'Descendants: The Rise of Red' Ending Explained: The Cast Weighs in on Potential Sequel (Exclusive) (2024)

Just like the original trilogy, the ending of Descendants: The Rise of Red will leave you wanting more.

Released on July 12, the Disney+ film serves as a spinoff to the popular series of movies, as it follows new characters at Auradon Prep. With Uma (China Anne McClain) now in charge as principal, she makes a new rule allowing kids from all over the kingdom to attend the school, including Red (Kylie Cantrall), the daughter of the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora).

However, when Red’s mom incites a coup against Auradon and threatens the life of Cinderella (Brandy), Red joins up with Cinderella's daughter Chloe (Malia Baker) to take a magical adventure through time, where they come face to face with the teenage versions of their mothers.

Through a series of events, they team up to stop a pivotal event that turns Red’s mother evil. Though they seemingly stop the event from occurring, there appears to be more to the story.

Ahead of the premiere, PEOPLE talked with cast members Kylie Cantrall, Malia Baker and Dara Reneé about the cliffhanger ending and the possibility of another film. Here’s everything to know.

Warning: spoilers for Descendants: The Rise of Red ahead.

Do Red and Chloe stop Uliana from pranking Bridget?

When Red and Chloe travel back in time, the duo work together to stop a pivotal moment that changed the Queen of Hearts — then known as Bridget (Ruby Rose Turner) — to the dark side. It’s revealed that when she was a teenager at Merlin Academy, she was humiliated by Uliana (Dara Reneé) during the school dance, which essentially turned her evil.

To stop the Queen of Hearts’ coup in the present day, as well as save the life of Cinderella, Red and Chloe try to stop Uliana. When they learn that Uliana plans to steal a magic spellbook from Merlin’s office to pull off the prank, they team up to steal it first. When they successfully complete their mission, they immediately return home just moments before the Queen of Hearts starts her coup.

Is the Queen of Hearts still evil in the present day?

Though Red and Chloe stop Uliana, Red worries that her mother will still be evil when they return to the present day. As they arrive back at Auradon Prep, the events from earlier in the film begin to play out the same way. However, when the Queen of Hearts turns around, her dress is shown to be light pink, like the one she wore in her younger days.

As she releases magical hearts in the air and lovingly greets her daughter, it’s implied that Red and Chloe were successful in their mission and the Queen of Hearts never turned evil. Cinderella is also alive, happily greeting her daughter Chloe in the crowd.

Did Red and Chloe change the present when they time-traveled?

Just as the original Descendants films kept their conclusions open-ended, the film ends with a voiceover from Uma that teases there is more to the story, adding that there are always consequences when you mess with the fabric of time.

Speaking with PEOPLE exclusively, Cantrall teased that there is certainly a “butterfly effect” whenever you time travel, noting she’s sure Red and Chloe “altered something when [they] went back.”

Reneé also teased that whenever you go to the past, “you're going to mess up the future,” adding that “no matter what your good intentions are, something is going to be out of place."

"Maybe Red did more damage than good,” she noted.

Will there be a Descendants: The Rise of Red sequel?

Though Cantrall, Baker and Reneé didn't reveal whether there could be a sequel to Descendants: The Rise of Red, they also noted that they would be more than happy to reprise their roles if there was another film.

“Here’s hoping,” Baker said about a potential follow-up, adding that she would personally enjoy seeing Cinderella and King Charming’s land explored more in another film. “I would love to see more of Chloe's home life and how it's changed since she got back,” she said.

Though she loved that neither Red nor Chloe had a “knight in shining armor” in this film, she’d be open to exploring a romance for Chloe in a sequel. Cantrall echoed that same sentiment, saying it would “be fun to see Red have a love interest.”

Additionally, she’d love to see Red's new dynamic with her mom. “That's drastically going to change their relationship, so I'm interested to see how that's going to work,” she said. “Also Red and Chloe and them now being really tight, I think that that's going to be cool to watch.”

For Reneé, who played the villain in Descendants: The Rise of Red, she joked that she’s “biased” and would love a “Uliana origin story.” “I would love it if the VKs could come into Wonderland and do some ruckus, sneak into that little time machine and figure out how to mess things up,” she said, teasing, “Maybe Uliana is in charge [now].”