Heartstopper star Kit Connor has been revealed as one of the lead voices in a surprising new take on the world of Willy Wonka.
Connor will star alongside Taika Waititi in Netflix’s upcoming animated feature Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory, a project that appears to be taking the Roald Dahl classic in a much stranger and more contemporary direction than previous adaptations. The film is set for release in 2027.
With Heartstopper now wrapping up its final chapter, it is no surprise that Connor is moving into major new projects. The openly bisexual actor rose to international fame through the hit Netflix series, and this latest role sees him step into a very different kind of fantasy world.
According to Netflix’s first official details, Connor will voice Charlie Paley, a brand-new teenage character at the centre of the story, while Waititi will play Willy Wonka. This version is set in modern-day London and follows a reimagined premise in which Wonka has been released from prison after the infamous blueberry incident involving Violet Beauregarde.
Rather than simply retelling the original story, the film appears to lean into a darker, more mischievous twist. Charlie and his friends are reportedly facing eviction and hatch a plan to break into the factory and steal a priceless Wonka Bar, setting up a new kind of clash between the chocolatier and the next generation of “rotten” children.
That unusual set-up may reassure anyone wary of yet another straightforward reboot. If anything, Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory sounds less like a retread and more like an eccentric expansion of the Wonka universe, using animation to push the story into bolder and more chaotic territory. That final point is an inference based on the film’s announced premise and the directors’ description of it as a more “unhinged” take.
The project is being directed by Jared Stern and Elaine Bogan, with animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks, the studio behind the Spider-Verse films and KPop Demon Hunters. That alone suggests the film could end up being visually far more adventurous than audiences might expect from a Wonka reboot.
For Connor, it is a high-profile next step at exactly the right moment. For audiences, it may be the first Charlie and the Chocolate Factory adaptation in years that genuinely sounds as though it has something new to say. That final sentence is an inference based on the project’s premise and creative team.
