The Incredibles 2 seems to have changed quite a bit throughout development based on what writer and director Brad Bird has to say to CinemaBlend.
By the sounds of it, apparently at one point the superheroic family would have reached superstardom - rather than the intimate story, similar to the first film, that we got. Speaking of similar to the first film, Bird brings up artificial intelligence which arguably featured quite heavily in the first film - what with Syndrome's deranged and terrifying Omnidroids.
Here's what the director had to say:
The idea that I got greenlit, like, 'Okay, ready to go,' we didn't end up using. It involved A.I. and all kinds of stuff. And then there was another idea that had more of a show-business bent to it that really had a lot of great ideas in it, but it wasn't enough stress on the family to make it so that it was... it made them shallow. And so we wound up with the story we wound up with, which had little bits of the other stories, but it just kind of went its own way.
While those alternate ideas could've worked, especially with Bird's midas-touch, the issue was apparently related to the film's stakes and urgency - according to producer John Walker, as he explains:
There was a pivotal screening, maybe a year and a half in, a collection of scenes, but the big note from it was, and I think this was Andrew Stanton's, in order to get Helen out on the mission, stakes have to be higher. There has to be a reason; there has to be a really strong reason for her to do that. And that was like, 'Mmhmm, yup. That's right.' Responding to that was what pulled the movie into where it is now.
Bird went onto explain a behind-the-scenes similarity between The Incredibles 2's big bad, The Screenslaver, and Syndrome, the first movie's maniacal fanboy. Apparently, both villains were very late additions to the films - as Bird explains:
I realized just recently, like last week, that it was kind of like the first movie, because The Incredibles was the only movie that was formed outside of Pixar, and then brought to Pixar. Like, 'You guys wanna make this?' And I came to them with a different villain on the first movie. When we did an alternate opening that we ended up not using, we got a new villain out of it that we all preferred to the one that I came to Pixar with. So Syndrome and Buddy Pine was actually a late arrival to the original movie, and that was what happened with this one with Screenslaver.
But thankfully The Incredibles 2 turned out as it is - a unanimously praised, fun family-centric animated film with a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes - and that's pretty good by our standards.
What about you? What do you think about the final version of The Incredibles 2? What do you think about these alternate iterations?
In The Incredibles 2, Helen (voice of Holly Hunter) is called on to lead a campaign to bring Supers back, while Bob (voice of Craig T. Nelson) navigates the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life at home with Violet (voice of Sarah Vowell), Dash (voice of Huck Milner) and baby Jack-Jack—whose superpowers are about to be discovered. Their mission is derailed, however, when a new villain emerges with a brilliant and dangerous plot that threatens everything. But the Parrs don’t shy away from a challenge, especially with Frozone (voice of Samuel L. Jackson) by their side. That’s what makes this family so Incredible.
The Incredibles 2 will be releasing in theatres on June 15th.