Terry Crews would make a truly regal King Triton in the upcoming live action remake of The Little Mermaid, and it would appear the America’s Got Talent host is all for it.
Crews has previously brought us caring dad energy as Julius Rock in Everybody Hates Chris and Lieutenant Terry Jeffords in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, so it’s easy to imagine him giving Ariel a stern ticking off for obsessing over a boy she’s seen, like, one time.
He’s also muscular enough to fill the tail of the 1989 animated depiction of King Triton, who was extremely pumped for a world where protein shakes would undoubtedly have just turned to gross, salty sludge.
Now it would appear we’re one fin closer to seeing the 50-year-old actor ruling over the watery kingdom of Atlantica, with a hilarious Instagram audition from the man himself.
The Instagram clip in question even includes ‘special effects’, in the form of a bubble filled ocean filter. It’s not quite King Triton’s throne room, but it does this trick.
In the vid, Crews belts out a rendition of the Academy Award winning Under the Sea, albeit with his own creative take on the lyrics:
Under the sea! Under the sea! My pecs are better, my triton is bigger, take it from me!
Need a refresher? watch @AGT!
Among those commenting on the clip was Crews’ IRL daughter Azriél Crews, who groaned ‘Dad….’ with both a face-palm and a crying laughing emoji.
This of course isn’t the first time Crews has expressed his keen interest in playing the Disney patriarch.
He has previously shared a photoshopped picture of him as a merman against the backdrop of King Triton’s majestic ocean palace.
The picture (captioned ‘Ariel’s Dad!!!! HEAR ME OUT!!’) elicited great excitement among many fans, who knew Crews was the perfect choice to pick up King Triton’s powerful trident.
Indeed, one fan has been so thrilled by the thought of Crews perched on that imposing underwater throne, they have created a petition to persuade Disney to cast him in the upcoming remake.
The Change.org petition was started by Gabriel McArthur, who wrote:
I don’t know why grown adults care so much about the casting of mermaids. Mermaids are imaginary creatures. I also don’t know why Disney can’t come up with an original idea these days BUT it’s nice to see new representations in familiar stories.
Terry Crews is a great actor and I honestly can’t picture anyone else playing King Triton in the live action Little Mermaid. I’m betting you agree. So sign it! You know you wanna.
You too can demand Crews be crowned King of All the Oceans here
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.