusively from the Puss in Boots movies in Shrek. Puss in Boots was well received, while The Last Wish drastically surpassed its predecessor and more people than just me are eager to see their new characters return.

At the forefront of both movies is Kitty Softpaws, the feline outlaw and pickpocket who can serve as a cornerstone for both action- and emotion-oriented storylines. Kitty is Puss’ combative and intellectual match; they keep each other on their toes at all times, even though they are technically on the same side. The two cats have a great dynamic that would elevate Shrek 5 — it’s amusing to me to think about how the rest of the Shrek group would react to Kitty encouraging the best and worst in Puss.

9

Perrito (Harvey Guillén)

From Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

Completing the “Team Friendship” trio in The Last Wish is Perrito, the incredibly sweet and funny therapy dog who falls in with Puss and Kitty on their latest adventure. Perrito provides lots of hilarious beats but has an odd insight into some of his traveling companions’ inner workings and drives character growth as a result. In a very powerful scene and interesting moment for the extended Shrek franchise, Perrito calms Puss down when he is having a panic attack.

Both Puss and Kitty are lone wolves, but Perrito latches onto them with complete dedication and friendliness until they fondly accept they are sticking together. Perrito could be at the center of other similar subplots about providing emotional support and finding new friendships in future movies. Luckily, Puss, Kitty, and Perrito are seen arriving in Far Far Away at the end of The Last Wish, strongly implying that they will all be a part of Shrek 5.

8

Pinocchio (Cody Cameron)

From Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, & Shrek Forever After

It’s not a Shrek movie without Pinocchio. Shrek relies upon a close friend group of characters from fairy tales and nursery rhymes to come to his aid when fighting villains. Of this group, Pinocchio is the most reliably funny member. He claims some of the funniest scenes in the franchise, such as the Mission: Impossible spoof sequence in Shrek 2. Additionally, Pinocchio’s humor builds upon itself as the movies go on.

A lot of Pinocchio’s jokes are based on him not being able to lie, leading to him saying something random that turns out to be true, then leading to him going on a crazy ramble of statements, none of which are technically untrue. Hopefully, Shrek 5 would come up with another clever way to pervert this aspect of Pinocchio’s tale for humor. This is combined with his part in the overall comedy of this group of characters, who are seen doing lots of “normal” things together, like watching this world’s version of bad reality TV.

7

King “Artie” Arthur (Justin Timberlake)

From Shrek The Third

Shrek the Third is one of the weaker Shrek movies, and its take on King Arthur is considered lackluster. However, I believe that Shrek could still do something with “Artie” to make him a more dynamic character. I also always thought that the brief cameos by other characters from Arthuriana at the high school were fun and hilarious Easter Eggs: The jousting team captain who bullies Artie is Lancelot (John Krasinski), his would-be best friend and right-hand man, and Artie confesses his love to Guinevere “Gwen” (Latifa Ouaou) before departing.

Puss and his crew are headed back to Far Far Away, where Artie and perhaps some of his former classmates have presumably ruled for years now. The modern cacophony of fairy tale heroes and villains proved to be an amazing part of Shrek 2, and mixing in Arthuriana could be just as fun. Artie’s character just needs to be less of a generic noble heir in Shrek 5, but he may have become more jaded in the intervening years.

6

Goldilocks (Florence Pugh)

From Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

The Last Wish recruited another major rising star with Florence Pugh as the universe’s edgy version of Goldilocks. Goldilocks’ return would likely also mean the same for her adopted family, the just as impressively cast Three Bears: Papa (Ray Winstone), Mama (Olivia Colman), and Baby (Samson Kayo). Goldilocks has a great, grungy design, a heartwarming arc about learning to fully appreciate her found family, and is one of the franchise’s most skilled fighters — up there with Puss and Kitty.

I’m of the opinion that any movie will be improved by Pugh’s involvement and that Goldilocks’ conceptualization was a neat and fun addition to the Shrek roster of twisted fairy tale characters. Goldilocks and the Bears would likely be allies but probably operate outside the usual group of Shrek’s closest friends. This could contribute to a complicated story where there are multiple groups of characters after the same thing, as is the case in The Last Wish.

5

Brogan (Jon Hamm)

From Shrek Forever After

Shrek Forever After addresses a long-standing plot hole in the series: Shrek and Fiona can’t possibly be the only ogres in this world. It’s still a plot hole that they are completely absent for the rest of the series, but it opens up the potential for future storylines with the underground army of ogres that Fiona led against Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn). After that experience, Shrek may have made an effort to find the other ogres again in his own timeline, as the movie’s credits scene suggests. One of them is Brogan, Fiona’s unofficial right-hand man.

It would be interesting for Brogan to return because of what he connotes about Fiona’s character. In the alternate reality, Fiona saves herself from the tower and leads an army, something I thought was in character and very empowering for her, as well as a valuable subversion of the damsel in distress trope effectively added in so late in the franchise. It would be great if Shrek 5 didn’t completely discredit this, and Brogan could be a way to remind the audience of it.

4

Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews)

From Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, & Shrek Forever After

Julie Andrews was also an amazing addition to the Shrek cast when she and John Cleese joined the franchise as Fiona’s parents in Shrek 2. Queen Lillian balances out her daughter and a lot of the other characters, who are very exaggerated with loud personalities, cracking outlandish jokes or charging into a fight. In contrast, Lillian is more tempered, providing the power squad with a wiser, older presence. Yet, she can hold her own in a fight as well as anyone else.

Lillian may still live in Far Far Away, possibly advising Artie, who is Fiona’s cousin and could use some advice on how to rule. Maybe the starting point of Shrek 5 will be that Artie has become a bad king (something that does happen in Arthuriana) and Lillian is the one to realize that Far Far Away is falling into ruin. In general, Lillian can be used to facilitate other characters’ arcs while being interesting on her own.

3

Snow White (Amy Poehler)

From Shrek The Third

The whole subplot of the princesses asserting that they can save themselves in Shrek the Third feels a bit preachy, in retrospect; Fiona rescuing herself after years of pain and loneliness in Shrek Forever After is actually handled better. However, the princesses themselves are all given goofy personalities that are perversions of how they are generally thought of in pop culture. Snow White is probably the best one, who is written in direct contrast with the DisneyPri idea of her being the sweetest and most passive princess.

Snow White casually drops a few brutally mean comments, and the transition from sitting and waiting to be rescued (because she bluntly asserts that’s all they can do) to attacking Prince Charming’s (Rupert Everett) forces feels the most natural with her. Snow White and all the princesses would probably return together, but she could be the ringleader if Fiona wasn’t with them. Snow White also represents a slightly different kind of comedy for Amy Poehler, one which it would be great to see her return to.

2

Big Bad Wolf (Aron Warner)

From Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, & Shrek Forever After

Another highlight of the main Shrek group is the Big Bad Wolf, sometimes known as “Wolfie,” who may be a double character from different versions of both the Little Red Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs stories. Wolfie has always been voiced by Shrek producer Aron Warner, who adopts a bored intonation for the characters’ lines. This enables Wolfie to have some funny beats where he coolly responds to everything happening around him.

The best of his moments — and possibly the funniest moment of the whole franchise — is Wolfie undercutting Charming’s whole heroic rescue sequence with irritation that his reading has been interrupted and the casual announcement that Fiona is on her honeymoon. That, at least, is why I want Wolfie to return — if nothing else, as a reminder of this hilarious beat. However, the group that also includes Gingy (Conrad Vernon), the Three Blind Mice (Christopher Knights), and the Three Little Pigs (also Cameron) will probably also all return as a unit.

1

Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders)

From Shrek 2

Resurrection is not an established part of the Shrek world. However, no one is going to deny that the Fairy Godmother is one of DreamWorks’ best villains and a dazzling part of Shrek 2, with an epic cover of “Holding Out for a Hero.” She is a master manipulator and embodies a unique threat in this setting of trying to enforce a traditional fairy tale structure. Therefore, I would readily accept a half-baked resurrection storyline if it is used as a vehicle to bring the Fairy Godmother back.

She is also set up for a straightforward arc of wanting to avenge Charming’s (her son) death. This would actually be new for her character, with less scheming involved and a more head-on, emotionally driven approach. This might be a far-fetched wish of mine for Shrek 5, but it could be the basis of a new, hilarious, and heartfelt installment for the franchise.

• 

  Shrek

  Where to Watch

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  Director

  Vicky Jenson
  , Andrew Adamson

  Release Date

  
  May 18, 2001
  

  Cast

  Cameron Diaz
  , Mike Myers
  , Eddie Murphy
  , John Lithgow

  Runtime

  90 minutes

• 

  Shrek 2

  Where to Watch

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  Director

  Kelly Asbury
  , Andrew Adamson
  , Conrad Vernon

  Release Date

  
  May 19, 2004
  

  Cast

  Eddie Murphy
  , Mike Myers
  , Rupert Everett
  , Antonio Banderas
  , Jennifer Saunders
  , Cameron Diaz
  , Julie Andrews
  , John Cleese

  Runtime

  93 minutes

• 

  Shrek the Third
  

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  Director

  Chris Miller
  , Raman Hui

  Release Date

  
  May 18, 2007
  

  Cast

  Mike Myers
  , Eddie Murphy
  , Cameron Diaz
  , Antonio Banderas
  , Julie Andrews
  , John Cleese

  Runtime

  93 minutes

• 

  Shrek Forever After

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  Director

  Mike Mitchell

  Release Date

  
  May 21, 2010
  

  Cast

  Mike Myers
  , Eddie Murphy
  , Cameron Diaz
  , Antonio Banderas
  , Walt Dohrn
  , John Hamm
  , Jane Lynch
  , Craig Robinson
  , Julie Andrews
  , John Cleese

  Runtime

  93 minutes

• 

  Puss in Boots

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  Director

  Chris Miller

  Release Date

  
  October 28, 2011
  

  Cast

  Antonio Banderas
  , Salma Hayek Pinault
  , Zach Galifinakis
  , Billy Bob Thornton
  , Amy Sedaris
  , Constance Marie

  Runtime

  90 minutes

• 

  Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

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  Director

  Joel Crawford

  Release Date

  
  December 21, 2022
  

  Cast

  Antonio Banderas
  , Salma Hayek Pinault
  , Olivia Colman
  , Harvey Guillen
  , Samson Kayo
  , Wagner Moura
  , Anthony Mendez
  , John Mulaney
  , Florence Pugh

  Runtime

  102 minutes