Last year around this time, audiences were freshly in love with the Muppets thanks to their Jason Segel-spurred resurrection with The Muppets. A blockbuster that won nearly universal praise from critics as well as the Academy Award for Best Song for "Man or Muppet," the latest Muppet movie demanded a sequel. So, Muppets director James Bobin and screenwriter Nicholas Stoller reunited to make Muppets 2 happen. This joyous news was tempered by word that Jason Segel would not be returning. However, it looks like Ricky Gervais may be taking his place.
THR reports the controversial comedian out of England is in talks to front the film, playing one of three human leads that will be at its center. Recently Modern Family's Ty Burrell signed on to play a lazy Interpol inspector, but for now, no details are being released on Gervais's possible part, beyond saying that he will be as central to the sequel as Segel's character was to The Muppets. Also unclear is if Gervais will be called upon to sing as he interacts with Kermit and the gang. However, as someone who has seen every Muppets movie multiple times, I'm going to make an educated guess that he will. Besides, it's not like that would be a first for Gervais. Check out his musical interaction with Muppet family member Elmo from this Sesame Street clip:
Personally, I couldn't be more excited about this news. While his humor's often aimed at adult audiences, Gervais' sense of comedy has an inherent sense of wonder to it. So I think he'd be a fantastic fit for the wacky yet oft cerebral humor of the Muppets. Hopefully, he'll sign on in short order. And with production on this project set to begin in January, we should be hearing about casting of the third human lead soon.
