FromJurassic WorldtoGhostbusters: AfterlifetoTop Gun: Maverick, legacy sequels have quickly become Hollywood’s favorite form of currency. Classic movies can be separated into two categories: those that have been rebooted and those that are going to be rebooted. Most legacy sequels are wholly unnecessary and struggle to justify their own existence, likeTerminator: Dark Fateand theStar Warssequel trilogy, but there is one legacy sequel that audiences need right now:Wayne’s World 3. Wayne and Garth’s public access show is an early forerunner to the kind of content that thousands of people are making with their friends on YouTube today. It would be interesting to reunite Mike Myers and Dana Carvey for a third movie exploring a middle-aged Wayne and Garth’s struggle to stay relevant in the influencer age.
The originalWayne’s Worldmovie is still a widely adored comedy classic to this day. It isn’t just one of the bestmovies adapted from anSNLsketch (which, aside from the genius ofThe Blues Brothers, isn’t a high bar to clear); it holds up as one of the greatest comedies ever made. Many scenes from the film became instantly iconic, like the “Bohemian Rhapsody” singalong credited with bringing Queen back into the mainstream. Myers and Carvey share a timeless comedic dynamic in the lead roles and Penelope Spheeris’ badass anything-goes direction captured the rebellious rock ‘n’ roll zeitgeist at the peak of the grunge era.
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Discussions of a thirdWayne’s Worldmovie have been mooted pretty much since the second movie came out and failed to garner the same critical and commercial success as the first one.Wayne’s World 2was hurt by the fact that Myers had to rewrite the script from scratch. According to theHollywood Reporter, just asWayne’s World 2was about to go into production with its original screenplay, studio executive Sherry Lansing was furious to learn that Myers had lifted the plot from the 1949 British comedyPassport to Pimlico. The original script saw Wayne and Garth seceding from the United States and forming their own country. When Paramount found out their next tentpole was technically a remake of a movie they didn’t own the rights to, Lansing ordered Myers to start over and write a new script for aWayne’s Worldsequel. The rock festival storyline grew out of this frenzied rewriting process and the resulting movie was met with mixed reviews anddisappointing financial returns.
But in spite of the sequel’s underperformance, the original movie and the Wayne/Garth dynamic have stood the test of time. Today’s audiences still rewatch the first film because they can’t get enough of Myers and Carvey’s on-screen chemistry as a pair of endearing metalheads. The movie’s meta humor was way ahead of its time. Wayne was breaking the fourth wall and deconstructing his own movies longbefore Deadpool came to the screen. TheWayne’s Worldfranchise’s self-aware style is just as relevant now as it ever was – maybe even more so. In the earlier movies,Wayne used his relationship with the audienceto express his insecurities and vulnerabilities. He would tell the viewers about his hopes and dreams, and his fear that Cassandra would leave him for someone more handsome and successful. A modern-day threequel could do the same with the vulnerability of aging as Wayne opens up about the universal struggle of getting older. Fans who grew up withthe originalSNLsketchesand the movies and have now aged with Wayne and Garth and would relate to their transition into their twilight years.
Not only could a threequel make up for the disappointment of the first sequel and end the series on a high note; it could tap into some timely subject matter. Sequels are always difficult to get right, but that’s especially true of comedy sequels – and even more especially true of comedy sequels that arrive years and years after the last movie, likeZoolander 2,Dumb and Dumber To, andComing 2 America. But the cultural zeitgeist has aligned perfectly for this particular belated comedy sequel.
Almost everyone is making shows likeWayne’s World. Instead of airing them on public access television,they’re posting them on YouTube. It would be fun to see simple, naive Wayne and Garth grappling with the modern world of SEO and social media and audience engagement. They could barely grasp the concept of a countdown in the first movie. In today’s online media landscape, they’d have to update the format of their show to line up with contemporary trends like food challenges and reaction videos and “Let’s Play” gaming vlogs. The thing that usually holds comedy sequels back is rehashing jokes from the original, butWayne’s World 3wouldn’t need to rehash anything; it has a whole new world to explore.
