SPOILERS are ahead for Better Nate Than Ever, now streaming with a Disney+ subscription.
Over this past weekend, Disney+ introduced a new character into its massive pantheon with the release of Better Nate Than Ever. The book adaptation tells the sweet and inspiring story of a 13-year-old who dares to travel from Pittsburgh to New York City to follow his dreams of being a Broadway star and come into his LGBTQ+ identity. Now that many of us have fallen in love with the characters at the center of the family musical, how about an encore?
Better Nate Than Ever is based on a 2013 book by Tim Federle, who is also the movie’s writer/director. He went on to write two more books about Nate: Five, Six, Seven, Nate! in 2014 and Nate Expectations in 2018. Knowing that there is more to the story on the page, here’s what the film’s Nate, Reuby Wood, thought about returning for a second movie during his CinemaBlend interview:
I absolutely would love for there to be a sequel. I am not in control of that, I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I would love to just bring that group of people together again and to have so much fun. I think it would be really amazing to see the next step of Nate’s journey because in the movie, he already grows so much, so I’d love to see him come into his light even more and I think that would be a really, really cool thing to explore.
Better Nate Than Ever concluded with Nate getting a spot on Lilo & Stitch: The Musical on Broadway after some hijinks during his big auditions that ultimately paid off. It would be great to see the next step of his journey and Rueby Wood is totally game.
Wood has his own incredible audition story for Better Nate Than Ever. While speaking with us, the newcomer shared that he auditioned for the movie with the song “The Wizard and I” from Wicked. Little did he know that writer/director Tim Federle had his own personal connections to Wicked – he was part of the 2003 Broadway revival of Gypsy when he checked out the Wizard of Oz-themed production early in its run and fell in love with it.
Better Nate Than Ever included a sweet relationship between Reuby Wood and Aria Brooks’ Nate and Libby. When speaking to Brooks, the young actress chimed in with Wood’s excitement at the idea of a sequel. In her words:
I would love to continue to develop Libby. I would love to see where her story continues to go. I think you never fully find yourself ever in life, you find yourself more as you go along. I think by the end of the movie, Libby has a better sense of herself and what she wants to do, so I would love to continue to explore that and expand on what she does, and what her dreams are.
By the end of the Disney+ movie, it seemed as though Libby had her eyes on being a talent manager. How will that pan out in a sequel? The second Better Nate Than Ever book has Nate starting rehearsals for the Broadway musical, which was E.T. in the source material, but Federle has a great reason why Lilo & Stitch was chosen. The book follows the process of Nate getting ready for opening night. We’ll have to see. As for Lisa Kudrow, who plays Nate’s Aunt Heidi, here was her thoughts on returning for another round:
Oh, I don’t know. I never even gave it a second or third thought to be honest. I’m just happy with how the story ends and you know, they are going to spend holidays together and they can support each other in their lives now. That’s nice.
Will Aunt Heidi get to Broadway as well? Or will she reunite with her estranged sister? There’s definitely more to explore following the 2022 movie release. While we wait to hear about the future of Better Nate Than Ever, check out more of the best Disney+ originals available to stream.
