Does Meryl Streep's Donna Die in 'Mamma Mia 2'? Five Theories!

The trailer for the Mamma Mia sequel was released today and fans are wondering where Meryl Streep‘s character seems to be!

The three-time Oscar-winning actress played Donna Sheridan in the first movie and she earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work in the leading role. This time around, Donna is being referred to in the past tense and it seems the character may have died.

The trailer starts with Amanda Seyfried‘s character revealing that she’s pregnant and that she “doesn’t know” how to do it herself. Julie Walters‘ Rosie and Christine Baranski‘s Tonya then tell her, “Your mother is the bravest person we ever met” and “Let me tell you how she did it, all on her own.”

So, what happened to Donna? Here are five theories:

• 1. The obvious answer is that Donna has died and Sophie calls on her aunties for advice as she needs motherly figures in her life at this time.
• 2. Donna could be off on tour. There is one clip of Meryl on stage performing!

Click inside for three more theories on where Donna could be…

• 3. Sophie is too nervous to tell her mom about the pregnancy and relies on her aunties instead. In the first movie, she was too nervous to tell her mom about inviting her possible dads to her wedding, so this could add that “surprise” factor to the sequel.
• 4. Donna and Sam (who she married at the end of the first film) now live somewhere else and aren’t able to help Sophie during her pregnancy.
• 5. Donna was off searching the world for her long lost mother, played by Cher!

Watch the new trailer for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again below.