All 5 Descendants Movies in Order

The Descendants franchise is a musical fantasy adventure-comedy television film created for the Disney channel. It was created by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott. The franchise is set in the world of Disney animated classic movies, where each movie follows the lives of the teenage children of four Disney Villains who start their new life in the kingdom of Auradon at the request of the teenage son of Queen Belle and King Beast.

The Descendants franchise follows Mal, played by Dove Cameron, daughter of Maleficent, as she tries to leave her evil ways to win the heart of Prince Ben, played by Mitchell Hope, son of Belle and the Beast. Along the way her misfit friends help her; Carlos, the son of Cruella de Vil, played by the late Cameron Boyce; Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen, played by Sofia Carson; and Jay, the son of Jafar, played by Booboo Stewart. Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s see how many Descendants movies are there and what is the best way to watch them.

How many Descendants movies are there?

There are five Descendants movies so far. The first one titled ‘Descendants’ came out in 2015, and it was a huge success. A sequel was green-lit immediately, and ‘Descendants 2’ came out in 2017, and then in 2019, ‘Descendants 3’ was released.

Five years later, Disney relaunched the franchise around a new generation of characters with ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’, which premiered on Disney+ on July 12, 2024. A direct sequel, ‘Descendants: Wicked Wonderland’, debuted on Disney Channel on July 16, 2026 and arrived on Disney+ the following day, according to The Walt Disney Company. Directed by Kimmy Gatewood, the movie sends Red and Chloe down the rabbit hole after their time-traveling adventures inadvertently created a new villain, Maddox Hatter.

With five entries, the franchise now holds a notable distinction. According to Disney’s own franchise records, ‘Descendants’ has become the Disney Channel Original Movie series with the most installments, surpassing ‘Halloweentown’, ‘High School Musical’, and ‘Zombies’, which each stopped at four films.

Descendants movies in order (at a glance)

The first movie, Descendants, on its premiere night, received 6.6 million viewers, becoming the most-watched broadcast on the network in 2015. This was the highest-rated broadcast on the network since 2013. Here are all Descendants movies in order:

1. Descendants (2015)
2. Descendants 2 (2017)
3. Descendants 3 (2019)
4. Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024)
5. Descendants: Wicked Wonderland (2026)

These movies are praised for their amazing songs and showstopping dance numbers. This is no surprise because the Descendants franchise was directed and choreographed by Kenny Ortega, who has previously worked on the High School Musical trilogy.

What is the best way to watch Descendants movies?

The best way to watch all five Descendants movies is in their release order. The original trilogy follows Mal and her friends in a direct, continuous timeline, and ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ and ‘Descendants: Wicked Wonderland’ pick up years later with a new generation of characters at the center of the story.

Watching in release order still makes the most sense, since ‘Wicked Wonderland’ builds directly on the time-travel consequences introduced in ‘The Rise of Red’ and would be confusing without that context.

Descendants movies in order (by release date)

1. Descendants (2015)

Director: Kenny Ortega

Writer: Josann McGibbon, Sara Parriott

Runtime: 1h 52m

Synopsis: In the United States of Auradon, Belle and Beast rule as king and queen, they united the settings of many Disney animated films, and banished all villains to the Isle of the Lost. Ben, the son of the king and queen, announces a program to invite four children from the Isle of the Lost to live in Auradon, away from the influence of their villainous parents: Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil; Jay, son of Jafar; Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen; and their gang’s leader Mal, daughter of Maleficent. Maleficent tells the children to steal the Fairy Godmother’s magic wand to help her conquer Auradon. But, the four outcasts find themselves enjoying Auradon more than they anticipated. When the barrier is inadvertently brought down, Maleficent attacks Ben’s coronation and transforms into a dragon. What will Mal choose- her old or new life?

2. Descendants 2 (2017)

Director: Kenny Ortega

Writer: Sara Parriott, Josann McGibbon

Runtime: 1h 51m

Synopsis: Mal is trying to adjust to her new celebrity life as Ben’s girlfriend, secretly using magic to maintain this lifestyle. But, this doesn’t last, and Mal decides that she does not belong in Auradon. She returns to the Isle, where gang leadership has fallen to her old rival, pirate captain Uma, who is Ursula’s daughter. Evie, Jay, and Carlos agree to help Ben find Mal, but Mal rejects him. Mal is now certain she belongs on Auradon. Uma sees her chance, and she captures Ben and demands the Fairy Godmother’s wand in exchange for his life. In a crucial moment, Mal finds out Ben commissioned a portrait that depicts her as she was before she changed herself with magic, she accepts the act of love and kisses Ben, and saves him. Uma and Mal have a final battle, transforming into an octopus and a dragon, respectively. In the end, they come to an agreement to bring more children from the Isle to Auradon, this connects these two places even more.

3. Descendants 3 (2019)

Director: Kenny Ortega

Writer: Sara Parriott, Josann McGibbon

Runtime: 1h 46m

Synopsis: Ben proposes to Mal. Things get complicated when Uma, Mal’s father Hades, and Ben’s ex-girlfriend Audrey join forces to bring Mal down. Now, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos are trying to recruit a new generation of villain kids. Meanwhile, Hades is trying to breach through the barrier, and Audrey steals Maleficent’s crown and the scepter and she becomes an evil version of herself. The original gang has to return to the Isle of the Lost to retrieve Hades’ ember and with the help of Uma, Harry and Gil, they need to stop Audrey from destroying Auradon.

4. Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024)

Director: Jennifer Phang

Writer: Dan Frey, Ru Sommer

Runtime: 1h 34m

Synopsis: ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ shifts the spotlight away from Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos to introduce a new generation of Auradon Prep students. Red, the daughter of the Queen of Hearts, and Chloe Charming, the daughter of Cinderella and King Charming, travel back in time to stop the event that turned the Queen of Hearts into the villain audiences know.

Their mission succeeds and rewrites Auradon’s history, though the movie ends on a warning that changing the past always comes with a cost. Uma, now grown into her role as a mentor figure at Auradon Prep, is one of the few holdovers from the original trilogy to appear.

5. Descendants: Wicked Wonderland (2026)

Director: Kimmy Gatewood

Writer: Tamara Chestna, Dan Frey, Ru Sommer

Runtime: 2h

Synopsis: ‘Descendants: Wicked Wonderland’ picks up shortly after ‘The Rise of Red’ and follows through on that film’s closing warning. Red and Chloe have accidentally unleashed a dangerous new villain, Maddox Hatter, and with the Queen of Hearts captured, it is up to the duo to assemble an unlikely team to stop him. TV Insider

Joining them are Red’s newly introduced sister Pink, Luisa Madrigal’s son Luis, Captain Hook’s daughter Hazel, and Maddox’s own son Max. The film sends the group down the rabbit hole into Wonderland itself, expanding the franchise’s world beyond Auradon and the Isle of the Lost for the first time.

Do you need to watch Descendants movies in order?

Yes, it is best to watch all five Descendants movies in order. In the first movie, our original gang is vastly different from where we leave them at the end of the third movie, and their behavior, beliefs, and alliances change considerably across that trilogy.

‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ and ‘Descendants: Wicked Wonderland’ work as a connected two-part story of their own, following Red and Chloe’s timeline-altering choices and the fallout that follows. Watching the two most recent films back to back makes their cause-and-effect plotting much easier to follow.

Are Descendants movies connected?

Yes, ‘Descendants’, ‘Descendants 2’, and ‘Descendants 3′ are all tightly connected, and the original cast returns for all three films. Through the trilogy, we follow Mal and the other villain kids’ journey from rebels trying to bring down Auradon to allies trying to build a bridge between Auradon and the Isle of the Lost.

‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ and ‘Descendants: Wicked Wonderland’ exist in the same shared world and reference the earlier films through characters like Uma, but they center on an entirely new cast led by Red and Chloe. Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos do not appear in either of the newer films, so viewers hoping to follow the original four’s story should stick with the first trilogy.

Will there be more Descendants movies?

The franchise’s fourth installment, originally developed under the title ‘Descendants: The Pocketwatch’, was released as ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ on Disney+ on July 12, 2024. Directed by Jennifer Phang, the film stars Kylie Cantrall as Red, the daughter of the Queen of Hearts, and Malia Baker as Chloe, the daughter of Cinderella, as its two lead protagonists. China Anne McClain returns as Uma in a supporting capacity, now installed as headmaster of Auradon Prep rather than as the story’s central character.

The adult cast brought significant new star power to the franchise, with Rita Ora playing the Queen of Hearts and Brandy playing Cinderella. The film arrived as a record-breaker, pulling in 6.7 million views in its first three days on Disney+, making it Disney Branded Television’s most-viewed Disney Channel Original Movie premiere ever on the streamer, according to Deadline. Over its first twelve weeks of release it accumulated more than 33 million viewing hours, per The Wrap.

The success of ‘The Rise of Red’ was fast enough to trigger a fifth installment. Disney Branded Television confirmed ‘Descendants: Wicked Wonderland’ in February 2025, with Kylie Cantrall and Malia Baker reprising their roles as Red and Chloe. Directed by Kimmy Gatewood and written by Tamara Chestna alongside returning writers Dan Frey and Ru Sommer, the film is set primarily in Wonderland and deals directly with the consequences of Red and Chloe’s time-traveling adventure. Brandy, Rita Ora, Paolo Montalban, and Melanie Paxson are all returning, with Paxson becoming the only performer to appear in all five Descendants films.

As for a sixth film, nothing has been confirmed yet. Disney has not announced a release date for another ‘Descendants’ movie, and reporting suggests streaming performance of ‘Wicked Wonderland’ will likely shape whether the franchise continues.

What is confirmed is that the ‘Descendants’ world keeps expanding off screen too. The cast is set to headline the Descendants, Zombies, and Camp Rock: Worlds Collide Tour, a live arena concert running from September 2026 through February 2027.