Someone needs to check the internet’s pulse. It seems as though young actor Timothee Chalamet has broken the internet by sharing the first look of his role as Young Willy Wonka in the upcoming movie named after the infamous character.
Wonka is set to tell the origin of the eccentric chocolatier, who was previously brought to life by actors Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp.
This upcoming film is set to be a fantasy musical and will star Chalamet in the title role with Paddington’s Paul King directing.
Chalamet surprised fans with a new teaser image of his role. However, as expected with the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory notoriety, some internet peeps weren’t very impressed.
Chalamet shares first image
Hitting up his 13.6 million followers. Chalamet took to his Instagram account to post an image of himself channeling Willy Wonka (it was also shared on his Twitter). He wrote, “The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last…”
The 25-year-old continued to write the title of the movie in between two emojis: a factory and a chocolate bar. The image currently has over three million likes and has been circulating wildly across the internet.
In the image, Chalamet was donning a velvet red jacket and a scarf with a complicated pattern. He paired this with a tan hat and a black top. The actor appears to be peering suspiciously to the right while standing in front of a large camera. It is assumably winter as there is snow fluttering around him.
Chalamet’s peers hyped him up, including his Dune co-star Zendaya who wrote, “Absolutely.” Pitch Perfect actor Rebel Wilson also expressed her excitement, commenting, “All about this.” And the official MTV Instagram account lovingly expressed, “I’m going to have dreams about this tonight.”
How did fans react
While Chalamet’s peers and fans seem to be anticipating Wonka, others weren’t impressed by his first look. On Twitter, the image is circulating along with commentary relating him to another character — a blue puppet dressed in similar attire. Others are complaining that they don’t need a “sexy Willy Wonka,” a similar notion to one about Henry Cavill’s Sherlock Holmes portrayal in Enola Holmes.
Hopefully, this meme treatment doesn’t affect production too much, unlike CW’s Powerpuff Girls series that chose to undergo massive changes after getting strong negative feedback from online communities. Nonetheless, it looks like Chalamet has some critics to impress!
Wonka is set to premiere in 2023.