1997's Hercules was meant to get a straight-to-video sequel film by Disney titled Hercules II: The Trojan War based on the Greek story by Homer. The Trojan War is a famous tale in Greek mythology and would have been interesting to see from a Disney perspective.
However, the plot of the sequel film sounds a little bit off, and many Disney fans seem rather content with the fact that this film had been canceled, no matter how much they loved and enjoyed the original film.
Canceled Before Finishing Proposal
Hercules II was actually canceled before it could even be through with the proposal stage. The story had been drafted, but not much else had been completed with it. Because the proposal phase of the film hadn't been finished yet, the idea of the sequel film had been permanently canceled, with no hopes of returning to the idea. This was probably for the best as a Hercules sequel film likely wouldn't have done as well.
Supposed To Take Place After The Animated Series
The animated series ran from 1998 to 1999 and was originally meant to lead into the film, much like how the Aladdin Animated Series ended with the third installment, Aladdin and the King of Thieves. The series is considered a "midquel" due to the fact that it takes place in between the first film. It features a teenage Hercules after he meets Phil but before he becomes the hulking man who saves Thebes and Olympus.
Takes Place Years Later
The sequel film was meant to take place a few years after the initial film. While the first film took place with Hercules becoming a young adult and starting his new relationship with Megara, who he chose to be mortal with instead of life as a god in Olympus, this film seems to continue their story. Meg and Hercules are still a couple in this film and have developed even further since the last.
Meg & Hercules Live In Athens
Megara and Hercules were said to have left Thebes and Olympus behind and were now supposed to reside in Athens with one another. This means their relationship took off after they chose to be with one another at the end of the first film.
Athens is known to be a central location for many Greek mythologies and somewhere Hercules fans haven't seen yet in Disney. It would have been interesting to see how the animation team set up the location for the film.
Meg & Hercules Have A Daughter
To further Megara and Hercules's relationship point, the two live with their daughter in this film, Hebe. What's weird about this is who Hebe actually is in Greek mythology, a mythos that Disney greatly likes to ignore. In the original legend of Hercules, he and Meg (his 1st wife and the daughter of the king of Thebes) had five children together, all of which Hercules killed in a fit of madness influenced by Hera (who was not his biological mother). In some legends, Hercules kills Meg in this fit as well. Hercules marries three more times after Meg, and his final and fourth wife is Hebe. So it's a little weird that Disney wanted to name Meg and Herc's daughter after Herc's fourth wife (and goddess of youth).
Paris Kidnaps Herc's Old Friend
In the film, Paris of Troy kidnaps one of Hercules's old friends, Helen. In some of the stories of the Trojan War, Helen of Sparta (wife to the king of Sparta) was taken to Troy in order to be with Paris after she was promised to him by Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. In some stories, the couple were in love, while in others it acted as more of a kidnapping. Either way, this story was the catalyst for the Trojan War as the Greeks went to take her back. In Hercules II, Helen was Herc's old friend and taken against her will.
Hercules Joins The Greek Army
Because his old friend, Helen, was taken by the evil Paris of Troy, Hercules joined the united Greek army as they get ready for war in order to rescue his friend. Paris was meant to act as the main antagonist in this story and was the opposing force to the Greeks in the story.
Little else is known about the story or why Paris took Helen in the first place. But Hercules's resolve to save his friend would have had him joining the army and make some new revelations.
Scheduled To Release In 2001
This film was originally scheduled to be released in 2001, two years after the series ended in 1999 and 3 years after the first film in 1997. What is interesting is that with a 2001 release, the film's quality probably wouldn't have been nearly as rough animation-wise as the animated series nor the straight-to-video Aladdin films. Mulan came out a year after Hercules, in 1998, and its sequel was released straight-to-video in 2004, three years after the supposed sequel to Hercules would have been released. The quality of Mulan II was pretty great and Hercules probably would have been in a similar format.
Became An Episode
The idea of Hercules being featured in the Trojan war was actually something Disney played around with more than once. In the animated series, there is an episode titled "Hercules and the Trojan War" that follows a much different plot than the film had wanted to go for. In this episode, the story of the war is retold as a high school rivalry between Prometheus Academy (Herc's school) and their Trojan rivals. Paris tries to pull a prank on the rivaling school by stealing Helen, the homecoming queen, and inspiring Hercules and his friends to go rescue her but is later revealed that Helen wasn't kidnapped, but went on her own accord to discuss the rivalry.
All Straight-To-Video Projects Canceled
In 2006, John Lasseter took over as the principal creative advisor at Disney and was in charge of all the animated works at the time. He decided it would be best if he canceled all straight-to-video projects Disney had been working on since they were not producing as much as they should. Because of his cancelation, any hope of returning to the Hercules II: The Trojan War project was left to be permanently canceled as that film would have been released straight-to-video.