During a series of cast interviews conducted by ComingSoon.net in preparation for the release of Sony Pictures Animation’s The Smurfs 2 (July 29), actor Hank Azaria—who plays the villainous Gargamel in the films—hinted that the planned third outing for Peyo’s magical little blue beings may reveal more about the evil wizard’s origins.
“I hear that the third movie, if there is one, might actually deal with the genuine origin of how all these characters ran into each other way back when,” Azaria told the movie news site. Sony has already set a release date for Smurfs 3, which is set to open July 15, 2015.
While Azaria could not reveal much about the planned sequel’s plotline, he offered his own theory of Gargamel’s backstory:
“I imagine Gargamel having attended a Harry Potter-like academy in his youth for wizards, and was sort of the black sheep—first of all, he wasn’t very good,” Azaria opined. “Second of all, he must have thought the way to really be a powerful magician is to grab these Smurfs and grab their essence, and everybody must have said, ‘You’re an idiot. Don’t waste your life doing that.’ And he’s been trying his whole life to prove them wrong.”
You can learn more about the animated magic of The Smurfs 2 in the August/September issue of Animation Magazine.
