‘Descendants: Rise of Red’ Pays Tribute to Late Franchise Star Cameron Boyce 5 Years After His Death
As Descendants’ Uma moves into the principal’s office at Auradon Prep in Descendants: Rise of Red, she’s remembering her roots on the Isle of the Lost — while the franchise pays tribute to the late Cameron Boyce.
“I used to hate Mal, but you know what happened? We reconciled,” Uma, played by China Ann McLain, said in the new Disney+ sequel while settling into her new office. “We saw the goodness in each other.”
As Uma spoke, the camera panned to show off framed photos of Mal (Dove Cameron), Evie (Sofia Carson), Ben (Mitchell Hope) and Jay (Booboo Stewart) from the original 2015, 2017 and 2019 films. The gallery wall also featured a portrait of Carlos (Boyce) in the center.
“When she and Ben finally opened up the Isle, they gave all villains a second chance. It’s time Wonderland got one, too,” Uma tells Fairy Godmother, played by Melanie Paxson. “This [invitation] is for Princess Red.”
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Fairy Godmother then asked Uma whether she was sure about giving Red, the daughter of Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts, the chance to enroll at Auradon’s boarding school. Uma, however, didn’t hesitate.
“It’s what Carlos would have wanted,” Uma tearfully adds, seemingly confirming the character’s absence. “So, don’t do it for me. Do it in honor of him.”
Boyce’s Carlos starred in the first three Descendants movies, which took the children of iconic Disney villains in a fish-out-of-water tale at Auradon Prep alongside the offspring of fairy tale princes and princesses. Carlos, for his part, is the son of Cruella de Vil.
Amid the films’ success, Boyce died suddenly in July 2019 at the age of 20.
“It is with a profoundly heavy heart that we report that this morning we lost Cameron,” a spokesperson for Boyce told Us Weekly in a statement at the time. “He passed away in his sleep due to a seizure which was a result of an ongoing medical condition for which he was being treated.”
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The rep added, “The world is now undoubtedly without one of its brightest lights, but his spirit will live on through the kindness and compassion of all who knew and loved him.”
Aside from McClain’s Uma and Paxson’s Fairy Godmother, none of the other franchise OGs appeared in Descendants: Rise of Red. The film is primarily a new story, following Red (Kylie Cantrall) and classmate Chloe (Malia Baker) as they have to rewrite the sordid past between their respective mothers, Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora) and Cinderella (Brandy).
“We're just trying to add to [the universe], not take anything away from it,” Cantrall, 19, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the film’s premiere. “Right away, I resonated with [Red], and I thought that there was something so cool about her story because she is such an anti-hero, and she doesn't wanna be queen [and] she doesn't wanna follow her mom's footsteps.”
Descendants: Rise of Red is currently streaming on Disney+.
