A wise man once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Disney and producers David and Jessica Oyelowo would do well to heed that principle as they try their hand at a Rocketeer sequel.
I mean, come on, this is The Rocketeer we’re talking about here! The 1991 Joe Johnston would-be epic that crashed and burned at the box office but went on to become something of a minor classic among film nerds like me who respect its lavish set and costume design, simplistic heroes, dastardly villains, and exhilarating, PG-filtered adventure. (To say nothing of James Horner’s memorable score.)
Despite its popularity, Disney, the same company that churned out 12 Air Bud flicks, never saw fit to greenlight a sequel, leaving fans to imagine the further adventures of Cliff Secord and his gal Jenny Blake, unless you choose to count that silly Disney Junior TV series that premiered in late 2019.
Thankfully, in a surprise move, Golden Globe-nominated actor David Oyelowo has swooped in to save the day with a sequel to The Rocketeer titled The Return of the Rocketeer, which will debut on Disney+ and follow a former Tuskegee Airman who inherits the fabled jetpack.
All that is fine and dandy, but, on the off chance that David or a random producer at Disney reads this article, here are five things we really want to see in the long-delayed sequel to one of our favorite childhood flicks!
RELATED: Thirty Years Later The Rocketeer Is Still Underappreciated
CLIFF SECORD & JENNY BLAKE (and PEEVY)
This one goes without saying. Honestly, why make a sequel to The Rocketeer without including Bill Campbell and/or Jennifer Connelly in some capacity? Even if they only show up to pass-the-baton, so to speak, fans would go out of their minds.
Or, imagine if the film follows a similar course as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and shows Cliff’s final adventure as the titular hood ornament, a role he occupied throughout WWII. Maybe he, like Spider-Man, effectively passes the mantel to David Oyelowo’s character before dying; or maybe Cliff hands off the blueprints to the rocket pack to David before hanging up his, er, jets.
Either way, you can’t make another Rocketeer without the two stars from the original.
I’d even be happy with Peevy!
THE ROCKETEER IN WWII
Much like Indiana Jones, The Rocketeer belongs in the oft romanticized pre-WWII era. Yet, considering the amount of time between films, it makes sense that the time period would jump a few decades into (at least) the late 1950s/early 1960s.
Even so, Disney would do well to at least feature a montage of the Rocketeer’s heroic exploits in WWII. Considering the Tuskegee Airmen angle, it makes sense for Cliff to bump into David’s character (assuming the actor stars in the film) at some point during the war, right?
As a kid, I used to imagine the Rocketeer battling the Luftwaffe high above Britain, and using his flying abilities to conduct secret missions around Germany. Of course, that’s just me. Maybe Cliff skipped the war and fought enemies on his native soil… which works, I suppose.
But seriously, imagine the Rocketeer taking on a Panzer. Who doesn’t want to see that?
THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN
Speaking of the Tuskegee Airmen, I expect the film to open on the main character’s exploits with the famed aviators. With all due respect to George Lucas’ Red Tails and the 1995 HBO film, we have yet to see a truly great film detailing this legendary squadron. The Return of the Rocketeer could really set the tone with an exciting prologue set during the war that takes details of the final mission of the Tuskegee Airmen. Maybe the main character loses some friends and takes up the Rocketeer mantle as a way to make amends, or maybe he comes in contact with villains who plan to attack America and must don the famed helmet in order to stop them.
Oh, the possibilities!
HOWARD HUGHES
One of the bright points of The Rocketeer was Terry O’Quinn’s Howard Hughes. The character only had a few minutes of screen time, but made his presence felt like the father of the rocket engine that eventually lands in Cliff’s lap. As many likely know, Hughes basically went nuts after a plane accident in 1946 and spent most of his time in seclusion.
Considering his involvement with the rocket pack, it makes sense to bring the character back in some way, shape, or form. Perhaps his problematic situation is spurred by some conspiracy surrounding his great invention… okay, maybe that’s a tad exploitative, but still, the 60s and 70s are not as romanticized as the pre-war era; the film could lean on the darker times as a means to explore just how much the world has changed since Cliff first donned the pack back in 1938.
JAMES HORNER’S THEME
Sorry, but this is a gimme. James Horner’s score for The Rocketeer is awesome and deserves mention alongside the likes of John Williams’ Indiana Jones as one of the best action-adventure scores ever produced. Honestly, I would probably start screaming like a 10-year old on a Pixy Stix high if the new film opened with Horner’s soft piano melody or some rendition of his “Flying Circus” cue. I can’t be the only one, can I?
Yeah, the score is very old-fashioned, but so is The Rocketeer. Make it so, Disney.
BONUS: OLD FASHIONED ADVENTURE
There’s a shortage of old-fashioned adventure flicks in modern-day Hollywood. Simple heroes such as Indiana Jones, Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood, and Sean Connery’s James Bond have been replaced by darker anti-heroes who lack the fun-loving personalities of their golden-era counterparts.
The Rocketeer was a throwback to old-fashioned cinema — it even had a sequence set on an old-fashioned Hollywood soundstage! Johnston’s flick, for better or worse, was simple family fun. The Return of the Rocketeer should follow suit and deliver straight-aced heroes and scene-stealing villains who duke it out via harmless, albeit slightly edgy PG-rated action.
You know, like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Goonies, and all the other films Oyelowo mentioned to ComingSoon.
In other words: don’t overthink the concept. Keep it simple. Keep it fun.
And please, don’t screw it up!
