Ultimately, the explanation for her character's absence mirrored her reallife reasons for not appearing in the sequel. Isla Fisher reveals early idea for Now You See Me 3 return: 'Would Henley be a villain?' Ultimately, the explanation for her character's absence mirrored her reallife reasons for not appearing in the sequel. By Sydney Bucksbaum :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/headshotb5dc24df8d5d43d1a16c9ce0e0383119.jpg) Sydney Bucksbaum Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at . She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author.

Ultimately, the explanation for her character's absence mirrored her real-life reasons for not appearing in the sequel.

Isla Fisher reveals early idea for Now You See Me 3 return: 'Would Henley be a villain?'

Ultimately, the explanation for her character's absence mirrored her real-life reasons for not appearing in the sequel.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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November 17, 2025 11:00 a.m. ET

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Isla Fisher in 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't'. Credit:

Isla Fisher has magically reappeared in the *Now You See Me *franchise after 12 years, and the director behind the latest film says her return will "right the wrong" of her missing the second installment in the series.

"One thing that I was particularly excited about was shoring up the previous two movies and making this one answer some questions that along the way got asked, like what happened to Henley? Why was she not in the second movie?" *Now You See Me: Now You Don't *director Ruben Fleischer tells **. "And so it was really important to bring Isla Fisher back and to right the wrong."

The third film in the series (now playing in theaters) reunites Fisher's escapologist Henley Reeves with the rest of the original Four Horsemen — played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco — after she sat out for *Now You See Me 2, *which introduced* *Lizzy Caplan's Lula May as her replacement in the quartet. The new film marks the first time all four original stars have appeared together on screen since the release of the first movie in 2013.**

"It was just so fun," Fisher tells EW of rejoining the franchise. "It's like returning to a kind of family, albeit a dysfunctional one, where everyone had become a kind of more extreme version of themselves."

Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Dominic Sessa, Dave Franco, Justice Smith, and Isla Fisher.

Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate

There were always conversations "back and forth" about making a third movie, but Fisher had no idea what her involvement would look like if she were to return. While never formally pursued, there was even talk early in the development stage of bringing her character back with a darker edge.

"Would Henley be a villain? Would you be this? Would you be that?" she recalls. "There were so many discussions."

Ultimately, the character's storyline was inspired by Fisher's real-life reason for not appearing in the sequel.

"We kept it pretty true to life, because in reality, the reason that she wasn't able to be in the second movie was that she was seven months pregnant when they were due to start filming," Fleischer explains. "I think it really broke the heart of the producers, as well as Isla, that they had to make a switch. And so when we were planning her backstory, we kind of just leaned into reality and said that she left because she had to raise a family, and she was sick of putting her life on the line as an assistant on a daily basis, and that she just wanted to settle down. She prioritized family."

Jesse Eisenberg says 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' twist will 'blow your mind' (exclusive)

Isla Fisher reappears with 4 Horsemen in first 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' trailer

"I got pregnant, right literally as my deal was being done, but I didn't really know," Fisher adds.

Now, she laughs at how Henley's reason for disappearing mirrors her own. While she didn't specifically ask producers for that arc, she's thrilled to finally pay off one of the franchise's biggest questions.

"I was just adamant that I felt that we wanted to know what happened to Henley," Fisher says. "She does have this kind of anarchic energy in the group, and she is the character that really does the most dangerous stunts, the actual escapology, so I was very happy to give her that backstory. It felt to me like she could bring in maternal and grounded energy to the guys. It was the way we could use that character the best in a story like this."**

Dominic Sessa, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, and Justice Smith in 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't'.

In addition to her return, the threequel also introduces a trio of young and hungry magicians (Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa, Justice Smith) who team up with the Four Horsemen to steal the valuable "heart diamond" from an evil heiress (Rosamund Pike).

However, when the movie begins, the new trio is shocked to learn from J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) that their heroes, the Four Horsemen, have broken up and haven't been seen together in 10 years. It's then that Atlas explains Henley's extended absence by revealing that she traded magical heists for a suburban life, with a husband, three kids, and two dogs.

While Henley's husband is never shown onscreen, the director says it was never the plan for Henley and J. Daniel Atlas to rekindle their spark from the first movie. "Hopefully, fans appreciate that it's 10 years later and they both moved on," Fleischer says.**

Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco.

Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate

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Try telling that to Fisher, though. "I always wanted Henley to be secretly married to Atlas, and they weren't telling anyone," she says with a laugh.

But the actress has some ideas on who should be cast to play her husband in future movies.

"I think someone really cool and different, like Danny DeVito, that no one sees coming, that's really funny and really talented," she says. "Or Adam Sandler! Yes, bring him. I would love that. I just did a movie called *Jay Kelly* with him, and I would love him to play my husband."

All she has to do is say the magic words.**

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Source: "EW Movies"

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Source: Movies

Published: November 19, 2025 at 01:38PM on Source: MORNING MAG

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