Neil Patrick Harris Doesn’t Think He’d Return for a ‘Dr. Horrible’ Sequel
Netflix’s Series of Unfortunate Events will treat Dr. Horrible fans to the first proper onscreen reunion of Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion, but we have to ask – is that sequel ever happening? Harris doesn’t have a good prognosis, nor can he guarantee that any sequel would even feature him in the title role.
The original Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog debuted in 2008, as Harris, Fillion and Felicia Day took part in Joss Whedon’s three-act musical shot during the infamous writers’ strike. Whedon and all involved have kept too busy for a proper sequel, and the window might now be closing. Speaking with TVLine, Harris said not only that he and Whedon hadn’t spoken in some time, but also that he might be too old for the role:
Nothing would make me happier. But I have no information. I haven’t seen [Dr. Horrible co-creator] Joss in ages. And everyone’s wonderfully busy with other things. So unless the writers want to strike again, which is when we did the first one, I’m not sure when it would ever happen … Plus, I’m no spring chicken. So, at a certain point, Dr. Horrible isn’t Billy the Internet geeky kid anymore. I’m a grown man. So they’ll probably have to cast Nick Jonas in it.
For his part, Whedon has discussed plans for a sequel as far back as 2009, and had reportedly even written several songs for it. In 2015, Whedon told BuzzFeed that he and Harris still occasionally discussed the possibility, and in 2016 told attendees of Comic-Con that he and writers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen were looking into possible timeframes.
If nothing else, TVLine at least confirmed Fillion and Harris will share screentime in A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 2, which debuts Friday, March 30. Stay tuned for any more Dr. Horrible updates as they arrive.
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