terry crews little mermaid

Twitter/@Bosslogic

Terry Crews wants to be cast as King Triton in ‘The Little Mermaid’ live-action remake

Terry vs. Idris, who ya got?

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Stacey Ritzen

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Posted on Jul 10, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 8:59 am CDT

Disney threw everyone for a loop last week when announcing that relative newcomer, 19-year-old R&B singer and Grown-ish actress Halle Bailey would be playing Ariel in The Little Mermaid live-action remake—not Zendaya, as many had anticipated. Now, people are wildly speculating as to who might fill out the rest of the cast, but Terry Crews has an idea of who might play Ariel’s dad, King Triton.

And that would be none other than Terry Crews, himself.

Shortly after the casting news was announced, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star tweeted a, uh, poorly doctored photo of himself into a still of the 1989 animated classic, with the caption: “Ariel’s Dad!!!! #ArielsGotTerry #AmericasGotTerry,” referring to the NBC reality talent competition series he also hosts.

While the above image may not have swayed many casting directors, Crews got some help when the Photoshop artist who goes by BossLogic tweeted his own imagining of Crews as “King (Terry) Triton!”

And that is when Crews’ campaign got real, as he quickly retweeted BossLogic’s creation, and added his own enthusiastic commentary. “IF Y’ALL RETWEET IT ENOUGH MAYBE IT’LL HAPPEN! KING TRITON!”

Crews is so serious about wanting to play King Triton, he even tweeted a tongue-in-cheek musical audition on Tuesday:

But unfortunately for Crews, it would appear that he has some competition, as BossLogic previously also did a version of King Triton as hunk-supreme Idris Elba.

And although Elba has yet to officially weigh in, it would appear that others had the same idea:

https://twitter.com/Bookerj11/status/1146558967176282113

https://twitter.com/angelicgavins/status/1146540199003983872

For what it’s worth, BossLogic also did a pretty sweet depiction of Missy Elliot as Ursula, despite the fact that Melissa McCarthy has already reportedly already been cast in the role (much to the chagrin of those who were hoping for Lizzo).

Disney has otherwise remained tight-lipped on early The Little Mermaid casting, however, it’s also been reported that Awkwafina is in talks to star as the seagull Scuttle, and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder.

It seems safe to say that fans will be waiting on bated breath for additional casting announcements.

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*First Published: Jul 10, 2019, 11:32 am CDT

Stacey Ritzen

Stacey Ritzen is a reporter and editor based in West Philadelphia with over 10 years' experience covering pop culture, web culture, entertainment, and news. You can follow her on Twitter @staceyritzen.

Stacey Ritzen