The internet was filled with the dulcet tones of ABBA Thursday morning after Universal Pictures released the first trailer for “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.”

The highly anticipated look at the sequel to 2008’s “Mamma Mia!” opens with Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) surrounded by friends of her mother (Christine Baranski and Julie Taylor) who have arrived to help her with impending motherhood.

But where, precisely, is Sophie’s titular mother, Donna, played by Meryl Streep?

She’s dead.

OK, Donna isn’t explicitly dead in the trailer. Streep is, after all, still listed in the film’s credits, but it remains heavily implied that death becomes her.

The character is almost exclusively mentioned in the past tense, and there is little, if any, new footage of Streep. The film appears to hinge entirely on Donna’s friends explaining to Sophie how her mother made it as a young pregnant woman on her own.

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For those concerned that “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” may be lacking in star power with a distinct lack of Streep, fear not.

The trailer’s closing moments feature Sophie’s grandmother, played by none other than Cher, stopping by the island via helicopter.

“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” arrives in theaters on July 20.

 


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