Entertainment

Usher Has A Cameo In 'Incredibles 2' & It's Too Good

by Danielle Burgos
Rich Polk/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

After 14 years, the sequel to Pixar's super-family story The Incredibles is finally coming out. Incredibles 2 picks up the story right where it left off, as the Parr family unites to fight the villain seen at the end of the previous film. Unfortunately the massive amount of destruction their battle causes results in the government cracking down even harder on superheroes and taking the problem to a worldwide scale. But there are still fans of Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone out there, and now you can count singer, songwriter, and dancer Usher among them. Yup, the pop impresario makes an appearance in Pixar's latest — seriously, Usher voices a character in Incredibles 2.

There are plenty of amazing non-superheroes and everyday people in the world of Incredibles 2, and the film already has a star roster including Bob Odenkirk, Isabella Rossellini, and Catherine Keener as normal humans doing extraordinary work. Usher's character has a smaller role than those others, but it's a pretty great one nonetheless; he's a driver who freaks out over Frozone because he's such a huge fan of the hero. On his official Twitter feed, the singer himself confirmed the cameo, and even included a picture of his character opening a car door for Frozone, voiced by actor Samuel L. Jackson.

For those who don't recall, "I'm your biggest fan" was the line originally uttered by young Buddy Pine to Mr. Incredible when petitioning to be his sidekick. After Mr. Incredible turned him down, Billy snapped with rage and devoted the rest of his life to becoming supervillain Syndrome, bent on making everyone in the world just as "super" via superior technology so no one would be "super" solely based on inherited traits (a scheme which on the surface of it doesn't seem quite so evil, and which some have pointed out has serious Ayn Randian overtones).

Yet while Usher's character's line is definitely a fun callback to the first film, the driver is not meant to be nearly as villainous as Buddy Pine. He has no further agenda besides gushing to his hero while he has a chance, and if it does, it's not going anywhere yet in this movie, as Incredibles 2 focuses on the politics of superheroes in a world wary of their destructive capabilities.

In the film, brother and sister-run company DEVTECH hatches a plan to bring superheroes back into public in a positive way, and tap Frozone and Elastigirl — who are less explosively damaging superheroes than Mr. Incredible — to participate in a publicity scheme. Their day-to-day difficulties fighting crime and saving people will be broadcast to the world, so everyone can see just how difficult that work is. Meanwhile, Mr. Incredible's left at home to take care of the kids, and the movie presents the difficulties of parenting, even if it posits the outdated comedy trope that men are somehow inherently terrible at nurturing and parenting (yet naturally superior at everything else, which is why women belong in the home).

While Mr. Incredible watches the kids, DEVTECH relocates the Parrs and Frozone for the project, and that's where Usher's character, the chauffeur, comes in. It's a pretty random cameo, but Pixar is known for them from both celebrities and fictional character. The studio has a history of hiding characters from their other films in each movie, so fans should keep an eye out for cars from Cars or toys from Toy Story on the periphery of Incredibles 2. Whether there will be any other official celebrity cameos is unknown for now, but with Incredibles 2 hitting theaters on June 13, fans will know for sure then.