Sequel burnout is a real thing and yet, when movie creators can still come up with something fresh after so many visits to the movie theatre, audiences are thrilled. Take the Toy Story franchise for example. Disney/Pixar has created five movies based on the core characters (the fifth, Lightyear, is actually a spinoff of sorts loosely based on the other four), but the studios did not rush the stories to do so allowing for better writing. The Shrek franchise has been less successful producing four sequels each with a little less omph from the last. However, one of the best things that DreamWorks did was to create the spinoff movie Puss in Boots, an origin story of the main character. Is used a character that we all loved but in a new storyline. That movie came out in 2011. Now in 2022, that little orange tabby is back for The Last Wish. Will the studio be able to recreate the same magic after all these years? Maybe.

The new story features Puss discovering that his passion for peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll. He has burned through eight of his nine lives (though he lost count along the way) and getting those lives back will send him on his grandest quest yet.

Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of the notorious PiB as he embarks on an epic journey into the Black Forest to find the mythical Wishing Star and restore his lost lives. But with only one life left, Puss will have to humble himself and ask for help from his former partner and nemesis: the captivating Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek).

In their quest, Puss and Kitty will be aided—against their better judgment—by a ratty, chatty, relentlessly cheerful mutt, Perro (Harvey Guillén). Together, our trio of heroes will have to stay one step ahead of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears Crime Family, “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney) and terrifying bounty hunter, The Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura). What could go wrong?

Directed by Joel Crawford, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish also features the voice talents of Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo (Sliced), Anthony Mendez and Da’Vine Joy Randolph and comes to theaters this Christmas.