Will Smith finally won an Oscar in 2022 but came close to ending his career that same night when he slapped comedian Chris Rock. The actor has since mounted a comeback attempt which, based on Bad Boys: Ride or Die's success, is working.
That's not the only one of his iconic past roles Smith is looking to return to, though. During a surprise appearance on xQc's Twitch live stream, he answered some questions from fans, including where things stand with the long-rumoured Hancock sequel.
"There's a really cool Hancock 2 idea," Smith confirmed. "We haven’t even talked about it. I’m going to give you one little piece. Zendaya [is] being approached for a role in Hancock 2."
The first movie was released in 2008 and directed by Peter Berg. It revolved around an amnesiac, alcoholic, careless superhero who isn't exactly loved by the public. Hancock grossed over $629 million worldwide and received mixed reviews.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Smith also shared a big update on where things stand with the I Am Legend follow-up. "Yeah, that’s a real thing. Me and Michael B. Jordan, we sat down for about a week, just went through, you know, character stuff," he revealed. "Akiva Goldsman, is the writer, so, he’s putting it together. No, that’s a real thing."
Set in a desolate, virus-ravaged New York City, I Am Legend follows Dr. Robert Neville (Smith), seemingly the last human survivor, as he searches for a cure to a virus that has turned the population into aggressive, zombie-like mutants.
Filmmaker Francis Lawrence is expected to return and will disregard the movie's theatrical ending to pick up with a very much alive Neville (a deleted scene saw him survive the explosive final act in place of a heroic sacrifice).
It's been a long time since we've had an update on plans for Hancock 2 and, way back in 2012, Berg told us, "We've been talking about the sequel between us, Will Smith, [producers] Michael Mann and Akiva Goldman and myself. We're all interested, but we literally just have trouble getting into the same room at the same time."
"We did have a series of meetings last year and started to hash out an idea for sequel - and Will Smith actually had the idea - so I think it will happen, it's just a question of timing." Thirteen years have passed since then but it sounds like it's finally taking shape.
Now, we wait and see whether either of these movies gets past the discussion stage. Zendaya would be an interesting addition to Hancock 2, though it doesn't sound like she's anywhere close to being in talks for the project (she's also quite selective with the movies she stars in so Smith will have to really impress her).
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.