Hollywood star Johnny Depp returns as the flamboyant Mad Hatter in "Alice Through the Looking Glass" for more big screen fantasy adventures inspired by the much loved stories by Lewis Carroll.

The movie follows on from the 2010 box office hit "Alice in Wonderland", which starred Depp alongside Australian actress Mia Wasikowska as the titular heroine and Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen.

"It's a lot of fun to revisit the Mad Hatter," Depp told reporters at the movie's London premiere on Tuesday night.

"It was a gas to get back together with the cast of before, and then the addition of Sacha Baron Cohen certainly upped the stakes quite a lot ... It was great because this particular film .... has a bit more of the Hatter - there are a lot more layers of things going on."

Cohen, known for his satirical characters Ali G, Kazakh reporter Borat and Austrian fashionista Bruno, joins the cast as new villain, Time, in the sequel, which looks at the Mad Hatter's traumatic childhood.

The plot follows Alice as she rushes to reunite the Mad Hatter and his family while battling Time and the Red Queen.

"Alice Through the Looking Glass" rolls out across cinemas worldwide from May 25.