After many months of eager fans waiting in anticipation, news finally broke on Jan. 7 that the official stars of the upcoming Tangled live-action remake were revealed.
The pair of Teagan Croft (Rapunzel) and Milo Manheim (Flynn Rider) will be the stars of the remake.
Since production had stalled in 2025 many fans were apprehensive on if the project would even be seen to its conclusion.
The awaited movie follows a slew of live-action remakes of Disney animated classics such as The Little Mermaid (2023) and Snow White (2025).
Both productions featured widely beloved stars as title characters, (Halle Bailey for The Little Mermaid and Rachel Zegler for Snow White).
Such star casting influenced many to give the production a shot and make their way to see the films. However, the newly released casting information may not have the same effect.
Croft is most well-known for her work in the 2018-2023 series Titans.
In this series, she plays the character Rachel Roth/Raven, with the series gathering a considerable following with a 7.8/10 percentage review rating on IMDB.
“I saw her in Titans, and she was pretty good there, so I’m excited to see how she’ll do here. I’m surprised that they cast someone unknown, though,” says Raya Parker, a third-year graphic design student.
Parker added, “I don’t know if I’ll watch it. I’m a movie fan but I’ll see how the trailers look.”
However, in comparison to her co-star, their notoriety seems to have slight gaps.
Croft’s co-star, Manheim, is currently circulating in conversations as the next “Disney It-boy” starring in the popular Zombies franchise.
The franchise continues to pull in massive numbers with Screen Rant reporting 9.3 million viewers within the first 10 days of its most recent release.
Being the face of the series makes him widely recognizable amongst the younger audience, in hopes of combining the viewership.
In contrast, Crofts’ previous works featured her in roles primarily geared towards older fan bases.
While Manheim’s name did appear multiple times in the conversation, her casting is more of an unforeseen pick.
Ultimately, both of the leads have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Lizzy Edwards, a second-year theater major, noted their own concerns about Manheim’s potential performance in the role.
“I don’t know too much about [Croft], but I’ve seen some of [Manheim’s] acting so I think he would be an okay option for Flynn. But isn’t he meant to be like 30? He kind of looks a bit too young to play him.”
When asked if they would be interested in seeing the movie upon its release, Edwards said, “I wasn’t really planning to watch it before …but I hope it’s good.”
Fans generated numerous theories across a wide range of possibilities on how the directorial team could take the project and took to social media to voice what actors and actresses they felt should play Rapunzel and Flynn.
Even though there were no confirmations until recently, a popular fan theory has persisted throughout the discussions.
Avantika Vandanapu became a fan favorite for the lead role of Rapunzel.
Her own catalog of works contains movies like Spin and the Broadway adaptation of the classic film, Mean Girls.
Her fan casting generated a new wave of unprecedented discourse that brought many hopes and excitement, but also apprehension if Vandanapu were to take the role.
“I’m glad they let the story be ‘accurate’– too many people were disgusting towards Avantika on the possibility of her being cast,” shared Alayne Pierre, a second-year mass communication major.
There are still many roles to be announced related to the film that will surely influence its viewers on whether they would like to tune in or not.
