‘Let’s F*cking Leave It As Is’

Superbad will never get a sequel according to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Although audience nostalgia for belated legacy sequels is currently at an all-time high, Rogen and Goldberg believe that there is no real purpose in making a sequel to their 2007 smash hit, which instigated a wave of copycat raunchy teen comedies well into the 2010s. In a new interview, the pair explained how their personal relationship with Superbad is one of the reasons they would be very hesitant to even consider revisiting the movie again.

As coming-of-age, teen comedies go, Superbad is remembered as one of the best among its fans, and with good reason. Not only did the film catapult stars Michael Cera and Jonah Hill to new heights, it also proved a vital stepping stone in the career of Rogen, and also gave Emma Stone her movie debut. On top of that, the film was both a critical and financial success, holding an 87% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing over $170 million on its $14 million budget.

In a new interview with Complex, Rogen and Goldberg addressed the chances of the film getting a sequel, and pretty much shut down the idea of it ever happening. Rogen said:

“Superbad and Pineapple Express are still probably two of the ones that people bring up the most. It’s nice that high school kids still seem to like Superbad. I get a lot of 18-year-old kids coming up to me talking about it, which is not what I would have expected.”

Goldberg added:

Rogen continued:

“Yeah, exactly. Let’s f*cking leave it as is. Because it’s very personal to us and based on our high school experience, it’s nice that so many people found it funny and resonated with it. It’s unexpected.”

Would Superbad 2 be a Super Bad Idea?

When it comes to making a sequel, there are many times that the question asked tends to be, “How much money can we milk out of this?” as opposed to, “Is there another story to tell?” It is clear from their comments that Rogen and Goldberg know which of these areas they sit in when it comes to possibly creating a follow-up to Superbad. There have been many sequels to popular comedy movies that have completely fallen flat, and neither star wants to see that happen with a film they created after believing they could write something better than the bad movies they rented from the local video store.

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Although there could certainly be an audience who would like to see where the characters of Superbad ended up, Rogen and Goldberg are not exactly desperate for work right now. Since the success of Superbad, the pair have acted as executive producers on the comic book shows Preacher, Invincible, and The Boys. Rogen has also revived the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen with TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, and is currently working on both a TV series and a sequel, and the upcoming Sausage Party TV series, among other things.

Fans of Superbad may be slightly disappointed with the idea that the cult classic will not be one of the movies getting a legacy sequel in the coming years. However, the original movie had a simple story to tell, and it told it. As Rogen noted, why would you want to risk spoiling its legacy by trying to force a sequel into being?