Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris has admitted that she thinks Wayne’s World 2 happened too soon after the original. The films were hit spinoffs from the popular Saturday Night Live sketch of the same name. The movies debuted in 1992 and 1993, respectively, and were some of the earliest films to help launch the movie star careers of Mike Myers and Dana Carvey.
Wayne’s World tells the story of Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey), two Midwest metalheads who host a public access talk show in Wayne’s basement. The first film chronicles the transition of their show from public access to cable television, alongside Wayne’s burgeoning romance with a rockstar named Cassandra (Tia Carrere). Wayne’s World proved such a massive box office success that Wayne’s World 2 was immediately greenlit and hit theaters the year after the original film – an incredibly uncommon turnaround time for a sequel in that era. The sequel picked up with the lead characters shortly after the first film, following them on their journey to plan and execute their own music festival called "Waynestock."
It has been three decades since Wayne’s World hit theaters, and director Penelope Spheeris has opened up to address why she didn’t return to the franchise for Wayne’s World 2. Speaking exclusively with Screen Rant, Wayne’s World, Spheeris addressed insinuations that she has resisted the urge to return to the Wayne’s World well, noting that she actually felt that Wayne’s World 2 simply came together too quickly for her to be involved. Spheeris explained:
Oh, I never resisted it. I think, honestly, what happened was we did the first Wayne's World, and it was a very big success. Then see, when they told me after we finished the movie that they were going to do Wayne's World 2 so soon, I thought, "Gosh, that just seems a little quick to me." Then for various reasons, I wasn't involved.
But over the years, I get scripts and synopsis and storylines, where people want to have a Wayne's World 3. I have to redirect them over to Paramount and go, "They've got the intellectual property. Go to Paramount and see if you can get that movie made."
By her own admission, Spheeris opted not to return for a second installment in the Wayne’s World series – though she has recently also made sure to note that rumors of a feud with Mike Myers are false and not the reason she bowed out. Following her departure, directing duties transitioned to Stephen Surjik, a director known at the time for his work on series such as Kids in the Hall. After working on Wayne’s World 2 (his first feature), Surjik would go on to earn numerous TV credits on series such as Burn Notice, Arrow, and Daredevil, among others.
There are multiple ways to look at the possibility of Wayne’s World 3 now that so much time has passed. On the one hand, Myers and Carvey have returned to the characters in recent years for commercials as well as brief reunion stints on Saturday Night Live, making it clear that they are still able to inhabit the characters and delight audiences. On the other hand, the fact that they have arguably commercialized the characters too much could mean a new Wayne’s World installment may no longer be viable. Whatever the case, audiences still have the first two films to look back on fondly.