Warning: this article contains some spoilers for Sinners.

Ryan Coogler’s new movie Sinners is doing incredibly well with critics and audiences right now, but the director’s recent comments about the potential for a sequel are somewhat disappointing in the face of this success. After premiering just last weekend, Sinners topped the box office charts in a surprising upset over A Minecraft Movie. In addition to finding immediate box office success, Sinners has also received phenomenal reviews, which praise everything from the performances to the complex themes and character development.

The movie follows two twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, after they decide to return to their Southern hometown to open a juke joint, but their situation quickly turns dark as the brothers encounter both racist attacks from local KKK members and a growing horde of vampires. As the movie continues, the survivors fight to stay alive, leading to one final confrontation in Sinners‘ ending. While the movie’s ending does leave open the potential for a sequel, recent comments from Ryan Coogler suggest that he may be looking to begin other projects instead.

Ryan Coogler’s Comments Make A Sinners Sequel Sound Unlikely

He Always Planned For The Movie To Stand Alone

Sinners has been incredibly successful thus far and its ending leaves the possibility of another story open, but Ryan Coogler has already stated that the movie was meant to stand on its own. In an interview with Ebony, Coogler stated that he wanted Sinners “to be a holistic and finished thing.” The movie introduces characters, displays their complexities, shows the particular journey that they go on, and then it wraps up their stories in a complete manner. In other words, Sinners has nothing missing.

Coogler’s storytelling prowess means that there is not any true need for any of the surviving characters to return, aside from the clear audience desire that has quickly developed. The central aspect of the story is the one fateful night where everything changed, so it would be hard to recreate the immediacy of Sinners‘ story. Thus, it makes complete sense for Coogler to call the film “a full meal: your appetizers, starters, entrées, and desserts.” Sinners is something special to be savored, and it perfectly showcases exactly what Coogler can do with an original film.

Sinners Not Getting A Sequel Would Be Somewhat Disappointing

The World And Its Surviving Characters Are Fascinating

While Ryan Coogler has already indicated that a Sinners sequel would be unlikely, audiences have already begun speculating whether it could eventually happen because of the positive response that the movie has garnered. What’s more, Sinners‘ post-credits scenes perfectly set up several other stories. The first credits scene reveals that Stack and Mary survived the events of the night at the juke joint after being turned into vampires. Now set in the 1990s, the pair visit an elderly Sammie, and offer to turn him into a vampire, though he ultimately declines.

The confirmation of Stack and Mary’s survival opens the door for so many entertaining possible stories. The characters surviving the juke joint in 1932 and reappearing in 1992, means that they were either together or, at the very least, in contact throughout those 60 years. A sequel to Sinners could choose a time period within those 60 years to pick their story back up and explore how the couple have changed and evolved as vampires. This would allow the story to focus on different social and political issues in a similar way to Sinners while still revolving around familiar characters.

Alternatively, the potential sequel could simply pick up where the post-credits scene of Sinners left off. Stack’s final conversation with Sammie feels really meaningful and exposes some of his true feelings about his life as a vampire, hinting at its emotional cost. A 1990s sequel could further explore what drives Stack and Mary’s romance while also delving more deeply into what they have lost, as it has been so long that their humanity may feel like a distant dream.

Sinners Not Getting A Sequel Can Help Free Ryan Coogler Up To Make More Original Movies

It Could Be Good To See Coogler Do More Original Movies

Sinners is a mᴀssive career move for Ryan Coogler as it marks his first true original movie. The only other non-IP movie that Coogler has directed is 2013’s Fruitvale Station, which was still based on real events. The film received acclaim and proved that he was a director to watch. From then on, Coogler directed Creed and both Black Panther movies, which each found critical and commercial success. Additionally, Coogler’s next two confirmed projects, Black Panther 3 and an X-Files reboot, continue the trend of the director working on already successful franchises.

While the movies and shows that Ryan Coogler has worked on in the past have already made his career very successful, Sinners shows the potential of him doing something that is completely his own. A Sinners sequel could still be driven by Coogler’s individual vision, but it would be even more impressive to see him venture onto another completely original project. Thus, rather than creating a Sinners sequel, which might have trouble living up to the original anyway, Coogler could choose to impress audiences with something new.

Source: Ebony