The LEGO Movie Animated Universe Will Continue

Chris Miller and Phil Lord have been talking up plans for future LEGO movies, which gives us a few hints as to what will be coming next. The success of The LEGO Movie has opened the door for more animated cinematic fun, with adventures due for the Masters of Spinjitzu, Batman and of course Emmet. So what hints have the new overlords of the animated LEGO universe been dropping?



First Hint – More Girls!

"It's important to us that the movie plays broadly and that we inspire young women as much as we inspire young men," Lord told the BBC.

Miller said: "I don't want to give spoilers but there will be more female characters and more female stuff." 

- Original Article at BBC News 

Wyldstyle was clearly a big hit in The LEGO Movie, whilst Emmet is clueless and bumbling, she is one of the ever capable Master Builders. Unikitty brought the cute to the team in her role, providing more female input. With five males in the central cast, that’s actually probably a better female-to-male ratio than most movies – but it’s good to hear that Lord and Miller want to go further.

The pair, who also wrote and directed the 2009 hit Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, said that they had no more than a plot outline for Lego Movie 2."You would think there would be be more pieces in place but all we've written is 'Fade in..,'" said Lord.

"I'm certain [that] many broad elements of it will change by the time the movie comes out because that's the way the way that it works," Miller added. "It's like Lego itself - you can take it apart and put it back together in a different shape.”

So we know next to nothing about what The LEGO Movie 2 will end up being, except that there will be more female characters – which is great news, but let’s hope that it doesn’t fall down the trap of trying to separate male/female storylines, as what was so appealing about The LEGO Movie is that it was a relatable story to all ages and genders.

Second hint – Batman’s gonna have layers!

Miller: "Rest assured that every era of Batman filmmaking will be acknowledged. There have been so many interpretations of Batman and there is so much to play with there. There are 40 versions of his origin story alone."

- Original Article at Empire Online

This has the potential for great comedy, suggesting that Batman will go beyond the one-joke character that was presented in The LEGO Movie. It will be interesting to see whether the TV specials based on Batman continue, as it is likely that the Batman in the movie will be a very specifically constructed character. It may be confusing for audiences to see the two different versions of an animated LEGO Batman on the screen.

Third hint – World building (yes that bloody studio phrase)!

Miller: "The thing is about these movies is that each of them have their own tone and their own voice. We’re doing this Ninjago one with Charlie Bean, we’re working on the Batman one, and each one of them feels like its own movie, but obviously they all exist in the universe that the Lego movie existed in, and so finding that balance has been part of the trick."

Lord: "It’s like we started with The Avengers and now we’re going to spin off and explore the different worlds, then come back."

This is really interesting news, as it seemed safe to assume that Ninjago would be its own thing. The idea of the LEGO movies having creative freedom to explore different stories and worlds without being linked seemed promising -  but then having them linked gives the option of having some really fun cameos and in-jokes. This also suggests that any of the worlds mentioned in The LEGO Movie are up for grabs – Pirates, the Wild West, even Fabuland… although maybe a very select group will be waiting a long, long time for that one…