Wet Hot American Summer Director Won’t Rule Out a 20 Years Later Sequel Series

25 years ago, Wet Hot American Summer hit theaters and cemented itself as one of the great early ’00s cult classics. With its stacked cast—comprising stars like Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, and more—and delightfully irreverent humor, it’s easy to see why this movie became a fan-favorite teen comedy during that era. In the years since, the franchise has had a few returns, including with 2015’s Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp miniseries, which brought back many of the original cast members, as well as the 2017 miniseries Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, which likewise saw several returning stars.

In the almost ten years since that most recent release, though, it has seemed like the franchise might be truly over. There were few if any rumblings about another sequel or spinoff, and the original cast members have certainly become incredibly busy with time, be it Paul Rudd’s recurrent MCU role as Scott Lang/Ant-Man or the myriad roles that stars like Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, and others continue to have. However, director of the movie David Wain has just provided a surprisingly positive update on a possible sequel project, in addition to sharing some insight into the movie’s legacy.

David Wain Is Open to a Wet Hot American Summer Sequel

Speaking exclusively with ComicBook, Wet Hot American Summer director David Wain addressed the possibility of a sequel movie, saying, “Never say never; I would love it. I do feel like we put sort of a button at the end of Ten Years Later that I really liked that felt like the end of the story. That said, who knows?” While that’s far from saying a sequel is actively in development, and there is clearly some hesitation to undo the ending of Ten Years Later (if a sequel would do so), it’s exciting to know that, if the right story idea were to come along, Wain would seemingly be on board with a return for the franchise.

In addition to that reveal, Wain discussed the legacy of Wet Hot American Summer and its influence over the years, saying, “I know that there are many filmmakers or comedic people, like The Lonely Island, for example, who have said to me directly, like, your work has specifically influenced the way we do what we do. And I think that’s obviously such a deep compliment to see people taking it so much further than I ever did in terms of just complexity and interesting directions, like Tim and Eric.”

Wain also addressed how Hollywood approaches comedies. “Believe me, I was the recipient of a lot of slammed doors. I spent many years, and still do, pitching a great comedy, I think, to a studio or something, and they’re like, ‘We love this, except for that we don’t make comedies or we won’t. We can’t release a comedy, no matter what it is.’ To me, a comedy is the most important thing to see in a theater with other people laughing, so it is a little cuckoo. I think there’s a bit of a resurgence, but it’s still a real rarity to have an original, non IP, pure comedy that’s not also an action thriller or something else come out in theaters. So, I still feel like we’re fighting the good fight to get those out there,” the director said.