Can you believe it’s been six years since Joss Whedon’s 3-part supervillain musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog was released? Written by Whedon, his brothers Jed and Zack, and Jed’s wife Maurissa Tancharoen during the Writer’s Strike in 2008, Dr. Horrible was produced exclusively for internet distribution and became a huge cult hit, winning a few awards (including a Creative Arts Emmy) and reaching over 50 million viewers.
Like most of Whedon’s projects, it created a pretty devoted fanbase, too. A sequel was announced to be in the works all the way back in 2009 but unfortunately, that sequel seems to be stuck in development hell (another thing Whedon famously juggles with). According to his brother Jed though, it is going to happen. Eventually.
“We know we have spoken publicly about a sequel in the near distance and our passion to create it, and I promise we have not been insincere. Horrible is still one of our favorite creations by humans who were also us. We have many songs written and the plot outlined, but needless to say, we’ve been busy. Joss has had a hectic couple of years and is in the middle of the busiest year of his life, as is Zack and as are we. Also the actors have other things they’re acting in, I think. So the future is uncertain, our passion remains. DH2 will exist, in some format or another, at some point in the future. Unfortunately, the when is still unclear.”
Sound familiar? Firefly producer Tim Minear recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about bringing that show back, and had the same thing to say. Of course, he wasn’t as clear about it definitely happening as Jed is about Dr. Horrible, so there’s a glimmer of hope for those who want to see Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion as singing super-nemeses again.
Of course, Jed isn’t kidding when he says everyone involved is busy with other things. And I mean everyone. Joss is of course working on Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jed and Maurissa are showrunners on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Zack is currently working on the upcoming Sundance TV drama The Red Hood, and the series’ stars are all busy with their fare share of TV and film commitments.
Luckily, Dr. Horrible is something that’s easier to pull off than a Firefly reunion, requiring a lower budget and production-time (assuming it’ll be another web series, of course). Joss once talked about the sequel being a feature film, but with Jed saying that it will happen “in some format or another,” maybe they’re planning something different? Web series, podcast, stage play, feature film… The list of possibilities is endless. So, don’t hang up your lab coats just yet, Dr. Horrible fans. Things are moving. They’re just moving as slowly as Wonderflonium in January.
Tell us, are you excited about a Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog sequel? What format would you like to see it in?
