Theaters are dominated by sequels now, with fans returning, again and again, to check in other their favorite characters and the new adventures they embark upon. This year alone, we've seen Doctor Strange and Thor return for more action-packed adventures, while Top Gun: Maverick, a long-awaited legacy sequel, delighted fans and critics alike on its way to becoming the fifth highest-grossing domestic movie ever.
Unfortunately, planned sequels are often canceled late in the development process for various reasons, including budgetary concerns and a lack of interest from fans, leaving us to wonder what could have been.
'Jurassic Park 4'
Long before "Jurassic World" was built on the site of the original "Jurassic Park," the original Jurassic Park 4 was trapped in development hell for fourteen years. Steven Spielberg was attached to produce the project, with Joe Johnston set to be in the director's chair. The script for the scrapped project leaked a while ago, and it's bizarre, to say the least.
It features a man named Harris, who was tasked with training dinosaurs to complete a series of crazy tasks after being captured by the villains. Perhaps most bizarrely, though, the script also included a human-dinosaur hybrid creature. Perhaps it's for the best that Jurassic Park 4 went extinct.
'Spider-Man 4'
Tobey Maguire's exceptional return in the record-breaking Spider-Man: No Way Home may have been one of the worst-kept secrets in Hollywood, but that didn't make it any less exciting when he finally stepped through Ned's portal into the MCU. Fourteen years had passed since he last played the wall-crawler, but that wasn't supposed to be the end of his solo series.
Over the years, a handful of plot details have emerged regarding the plot of Sam Raimi's planned Spider-Man 4. The movie would have featured Kraven the Hunter as a villain alongside Vulture and Mysterio, with John Malkovich eyed to play the Vulture.
'Die Hard 6'
The Die Hard franchise is a real mixed bag. After the exceptional first film, the four sequels have all been mixed in quality and characters, with none managing to live up to the incredibly thrilling first movie. Despite this, there were plans for a sixth installment for a long time, set to feature both Bruce Willis and a younger actor playing a younger version of John McClane.
This project was in development hell for several years before finally being scrapped following the announcement that Willis would be retiring from acting following his aphasia diagnosis.
'Hellboy 3'
For one reason or another, the 2019 Hellboy reboot just didn't work. Perhaps it's because fans were still reeling from the announcement that Guillermo Del Toro's planned third Hellboy movie would never see the light of day.
Del Toro spent years planning the third movie, planned to cap off his trilogy, and thankfully franchise star Ron Perlman has spilled some details on what the movie would have included. A lot of the plot would have revolved around the twins Hellboy and Liz discovered they were having at the end of the second movie, with one twin being angelic and the other completely corrupt.
'The Amazing Spider-Man 3'
Andrew Garfield's hysterical yet touching return to the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home reminded audiences just how lucky we were to have had the Oscar-nominee as Spider-Man. After starring in two solo films, there were plans for a third, The Amazing Spider-Man movie that, unfortunately, landed on the chopping block.
As revealed by Marc Webb, the third film was going to bring Chris Cooper's Norman Osborn back to life and have him lead the Sinister Six in their fight against Spider-Man. It isn't clear exactly who would have been on the team of supervillains, but The Vulture had been discussed as a potential member.
'MIB 23'
In what would have easily been one of the weirdest sequels of all time, Sony Pictures at one point planned to make MIB 23, a third film in the 21 Jump Street franchise that would have seen the movie's two lead characters, played by Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, become Men In Black agents.
Though you can see the appeal of merging a hugely successful modern comedy with a '90s comedy primed for a reboot, the two franchises didn't naturally merge. Hill explained that the whole point of the Jump Street films was to poke fun at sequels and reboots, and MIB 23 would have seen them become precisely what they'd spent two movies mocking.
'Chronicle 2'
Chronicle was a massive surprise hit when it arrived in cinemas in 2012. The found footage style of the movie put a nice twist on the superhero genre, and the young cast, including Michael B Jordan and Dane DeHaan, all gave exceptional performances.
Naturally, plans for a sequel quickly arose, and a script was written in which a young girl becomes obsessed with the found footage of the powered individuals and builds her own Iron Man suit to find them. However, Director Josh Trank was against a sequel from the get-go; however, everything in his power to stop it. Trank has since confirmed that Chronicle 2 will never happen.
'Austin Powers 4'
The Austin Powers trilogy is one of the best-regarded series of parody films of all time, with audiences enjoying the slapstick nature of the franchise. Mike Myers is electric in the many roles he plays across all three films, and way back in 2011, he closed a deal to return for a fourth movie.
Myers always kept plans for a fourth film close to his chest, but director Jay Roach liked the idea of shooting the fourth movie in 3D. Beyond that, it's safe to assume the film would have explored the fact that Austin and Dr. Evil are brothers.
'28 Months Later'
28 Months Later has been in the news recently after Cillian Murphy and director Danny Boyle revealed they would be interested in making the long-awaited sequel. This isn't the first time a third entry in the zombie franchise has been mentioned, however, and Alex Garland wrote the script years ago.
There's still no official announcement regarding the potential third movie, but Boyle recently confirmed the plan for the third film to be set in England again. Cillian Murphy also claimed that he "loved the idea" of the sequel, stating it was "very appealing" to him.
'Green Lantern 2'
Though it is widely regarded as one of the worst superhero films of recent times, with even its star Ryan Reynolds regularly poking fun at the movie, there were firm plans for a sequel to Green Lantern. Even after the first film opened to poor reviews and an underwhelming box office return, the studio stood firm with its sequel plans.
Jeff Robinov claimed that the sequel would be darker and edgier, with a better balance between the time spent on earth and in space. The sequel fell apart later, with Reynolds claiming he was glad it wasn't moving ahead as he never wanted to return to the role of Hal Jordan, given the miserable experience he endured shooting the first movie.