New “Jungle Book” footage gives us a frighteningly close look at Scarlett Johansson’s Kaa

Not gonna lie, we’re pretty excited about Jon Favreau’s live-action Jungle Book. The 1967 version pierced our hearts, and who wouldn’t want more where that came from? We shared our thoughts on the trailer recently, and now this new IMAX featurette is getting us all geared up for Kaa being a sultry villain with a seriously hypnotic green-eyed gaze that you CANNOT look away from.

Kaa is played by Scarlett Johansson in this version, which is such a cool choice because the role has never been voiced by a female before. To top it off, Scarlett is known for having the most distinctively sultry voice in show business, so already this python comes across as a master of seduction to little Mowgli. When she declares, “I know what you are. I know what you came from. Would you like to see?”, his guard goes down all the way, along with ours. It’s only natural, there’s a massive snake in his face and he’s a tiny boy in the big jungle.

As Kaa recounts how Mowgli came to live with the panther Bagheera after his father was killed, she indicates that she’s going to use her storytelling talent to entrap Mowgli. For anyone who’s seen the original film (which should be everyone), you’ll remember that Kaa also tried to hypnotize Mowgli various times and devour him. But he looked like this, so yeah.

Judging by the IMAX clip, Jungle Book is going to be a whole lot edgier than the original. And Kaa is going to be positively terrifying. In a good way. And a scary way. Between this and her portrayal of Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson has certainly cornered the Hollywood market on playing deadly creatures!

Check out the whole IMAX featurette below, and prepare for April 15!