Warning! Minor spoilers for Ready Player Two below.
With the release of Ready Player Two, the sequel to the pop culture-obsessed hit novel Ready Player One, fans can no doubt expect a film adaptation sometime in the near future. Given the success of the movie version of the first book - which brought in $582 million at the box office - it seems borderline impossible that the series won't continue on the big screen, especially when the sequel offers just as much potential for dramatic cinematography and nods to beloved franchises as its predecessor.
Ready Player One introduces a broken world reliant on technology as an escape. The main form of entertainment is the OASIS, an immersive virtual reality platform filled with 1980s references made by creator James Halliday, also known as Anorak. Once Halliday dies, it is revealed he left behind a worldwide competition for OASIS users, sending them on an increasingly obscure Easter egg hunt where the prize is ownership of his company. Teen Wade Watts teams up with his friends, and ends up winning this elusive reward.
While there were nearly ten years between the release of both books in the series, Ready Player Two continues the story, initially picking up just days after Wade wins the competition, leading down a road that reveals another, much more high stakes search for clues in the virtual reality. The book can be seen to critique technology far more than the first, made clear as the villain of the sequel is none other than Halliday's virtual reality AI doppelganger, Anorak, who ultimately traps all the players in the virtual world until Wade and his team can either find the mysterious Seven Shards, or find a way to defeat the rogue entity.
Almost immediately after Wade wins Halliday's contest, Ready Player Two introduces new game-changing technology. Halliday leaves Wade something called "ONI," which allows OASIS users to experience the platform with all five senses, along with recording experiences in real life. As the new technology becomes increasingly popular, Wade becomes addicted to ONI, creating friction between him and his love interest and fellow OASIS user, Art3mis, who is concerned about the psychological effects of using the new technology for too long.
As Wade is sucked in deeper to ONI, he is informed of a new quest related to the OASIS, before being actively forced to finish it in record time by Anorak, who traps all ONI users in the OASIS, demanding Wade and his friends retrieve artifacts known as the Seven Shards, in order to reconstruct "the Siren's Soul". As they collect shards, the team learns more about the love triangle between Kira, Og, and Halliday. Ready Player One reveals Halliday's unrequited love for Og's wife, but the sequel dives deeper into Kira's side of the story. The further Wade gets into the new mission, the more he realizes that Haliday may not have been the man he thought he was.
Both the novel and the film adaptation of Ready Player One were focused on generating a sense of wonder, providing a classic hero's journey mixed in with endless nostalgic pop culture references. But the sequel actively critiques this wonder, showing the virtual reality is not a place that doesn't have its detriments, skewing far closer to Black Mirror in some parts than the more whimsical tone of Ready Player One.
It will undoubtedly make for a darker and more mature film adaptation - though if it's not done in a nuanced style, cautionary tales of technology just come off as fear-mongering. The novel Ready Player Two almost immediately received harsh reviews from critics, but a well-done film adaptation could redeem the sequel. The film has not been announced yet, but fans should keep an eye out in the coming months to see if Wade Watts will be returning to the big screen.