The Real Reason Superbad 2 Will Never Happen
To the chagrin of hopeful comedy fans everywhere, McLovin has likely had his last joy ride in the back of a squad car. One half of the creative genius behind the generation-defining coming-of-age comedy Superbad has laid it out in no uncertain terms: Superbad 2 will never happen on his watch. At least he's got a pretty good reason why.
Actor-writer-producer and all-around funnyman Seth Rogen (Superbad, Knocked Up) recently sat down with LADbible to discuss his recent project, An American Pickle, an off-beat comedy with a goofy premise, but an important message about the cultural disaffection of Jews in America. In the course of the interview, the topic of Rogen's hit Superbad came up, inciting Rogen to explain why he will 100% not be producing a sequel.
Rogen's reluctance to revisit Officer Michaels and the generic suburban town he roams looking for teenage parties to disrupt is difficult to argue with. The actor explained that Superbad is perfect as it is; the film requires no improvement, thus any attempt to milk the concept for sequels would only tarnish its sterling legacy.
"I think of all the movies we've ever made, Superbad is the one I'd 100 percent probably never touch," Rogen said. That's basically the Full Sherman, right there.
Superbad remains an iconic teen comedy
Rogen and long-time creative partner Evan Goldberg wrote the Greg Mottola-directed film together, which was released in 2007 to widespread acclaim. The story principally follows Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera), two best friends and high-school seniors who engage in a hilarious night of unpredictable debauchery before splitting up to attend different colleges. The film certainly walks in the footsteps of giants like Clueless and — most explicitly — American Pie, and as a result it's come to define the genre for a generation of younger millennials just as those earlier films did for their forebears.
This iconic status makes the question of Superbad 2 a reasonable one. The film was a smash hit by every conceivable barometer, and Hollywood rarely lets a winning formula go until they've squeezed every last dollar out of it and beaten its overwrought remnants into the dusty LA ground (see The Hangover 3). As a basic coming-of-age comedy with exceptional execution and a manageable budget, Superbad was undoubtedly ripe for exploitation. It's a credit to Rogen and Goldberg's creative integrity that they never gave into the pressure.
"Honestly, I don't think it requires improvement or anything to be built upon it," Rogen said. "I'm unbelievably proud of it, it really holds up – people still watch it, high school kids come up to me telling me that they watched it for the first time and how they loved it. It's worked its way into being viewed as one of the better high school movies that's out there."
So we all need to quit carrying a torch for a Superbad sequel. At least we can enjoy the fact that Rogen and Godlberg are still making movies, and so far their latest appears to be a pretty good time. Time to move on, people.