It has been revealed that Bill & Ted had sons instead of daughters in the earlier drafts of Bill & Ted Face The Music. The comedy sequel was originally intended to hit theaters on August 14th, 2020, but Bill & Ted 3 was pushed back two weeks so that it wouldn't have to compete with Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated Tenet. However, Nolan's film was later pushed back yet again and will now be opening domestically in September. The comedy sequel will be the first follow-up in the series since Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, which hit theaters in 1991.
Bill & Ted Face The Music reunites audiences with the Wyld Stallyns, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves), who are now middle-aged dads and must complete their earlier task to craft the song that will save the universe and fulfill their destiny. The comedy sequel will star Winter, Reeves, Kristen Schaal, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Anthony Corrigan, and William Sadler, who will be reprising his role as Death in the film. The marketing for the sequel has revealed that the daughters of Bill & Ted will play a significant role in the film. However, it has been discovered that the comedic duo originally didn't have daughters.
In a recent interview with CBR, writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon revealed that Bill & Ted originally were going to have sons in the upcoming sequel. When discussing why they decided to make the switch, Matheson stated,
"We wrote Will and Theo for several drafts, and it just never really worked, because they were either little carbon copies of their dads -- they're just like Bill and Ted again at 16 or 18 -- and we didn't like that, because that just didn't feel funny or cool, or they were cool guys. They were kind of little hipstery guys, and we just could not seem to find the comedy in that."
Solomon expanded further on the reasoning for the change by saying,
"The script was not feeling right with Bill and Ted's kids being Will and Theo and I think that you said -- I think it was you -- said we should try it. What if we did it this way? What if we made them daughters? And we went, 'Right! What if we did?' and we fleshed it out that way. I just think the whole movie has a different feel because of that, honestly. Obviously, I'm really glad we did it that way. Sam [Weaving] and Brigette [Lundy-Paine] are wonderful."
While there may be fans that fear that the duo's daughters will be far too similar to their fathers, Samara Weaving, who plays Bill's daughter, stated that they won't be as clueless as their dads in the sequel. However, the change from sons to daughters is a major one, especially considering the last installment ended with the two having sons instead of daughters. Fortunately, Solomon has already addressed why the upcoming comedy sequel retconned Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey's ending.
Not only is it exciting that Bill & Ted Face The Music will finally be released next week, but the fact the two will be able to bounce off of their daughters in the film is full of comedic potential as well. While retconning the ending of the previous film is a risky maneuver on the part of Solomon and Matheson, it was a far smarter move to give them daughters instead. Not only are screenwriters' sentiments sound and understandable, but the duo's banter with their daughters in the trailers for Bill & Ted 3 thus far has been fantastic and brimming with heart. Fortunately, fans won't have to wait too long to see if Bill & Ted's daughters can be just as entertaining and endearing as their dads in Bill & Ted Face The Music.
Source: CBR
