'Incredibles 2' Director Brad Bird Was Worried Audiences Would Be 'Sick' of Superheroes

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In the 14 years between the release of the first “Incredibles” movie and its sequel, which was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Thursday morning, director Brad Bird worried that by the time this new movie came out, audiences might’ve grown tired of superheroes.

“Spider-Man” and “X-Men” were the only active superhero movie franchises in 2004 when “The Incredibles” came out, but since then the genre has of course exploded. In fact, “Incredibles 2” wasn’t even the only animated superhero movie nominated for a Golden Globe this year, sharing that honor with “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

To avoid getting lost in the shuffle, Bird says he pitched “Incredibles 2” to Pixar with focus on the film’s gender role switch in order to set it apart from the pack.

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“We had a lot more elbow room, and I was worried that on this film audiences would be sick of superheroes, because it’s wall-to-wall superheroes now,” Bird told TheWrap following the film’s Golden Globe nomination. “But I worried for about 10 seconds, because this film has never really been about superheroes. It’s about a family that happened to be superheroes.

“The fact that every other superhero franchise out there is based on pre-existing material, and here we have something that was an idea that I came up with to be a movie. It didn’t have any other life outside of being a movie … that we’re still around and have been able to flourish when there are so superhero movies that have been well known for a long time is really amazing and wonderful,” he added.

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The superhero genre explosion wasn’t the only thing Bird had to worry about do while making “Incredibles 2.” The director told us that not long after the sequel received the green light from Pixar, they lost a year from their schedule to accommodate “Toy Story 4” moving to 2019.

As a result, Bird said he was “flummoxed” by the sequel’s villain. The concept shifted significantly to what’s seen in the final film where the Incredibles fight The Screenslaver, a supervillain who hypnotizes others via a TV or phone screen. He said the original idea involved the family battling a form of AI, which Bird says he still hopes to develop in the future.

“I was in this mode of ‘holy moley!’ If the story isn’t serving the family characters, I had to jettison it quick. I couldn’t sit there and noodle it,” Bird said. “Because the finish date was coming at me like a freight train. So that story line kept shifting.”

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What didn’t change though was the core story, which Bird said dated back to the first film. He knew the sequel would involve a gender role switch, with Elastigirl taking the lead over Mr. Incredible, and he knew it had to deal with the “un-exploded bomb” of Jack-Jack, who audiences were aware had powers after the first film but the family did not.

So when asked if he expected a nomination for “Incredibles 2,” Bird said that the honor is the cherry on top of a long time coming of trying to make the film.

“It’s all extra,” Bird said. “The most important thing is to make movies, and make work that you’re happy with and proud to be associated with. And if you get to make more, that’s really, really, really great. And anything after that is just dessert. You don’t anticipate dessert, but you hope that it will be served.”

Golden Globes 2019: See the Nominees (Photos)

Here is the full list of nominees in the 76th Annual Golden Globes for 2019 in all 25 categories. The awards will be handed out on Jan. 6.
20th Century Fox/Amazon/Disney/FX
Best Motion Picture - Drama

"Black Panther"
“BlacKkKlansman”;
“Bohemian Rhapsody”;
“If Beale Street Could Talk”;
“A Star Is Born” (pictured)
Warner Bros.
Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born,”;
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”;
Lucas Hedges, "Boy Erased"
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody” (pictured);
John David Washington, "BlacKkKlansman"
20th Century Fox
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”;
Glenn Close, “The Wife” (pictured);
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”;
Nicole Kidman, “Destroyer”
Rosamund Pike, "A Private War"
Sony Pictures Classics
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

“Crazy Rich Asians” (pictured);
“The Favourite”;
“Green Book”;
“Mary Poppins Returns”;
“Vice”
Warner Bros.
Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book” (pictured);
Christian Bale, “Vice”;
Robert Redford, “The Old Man and the Gun”;
Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Mary Poppins Returns”;
John C. Reilly, “Stan and Ollie”;
Universal
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Emily Blunt, “Mary Poppins Returns” (pictured)
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”;
Elsie Fisher, “Eighth Grade”;
Charlize Theron, "Tully"
Constance Wu, “Crazy Rich Asians”;
Disney
Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”;
Timothee Chalamet, “Beautiful Boy” (pictured);
Adam Driver, "BlacKkKlansman"
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”;
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”
Amazon
Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, “Vice”;
Claire Foy, "First Man";
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”;
Emma Stone, “The Favourite” (pictured);
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”;
Fox Searchlight
Best Director

Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”;
Alfonso Cuaron, “Roma”;
Peter Farrelly, "Green Book";
Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman” (pictured);
Adam McKay, "Vice"
Photographed by Tyler Mitchell for TheWrap
Best Screenplay

“The Favourite”;
“Green Book”;
“If Beale Street Could Talk” (pictured)
"Roma";
"Vice"
Tatum Mangus/Annapurna Pictures
Best Original Score

"A Quiet Place," Marco Beltrami;
"Isle of Dogs," Alexandre Desplat;
“Black Panther," Ludvig Goransson;
“First Man” Justin Hurwitz; (pictured)
“Mary Poppins Returns," Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman
TheWrap
Best Original Song

“All the Stars” from “Black Panther”;
“The Girl in the Movies” from “Dumplin'”;
“Requiem for A Private War” from “A Private War”;
"Revelation" from "Boy Erased"
“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” (pictured)
Warner Bros.
Best Motion Picture - Animated

“Incredibles 2” (pictured);
“Isle of Dogs”;
"Mirai";
“Ralph Breaks the Internet”;
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
Pixar
Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language

“Capernaum”;
“Girl”;
"Never Look Away"
“Roma” (pictured)
"Shoplifters"
Netflix
Best Television Series - Drama

“The Americans” (pictured);
“The Bodyguard"
“Homecoming”;
“Killing Eve”;
“Pose"
FX
Best Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman, "Ozark" (pictured);
Stephan James, "Homecoming";
Richard Madden, "The Bodyguard";
Billy Porter, " "Pose";
Matthew Rhys, “The Americans”;
Paramount Network
Best Actress in a Drama Series

Caitriona Balfe, "Outlander"
Elisabeth Moss, "The Handmaid's Tale"
Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”;
Julia Roberts, “Homecoming” (pictured);
Keri Russell, “The Americans”;
Amazon
Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (pictured);
“Barry”;
“The Good Place”;
"Kidding";
“The Kominsky Method”
Amazon
Best Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Kristen Bell, “The Good Place” (pictured);
Candace Bergen, "Murphy Brown"
Alison Brie, “GLOW”;
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”;
Debra Messing, "Will & Grace"
NBC
Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Sacha Baron Cohen, "Who Is America";
Jim Carrey, “Kidding”;
Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”;
Donald Glover, “Atlanta”;
Bill Hader, “Barry” (pictured)
HBO
Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

"The Alienist"
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” (pictured);
"Escape at Dannemora"
“Sharp Objects”;
“A Very English Scandal”
Ray Mickshaw/FX
Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Antonio Banderas – “Genius: Picasso”
Daniel Bruhl – “The Alienist”
Darren Criss – “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”
Benedict Cumberbatch – “Patrick Melrose”; (pictured)
Hugh Grant – “A Very English Scandal”
Ollie Upton/SHOWTIME
Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Amy Adams, “Sharp Objects” (pictured);
Patricia Arquette, “Escape at Dannemora”;
Connie Britton, "Dirty John";
Laura Dern, “The Tale”;
Regina King, “Seven Seconds”;
HBO
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Alan Arkin, “The Kominsky Method”;
Kieran Culkin, "Succession";
Edgar Ramirez, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”;
Ben Whishaw, “A Very English Scandal”;
Henry Winkler, “Barry” (pictured)
Amazon
Best Supporting Actress Series, Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”;
Patricia Clarkson, “Sharp Objects”;
Penelope Cruz, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”;
Thandie Newton, “Westworld” (pictured);
Yvonne Strahovski, "The Handmaid's Tale"
HBO