Drew McIntyre Joins Disney Animation: WWE Star Lands a Voice Role in Hexed

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2026

The Scottish Warrior is going to Disney. Walt Disney Animation Studios used Monday, October 12 to unveil an expanded voice cast for Hexed, its next original animated feature, alongside a new trailer and poster — and tucked into the announcement, as WrestleView reported, was a name nobody had on their animation bingo card: Drew McIntyre. The former WWE champion is officially part of the cast, credited under his full name, Drew (McIntyre) Galloway. ABC Audio reported the same expanded cast announcement via WGLX, confirming the trailer-and-poster rollout that introduced the new names.

02 What we know — and the part Disney is keeping secret

Here is the tantalising bit: nobody outside the studio knows who he is playing. Men’s Journal reported that Disney has not revealed McIntyre’s character, and SEScoops reported the same — the casting is confirmed, the role is a mystery. That kind of secrecy invites speculation, of course. Hexed is set partly in a vast witch realm, which offers everything from towering guardians to comic-relief familiars, and McIntyre’s booming delivery could power either end of that spectrum. A six-foot-five former world champion with one of the most recognisable voices in wrestling does not get cast to whisper in the background.

Men’s Journal described McIntyre as a four-time world champion, and his presence in the cast continues a genuine crossover trend, which we will get to in a moment. He is not even the only wrestling-adjacent name in the announcement. WrestleView reported that Pat McAfee — the former NFL punter turned WWE commentator and broadcasting phenomenon — also appears in the additional cast, with his character likewise undisclosed. Two of the loudest microphones in sports entertainment, both keeping their animated alter egos under wraps for now. Disney clearly understands the value of a slow reveal.

03 The story: a mother, a daughter, and a witch realm

At the centre of Hexed is a family story wearing a fantasy adventure’s clothes. According to Disney’s official description, as reported by Men’s Journal and by ABC Audio, Hailee Steinfeld voices Billie Doe, an impulsive teenager who discovers she has secret magical abilities — abilities powerful enough to hurl her out of ordinary suburbia and into Hexe, a vast realm of witches. Rashida Jones voices her mother, Alice, the cautious counterweight to Billie’s impulsiveness, and together the two dig into family mysteries that could reshape the witch world itself.

That mother-daughter engine is classic Disney Animation territory — think of the emotional architecture the studio does better than anyone when it is firing properly — but the world around it sounds pleasingly strange. Jodie Foster voices the villainous Queen Celeste, which is the kind of casting that makes you sit up straight all by itself. Walton Goggins voices a magical three-eyed cat, a sentence that improves the more you think about it. Henry Winkler voices Nigel, a skittish and all-knowing potoo bird, and Dan Stevens voices Hieronymous, the Grand Councillor of the Throne — per ABC Audio’s rundown of the cast. Tracey Ullman and Stephen Fry also star, which means the comic bench is as deep as the dramatic one.

And then there is the additional cast, which WrestleView listed in full: Alan Tudyk — Disney Animation’s modern good-luck charm — alongside Randall Park, Kathy Najimy, Jimmy O. Yang and Ron Funches, plus McIntyre and McAfee. Najimy’s name will land with a particular glow for anyone who grew up on witchy Disney fare, and the overall effect of the list is unmistakable: this is a big, expensive, swing-for-the-fences ensemble, not a quiet experimental release.

04 The filmmakers, and the date to circle

Hexed is directed by Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand, with Josie Trinidad as co-director, and written by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller — a creative team ABC Audio credited in its report, with WrestleSite reporting the same lineup. Bush’s name in particular carries weight inside the studio, and pairing him with this cast signals that Disney intends Hexed to be a flagship original, the kind the studio builds a holiday season around.

Which brings us to the calendar. WrestleSite reported the release dates from the Disney UK announcement: Hexed opens in US theaters on November 25, 2026 — straight into the Thanksgiving corridor, the most valuable family-movie window of the year — and in UK cinemas on November 27. Thanksgiving placement is a statement of confidence all on its own. Studios do not hand that weekend to a film they expect to whisper; they hand it to a film they expect to roar. Keep an eye on our movies hub as the holiday slate takes shape, and compare it with how Netflix is counter-programming the same season — its TYSON docuseries dropped today.

05 The WWE-to-Disney pipeline is real now

If McIntyre’s casting feels familiar, that is because Disney Animation has walked this exact path before. SEScoops noted the precedent: the studio previously cast WWE names Roman Reigns and CM Punk as zebra police officers in Zootopia 2, which arrived in November 2025. What read as a novelty gag a year ago now looks like a deliberate talent pipeline. Wrestlers are, after all, voice actors with stadium-sized projection and decades of practice selling character through a microphone — and modern animation casting directors have clearly noticed.

SEScoops also reported useful context on McIntyre himself: he has been away from WWE television, is expected back soon, and — per that same reporting — filmed three movies during the absence. If even part of that holds, Hexed is not a one-off lark for him; it is one piece of a genuine screen-career push being built while the wrestling world waits for the return. That is a savvy way to use time away from the ring. Championships come and go, sometimes literally, but a beloved animated character is forever — ask anyone who has voiced one.

For now, the mystery is the fun part. Is the Scottish Warrior a villain, a guardian, a comic sidekick, something with three eyes of his own? Disney is in no hurry to say, and with a November 25 release date, it does not have to be. What is certain is that the announcement worked: a voice-cast reveal in the middle of October just became a wrestling story, an animation story and a genuine curiosity, all at once. When the character is finally unveiled, expect the volume — from McIntyre’s fanbase and from the man himself — to be considerable. In the meantime, our TV coverage is tracking the week’s other big casting-and-premiere news, including tonight’s Marvel finale event.