Fresh off announcing news that he would revisit a role from yesteryear with a sequel to cult actioner xXx, Vin Diesel has taken to his ever-popular Facebook page to tease the potential return of another character. Long before Groot struggled to string more than a few syllables together, Diesel lent his vocal chords to Brad Bird’s directorial debut, The Iron Giant.
Not only did it prove to be a role that would ultimately inform his reticent turn in Guardians of the Galaxy, but the actor’s towering, wholly misunderstood machine carved out an audience to call its own, and even to this day the heart-wrenching animation is considered to be some of Diesel’s finest work. Imagine our excitement, then, now that the actor has quietly dropped a megaton via his social media page that seemingly suggests Warner Bros. is at the very least considering The Iron Giant 2.
Mind you, Diesel has been known in the past for drumming up excitement for potential roles – such as his involvement in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As such, it’s best to treat this tidbit with a heaping of skepticism.
“I have been very lucky to have played so many interesting characters… one of the first and one of my favorites is… the Iron Giant.” He goes onto say, “P.s. Don’t be surprised when you hear WB announce the sequel.”
We say scepticism because, in reality, Brad Bird isn’t a director known for churning out sequels to his existing IPs. Whether it’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Tomorrowland or The Incredibles, the filmmaker evidently prefers building each project organically, hence why we’re only now beginning to hear that development on Incredibles 2 is finally coming together.
In the case of The Iron Giant 2, it’s been an awful long time since Diesel’s booming voice guided Hogarth on his adventure. With the actor juggling roles in the MCU, the Fast and Furious franchise along with the revived xXx series, it’s more a question of scheduling, though Brad Bird’s potential return is another question entirely.