Sky High's Creators Kept The Teen Actors Apart Off-Camera For A Hilarious Reason
Before Disney completely controlled the box office with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the company was an early adopter of the superhero genre. In 2005, Walt Disney Pictures developed "Sky High," telling the heartwarming tale of a new generation of young heroes.
The movie focuses on Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano); he is the child of two of the world's most famous superheroes, but Will doesn't have any powers yet, despite kids developing them at an early age in this world. In a story that "My Hero Academia" oddly resembles, Will is the victim of bullying at Sky High because of his lack of powers, forming strong bonds with his fellow sidekick classmates. Eventually, Will's superstrength develops, leading him to transfer into the hero course, becoming popular and leaving his sidekick friends behind. In a tale as old as time, Will learns that popularity isn't everything, reunites with his real friends, and saves the day after Royal Pain attacks the school.
Although a "Sky High 2" isn't likely to ever grace our screens, the first movie was truly ahead of its time, boasting an insanely impressive cast for a seemingly ordinary Disney film. Much like most Disney original movies at the time, "Sky High" featured a robust roster of young actors, most of whom starred in notable projects afterward.
Rounding out the roster of superpowered teenagers were Danielle Panabacker ("The Flash") as Layla, Mary Elizabeth Winstead ("Scott Pilgrim") as Gwen/Royal Pain, Steven Straight ("The Expanse") as Warren Peace, and Nicholas Braun ("Succession") as Zach/Zack Attack. Unlike most movies these days, actual teenagers played the kids in "Sky High," which required specific on-set rules to ensure the film smoothly finished production.
Avoiding teen drama was priority number one
In the behind-the-scenes featurette "Welcome to Sky High," producer Andrew Gunn and director Mike Mitchell gave fans a peak behind the curtains at some of the on-set rules for the young actors in "Sky High."
"We were very specific early on. They weren't allowed to date," Mitchell said in the interview. "They weren't allowed to be in a trailer alone," Gunn expanded, "Because the last thing we needed [was] people to start dating on the second week and broken up by the fourth week." "That would have made my job really difficult," Mitchell added. Thankfully, the strict rules wound up doing their job, as "Sky High" was able to complete production without any of the unnecessary teen drama, saving all of that for the camera to capture instead.
If Mitchell and company were ever to return to the world of "Sky High," it's safe to say that, this time around, the cast would be able to hang out in their trailers without supervision. With Hollywood's obsession with capitalizing on nostalgia and the consistent success of the superhero genre, a "Sky High" sequel could fetch a pretty penny at the box office.
In 2019, Mitchell informed io9 that he assembled the original writers to pen a sequel perfectly titled "Save U," as the "Sky High" kids go to college. The plan was to bring back all the actors, and almost the entire cast signed on for a TV show, but plans fell through after the movie didn't rake in enough at the box office. Mitchell made it abundantly clear that he is ready to see "Sky High" flourish into a franchise, but the ball is in Disney's court.