Donald Glover's Reaction To Those 'Willy Wonka' Rumors Might Be A Really Good Sign

Whether or not you were excited to hear about a potential new Willy Wonka movie, the news of Donald Glover's response to the Willy Wonka casting rumors is pretty exciting. Glover confirmed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight that not only has he heard of the rumors, he's actually a little scared by them. When the Atlanta actor told ET how he felt about the rumors that Glover would play Willy Wonka in an upcoming remake, he said, "It kind of terrified me as a child a little bit." Then he continued, saying, "It was a really scary movie to me. I mean, I watched it a lot but I was kind of terrified by it. I mean, you know, it's a classic."

It sounds like Glover's reaction to Wilder as the enigmatic candy magnate is exactly like every other person who grew up with mixed feelings about Gene Wilder's version of the chocolatier in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. The movie should be a feel-good fantasy but was really more of a frightening experience, and the 2005 adaptation of of the Roald Dahl's 1964 book wasn't any less creepy, either. That one, titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starred Johnny Depp as Wonka, and with the return of the actor's Edward Scissorhands-level paleness, it was definitely put a chill down your spine.

Just because Glover was scared by Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, that doesn't mean he's not up for the role, though. "There's been a lot of Willy Wonkas, so I would have to think about it on some level," Glover told ET. "But it's cool that people are thinking about me." People definitely are thinking about Glover as a top contender to play Willy Wonka. When Collider published Warner Bros' top three picks to play Wonka in early June, many people on Twitter rallied behind Glover as the top choice.

According to Collider, the other actors on Warner Bros' shortlist of contenders to play Wonka include Ezra Miller, who plays the Flash in Justice League, and Ryan Gosling. Not much else is known about the future film, but Collider reports that Harry Potter producer David Heyman and screenwriter Simon Rich are working together on it with Paddington 2 director Paul King behind the camera.

There have been rumors that the movie will not simply revisit Charlie Bucket's visit to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, but instead could be a prequel that focuses on Willy Wonka before he held his momentous golden tickets sweepstake. If you just check the temperature on Twitter, you'll quickly realize that even though most people like the idea of Glover playing Wonka, most don't really see a third movie based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a necessity. That means that it's probably better if Warner Bros' upcoming film does, in fact, portray a backstory to Willy Wonka.

When ET asked Glover where he would get his inspiration to play such an iconic role, he joked, "I'll leave that to Twitter." Clearly, Glover knows that the people of Twitter have strong feelings about a potential new Willy Wonka movie. In fact, Twitter users even started a campaign to get Warner Bros to cast Janelle Monáe as Willy Wonka, which might not be a bad idea.

Who knows, perhaps neither Glover nor Monáe will end up playing Willy Wonka. Though he might be the lesser known of the group, Miller is a strong contender. As Collider pointed, out Warner Bros already features Miller in two of its big franchises: DC movies and the Fantastic Beasts series. That could give the 25 year-old an upper hand. But while Miller would definitely be a great choice, there's no denying that Glover would be the ultimate Willy Wonka. The fact that he was terrified by the original as a kid just makes him an even better choice, as he'll probably capture Wilder's comedic creepiness perfectly — and that's a Willy Wonka movie audiences will want to see.