From IGN: Muppets Most Wanted: New Footage at D23 Shows Kermit's Been Replaced by a Master Criminal!

The Disney convention gave fans the biggest look yet at the Muppets sequel.

by Eric Goldman
August 10, 2013

As big of a fan of the Muppets as I am, I must admit to being a bit underwhelmed by the teaser trailer for Muppets Most Wanted that debuted this past week. Thankfully though, the footage shown at D23 today was far better and offered plenty of reasons to think that this will be another funny and satisfying movie for the Muppets, following their great return in the 2011 movie.

A trailer/sizzle reel explained the storyline, as we are told about a master criminal who has stolen the greatest treasures, escaped the greatest prisons “and bares a strong resemblance to someone you know,” as we see this criminal, Constantine... looks just like Kermit the Frog! The montage that follows showed Ty Burrell as an Inspector Clouseau-like, French Interpol agent who has an hilarious face off with Sam the Eagle, as both try to outdo each other by pulling out increasingly large badges. Muppet fans may recall Danny Trejo was in some trailers for the last movie, in a scene inside a prison that was cut. Well, Trejo is in this film – in a scene set, yes, inside a prison, where he's joined by Kermit, and declares, “the frog’s got cojones!” We see Tina Fey, as the prison guard, slam a cell door shut and yell, “Lights out” as she storms away – putting the entire prison block into darkness and causing her to yell out and scream, “I can’t see anything!” The lights come back on to reveal she’s fallen over.

During a brief appearance onstage, Ty Burrell said that his character, the “uber-French” Jean-Pierre Napoleon is actually paired with Sam the Eagle for much of the film, as they “trade barbs about each other’s culture.”

After a pre-taped video from Tina Fey, Miss Piggy and Kermit, we were shown a long sequence from the film – in which the Muppets shady new manager, Dominic (Ricky Gervais), joins all the Muppets and says, “It’s Kermit, back from his afternoon stroll!” As “Kermit” speaks in an odd, jumbled voice, it becomes clear this is not Kermit, but Constantine – but even as Constantine tells the Muppets he was wrong and to now do whatever Dominic says, the other Muppets believe it’s Kermit, with Fozzy declaring, “That walk must have really helped!” The only one to not buy it? Animal, who yells, “Bad frog! Bad frog!” and bites Constantine on the arm, only for other Muppets to pull him off. Constantine tells the Muppets to get ready for their next show and to go rehearse, “A heartwarming lesson about sharing or waiting your turn or the number three,” before he and Dominic go into the back of the theater.

We then saw a very fun and funny musical number from the film, performed by Constantine and Gervais/Dominic, as they sang about how Constantine was in charge -- “Number One” -- and Dominic was “Number Two.” Dominic is clearly not happy about this, as Constantine yells, “You’ve got to dance. Dance, monkey, dance!” and Dominic is forced to do a big tap routine. The number ends with Constantine, showing his dominance, sitting on Dominic’s head, as Scooter bursts in with his usual, “Two minutes to show time! Two minutes to show time!” There’s then an awkward pause as he looks at the frog sitting on the man’s head, until Scooter goes, “Oh… okay!” and walks out of the room.