So let's get the news out of the way first: The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Columbia has hired TV scribes Adam Fierro (24, The Shield) and Glen Mazzara (Life, The Shield) to write a sequel to the Will Smith superhero flick Hancock, which took in a sequel-worthy $624 million worldwide last year amidst some very mixed critical and fan response. Will Smith is expected to return, along with the original producing team – and though the first film, originally titled Tonight, He Comes, took 12 years to reach the big screen, THR claims the sequel is being fast-tracked (for a 2011 release, we imagine).
The original Hancock starred Smith as a boozing superhero who brings on a public relations specialist (Jason Bateman) to help clean up his image. However, it's eventually revealed that the PR dude's wife (Charlize Theron) is another "immortal" like Hancock, and they both begin to lose their powers when they're around each other. To be honest, that's when the movie kinda tanked for me.
I would've loved for them to have revealed Charlize Theron to be Hancock's long-time arch-nemesis, forcing our hero to choose between defeating her, or allowing his new friend to continue his life with the gal. That would've completely turned Hancock into a more worthwhile film, but as it stands it's a mediocre superhero movie that gains points because it's original and very fun until about halfway through.
Should they make a sequel? I don't know. On one hand we definitely need more original superheroes in theaters, but on the other they're going to need a better story this time around in order to convince me to see it. What do you think?
