Jake Kasdan, the director ofJumanji: Welcome to the JungleandJumanji: The Next Level, the modern adventure films that continued (or relaunched, depending on which side of the fence you’re on) the beloved franchise, is finally explaining why certain characters from the original film haven’t returned. Fans have long hoped for actors fromRobin Williams' epic 1995 film to appear in the new films, but according to Kasdan, “plot complications” are keeping that from happening.
Kasdan spoke toThe Hollywood Reporterabout his new film,Red One, which starsJumanjistar Dwayne Johnson. It didn’t take long for the conversation to tilt toward the future of theJumanjifranchise. Kasdan was asked about the possible return ofKirsten Dunst’s character, Judy Sheperd, in the upcoming sequel to be released in 2026. Per Kasdan’s answer:
“We love Kirsten. She’s fantastic. From the time we didWelcome to the Jungle, we were very focused on keeping a little bit of connectivity to the original movie, which we love. We’ve always wanted to honor it and keep enough of it alive. Also, the way the original movie ends, as brilliant as it is, creates a lot of plot complications in trying to continue the story with those characters.
I don’t know how well you remember it, but the world reverts back to what it was before, as though it never happened. Some of the characters are still aware of what happened, but most of them aren’t. So the kids don’t remember because it short-circuits the part where they have the adventure, but Robin [Williams] and Bonnie’s characters are aware.
So it has this complicated, clever bit of storytelling at the end that has always made the challenge of continuing their story very complicated. But, that said, within that complication, we’ve loved trying to figure out some way to do it in a way that is fun and passes some kind of fidelity to the original story.”
To which this writer says: yeah, right — as if those issues haven’t been solved many times before in the era oflegacy sequelsand nostalgic cameos. It’s even already been solved in theJumanjiuniverse! But more on that later.
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Jumanji was planned to get a direct sequel many years before Welcome to the Jungle, but it was so bad the author wrote his own sequel, Zathura.
The director also spoke about the possibility of convincing Bonnie Hunt to return to the franchise, given her recent work with Kasdan onRed One. The THR reporter asked about this “connection” between the two films, and Kasdan said the following: “I talked to her a lot about our familialJumanjiconnection, and she’s the best. She’s just great. She’s someone I’ve always wanted to work with, and this was a great opportunity to finally do it. It’s a small but beloved part of the movie for me, and when she came in, she was all you’d want her to be.”
The Future of ‘Jumanji’
Jumanji 4will be released inDecember 2026. Kasdan took a break from working on the film to do his latest Christmas caper,Red One, but explained toTHRhow taking time between films has only made the process better:
“We’ve been working on it on and off throughout the years. Obviously, I went away and madeRed One, which was a big deal. It took time and focus and all that it takes to make a movie like this. I also made the previous twoJumanjimovies back to back, and we had a great time making those movies. Those were four fantastic years in a row.
But it was good for us to take a breath and step away from it for a second. Creatively, it’s good to be able to think about what the next one should be, and also just think about other things for a minute. So, returning to it has been a great feeling, and I’ve loved stepping back into it lately. We’re really starting to contemplate how to do something new with the parts that we love.”
It should be noted that when it comes to legacy characters returning for the new sequels,Jumanjihas already had a cameo that confirmed both series were connected. We’re talking about Bebe Neuwirth’s cameo inThe Next Level. (Neuwirth plays Nora Shepherd, aunt of the children in 1995’sJumanji.) If they can make it work for Neuwirth, surely a Dunst moment is possible. We’ll just have to roll the dice and see what’s next.
