Gird your loins, Shrek is back.

25 years after we first met our favourite green ogre, the cast of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy are returning for a fifth film. Shrek and Fiona's kids will be played by comedic divas Skyler Gisondo, Marcello Hernández, and Hollywood's leading lady of the moment: Zendaya.

Zendaya?? Talk about star power. Who else do we want to tap into this project? Academy Award winner Michael B. Jordan? Should we ask Tom Cruise to stop jumping out of planes and start diving into animated roles? What about famed character actress Margo Martindale?

But I digress, because there's something else we need to discuss.

When the first teaser trailer was released last year, I was stunned by Shrek's new appearance. I was haunted, perplexed. The streets were aghast (it's me, I'm the streets).

Because it looks like someone asked me to draw Shrek from memory. Like they put the vague concept of Shrek into ChatGPT. Like the viral trend of "looksmaxxing" had made its way to the swamp and Shrek had engaged a local beautician to drastically alter his face.

If Shrek was real the internet would be freaking out over the conspiracy that he'd died and been replaced by a waxier, fake version of himself. Like that whole thing with Jim Carrey.

Because who, I ask you, is this man?

A chilling before and after. Image: Dreamworks.

In the first-look images, one thing became clear: someone gave Shrek a makeover, complete with buccal fat removal, an eye lift and some severe eyebrow microblading. And dare I say, he went a little too hard on the vitamin C serum because he's an entirely new shade of green.

The internet went absolutely bonkers over the pics (the new labels "Shrok and Dinkey" and "Temu Shrek" were bandied about). But hey! Those were just the first look images and now, in 2026, we've been treated to our first proper trailer.

There were reports that some changes had been made following the backlash — for example, Felicia's eyes changed back to blue because the animators had seemingly forgotten that in the first edit. Oops!

They've added more dimension than we saw in the first teaser and there's certainly been an attempt at a course correction aesthetically. Some more forehead lines and a bushier brow, etcetera.

But guys, it's still cooked.

Haunting. Image: Dreamworks.

The teaser doesn't reveal much, but it does show that this film will follow Shrek's kids on a journey to "Further, Further Away".

Plot-wise, it seems wholly unnecessary and also thrilling. Like it will be a great time for people who enjoy the Shrek-Verse. I'll be in the cinema with popcorn in my hands, a dream in my heart, and a quizzical brown on my face.

Because the visual aesthetic remains bonkers and you're not going to shame me into backing down on this opinion because it quote "doesn't matter". We're on a spinning rock and one day we will die. Either nothing matters or everything does.

It could be argued that the animation style has been updated due to technological advancements or that it's been altered to suit the style of the Puss In Boots follow-up. Someone even told me I was "ageist" because Shrek has simply gotten older. Um, ok! I think you're wrong and these people aren't real. In fact, they are fictional ogres and also entirely animated. And in the new Shrek 5 animation, his dark green sun spots on his little bald head actually got lighter, so like, what are we even saying?

Everyone is now smooth and bouncy and it looks like a children's cartoon. And yes, I know this is a children's movie (in which we joke about penis size and the villain's name is meant to sound like f***wad, I later learnt).

This movie was all about intentionally being rough and imperfect, an antidote to Disney. And the shiny, new, trolls-ification of the characters can not be ignored. In the sense that the animation style now looks like the other Dreamworks movie, Trolls, and I feel like I've been gaslit to believe that was always the case.

It isn't necessarily bad, it just isn't Shrek.

There's many a Reddit thread currently discussing animation editors, film timelines, Illumination vs Dreamworks, and other such hot button issues which I'd recommend a deep dive into if you're a nerd like me.

But one thing is for sure: yikes aplenty. The community is in shambles, a fandom divided.

Check out the trailer and judge for yourself below.

This article was originally published in February 2025 and has been updated with the new trailer.

Feature Image: Dreamworks.