Keegan-Michael Key joins Timothée Chalamet in Willy Wonka origin story

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Wonka has a new cast member

Keegan-Michael Key in Keanu
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Keegan-Michael Key has joined the cast of Wonka, the upcoming origin story about the eccentric chocolate factory proprietor, Deadline reports. 

Timothée Chalamet is the only other cast member to be announced so far – he'll be playing a young version of Willy Wonka. Key's role has not been confirmed yet. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but we know that the movie will focus on Wonka’s early days before he opened his infamous chocolate factory. There are also set to be some musical numbers in the movie. 

A-listers have taken on the role of the chocolatier in the past, with Gene Wilder playing Willy Wonka in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Johnny Depp took on the role for Tim Burton’s 2005 reboot, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

Based on Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel, the story of the original movies follows Charlie, a young boy who lives in poverty and wins one of five golden tickets to visit Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory that’s otherwise closed to the public. The other four children with golden tickets give into their desires during the tour and are ejected from the factory in a variety of darkly comic ways, until only Charlie is left and Willy Wonka names him as the heir to the chocolate factory.

Emily Garbutt
Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.