If you watched the criminally under-appreciated and utterly hilarious Spy last year, you no doubt have fond memories of the Melissa McCarthy-fronted comedy’s foil, Rick Ford. The character, as embodied by Jason Statham, was the sort of lacking-awareness nincompoop that audiences just love to hate and watch swagger about (and then ultimately fail). Writer/Director Paul Feig feels the same way, it seems, because he just told Empire that in the sequel, Spy 2, Ford’s gonna play a major part.
“Susan Cooper is one of my favorite characters,” Feig explained, “but Rick Ford is possibly the one I’ll take to the grave with me.”
Nerdist has reached out for comment from Twentieth Century Fox regarding the sequel and will update as more information becomes available.
According to Feig, he already has an idea—”a funny idea that will kick it off that involves Statham”—for the film and apparently his star, McCarthy, “is dying to do it.” (And guess what: We’re kinda dying to see it.)
But will a more central focus on Ford’s character take away from the arrogant sidekickian schtick we loved? Not so, said Feig. “Will he get any more self-aware in the sequel? No, god no. He’ll get less self-aware.”
Given that the final moments of Spy saw Cooper and Ford as accidental bedfellows, we’re sure that’ll come into play in the sequel—though something tells us the duo won’t be together (and that their little tryst will become comic fodder as the two beat the crap out of one another. Because there’s no way Rick Ford doesn’t become some sort of mega-mastermind/good-spy-gone-rogue or something, right? He’s so arrogant, we can’t imagine he’d stay on the right side of the law for long (but maybe that’s a personal prejudice of ours).
What do you think about the idea of a Spy sequel? Would you prefer to see it more buddy cop-style, or something more good spy vs. bad spy? Let us know in the comments below!
Image: Twentieth Century Fox
Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor of Nerdist, creator/co-host of Fangirling, and really loved Spy. Find her on Twitter.
