'The Muppets... Again' First Look Photos And Plot Details Revealed

When Kermit and company hit the big screen in 2011's The Muppets, it had been over a decade since their last cinematic outing in 1999's Muppets From Space. Thankfully, the wait for their next film won't be quite so long. The Muppets... Again is on track to open just over a year from now, and Disney is already getting the hype machine started with a plot synopsis and a couple of first look images — including one of human star Ricky Gervais. Hit the jump to keep reading.

The idea of this film is that our gang is on this global tour, and we're selling out these grand theaters all over Europe—in Berlin, Madrid, London—but we sort of get into a little bit of trouble when we run across my doppleganger. He's the world's number one criminal, Constantine, and he happens to look an awful lot like me. I won't tell you any more than that, but let's just say mayhem ensues.

While Walter is returning for the new adventure, his brother Gary (Jason Segel) is not. Instead, the gang will be interacting with a whole new group of humans including Constantine's "dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two" (Gervais), feisty Russian prison guard Nadya (Tina Fey), and lazy French Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon (Ty Burrell). In addition, Ray Liotta is reportedly making an appearance, and Christoph Waltz, originally set to play the Interpol agent, may make a cameo. Knowing the Muppets, they'll no doubt find room to cram in plenty of other celebrity cameos as well.

The first of the two photos comes from Gervais' Twitter account, and shows him getting cozy with Miss Piggy and Kermit. (Or might that be Kermit's villainous lookalike Constantine?) The second features the entire gang, plus director Bobin, sprawled out across a London train station.

Co-written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller, with tunes by Bret McKenzie, The Muppets... Again opens March 21, 2014.