Trailer for ‘Oz: The Great and the Powerful,’ Prequel to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (VIDEO)

The trailer for the newest fantasy film out of Disney’s studios was released Thursday at San Diego’s Comic-Con 2012.

As a prequel to the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz — based off of L. Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — Oz: The Great and the Powerful tells the story of how the wonderful wizard got a kind of rotten start.

Directed by Sam Raimi, James Franco stars as con artist and Kansas magician Oscar Diggs, who finds himself whisked away to the Land of Oz and in conflict with three witches — Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams). Faced with the task of saving the magical land, Oscar eventually transforms into the Wizard of Oz, with greater powers and possibly more grounded ethics. The iconic Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and ruby slippers do not make an appearance.

The Comic-Con panel, moderated by The Nerdist‘s Chris Hardwick, was comprised of Raimi, Kunis, and Williams.

The film is set to hit theaters March 2013.