Timothée Chalamet Shares First Look of Himself in Character as Willy Wonka: 'Suspense Is Terrible'

Check out Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka!

On Sunday, the 25-year-old actor gave fans their first look at his character in the forthcoming film Wonka, a prequel to Roald Dahl's 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

In the photo, Chalamet appears in Willy Wonka's classic attire — a brown top hat and purple velvet coat — while snowflakes fall around him.

"The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last … 🏭WONKA🍫," he captioned his post on Instagram.

Chalamet will succeed Gene Wilder (1971) and Johnny Depp (2005) as the third actor to portray Willy Wonka on the big screen. Paddington alum Paul King is directing the upcoming film written by Simon Rich and produced by David Heyman.

"What makes Willy — when we find him at the chocolate factory doing the golden ticket, where is he before that?" Heyman, 59, told Collider in 2018. "What leads him to that place where he's locked himself away? … It's, 'How does he get there?' So we're playing around with that."

In July, members of the original cast of 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory told PEOPLE that they are looking forward to seeing Chalamet take on the iconic role while discussing their film's 50th anniversary.

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"You can't kill the Willy Wonka story," said Peter Ostrum, who originally played Charlie Bucket. "So all of it is good. It's a great story. And people enjoy whatever different version they're watching; it's fun to watch."

Chalamet's reps previously confirmed to Variety and Deadline that the actor will indeed sing and dance, similar to Wilder's vibrant character in the original film.

Wonka is scheduled to premiere on March 17, 2023.