Just as The Secret Life of Pets’ ending posed the question of how that once hidden world would continue to be much of a secret, The Secret Life of Pets 2 has quite a few developments that will have fans wondering where the next installment may take familiar characters like Patton Oswalt’s Max, Kevin Hart’s Snowball, and Jenny Slate’s Gidget.
There are no official talks just yet, especially considering the film’s only opened this past weekend, but the subject came up during CinemaBlend’s attendance at the recent press day for the Universal/Illumination sequel. As luck would have it, the answers we got as to where a potential plot line to The Secret Life of Pets 3 would go were all wildly different. But considering the pseudo-anthology format of the franchise, there’s a chance that all three answers could mesh into one, cohesive film.
Starting with Kevin Hart’s idea, inspired by his character Snowball’s recent venture into superheroism, The Secret Life of Pets 3 would tackle the following subject:
If we were to do a Pets 3, anything in the direction of this ‘super world.’ And as we’re talking about the life of these pets, and their homes, ultimately the pets need a protector. They need somebody that’s looking over them, they need somebody that is strictly there to guide them in the right direction. If anything ever went bad, they’d be there to fix it, and I think that’s where Snowball would come in handy.
As we saw in The Secret Life of Pets 2, Captain Snowball went from a mere idea/persona for the recently homed bunny into something he feels he could fully pull off. So the next big step for this heroic house-pet would obviously be to draft a super league of avengers for justice.
Whether it be formed with fellow protagonists Max and Gidget, or if Captain Snowball would recruit from the extensive roster of supporting pets that are also in the mix, The Secret Life of Pets 3 sounds like a super opportunity to further poke loving fun at the comic book films that make up so much of the box office market.
Of course, this is just part of the stories that The Secret Life of Pets 2 cast wants to take part in for a potential third entry. And then next possibility in line is that of Jenny Slate, the voice of pampered dog, and now potential queen of the cats, Gidget.
While she was crowned in this most recent film, it’s not a title that Jenny Slate is beholden to. It is a fresh adventure that seems like both she and her character would crave. At least, that’s what her remarks below would have us think, as she pitched this scenario:
I just want her to keep moving. Yeah. Get her into new worlds every time, because her personality is so great, it’ll always be there. And I think that helps her to encounter new things. I think that goes for people as well.
It is pretty funny to think of Gidget as the queen of the cats, especially after her antics trying to study and infiltrate them in The Secret Life of Pets 2. But that is a gag that admittedly can only go so far, as a queen is usually sequestered from the world; and much like Jenny Slate, Gidget is a free spirit.
Potentially letting her off the leash, so to speak, and seeing her play around the various parks and landmarks of New York might make for a wonderful Gidget adventure in The Secret Life of Pets 3. Maybe she’ll even meet a new pal that helps quell her unrequited love for Max, which could even start off a love triangle of sorts.
Though should Gidget remain true to her infatuation with Max, it might pay off in the long run. Ever since the first Secret Life of Pets film, Gidget has worn her heart on her sleeve for that particularly neurotic terrier, and that’s a perfect hook for the plotline that Patton Oswalt suggested The Secret Life of Pets 3 hang its hat on, courtesy of this beautiful twist:
I was actually thinking if he… what if he did hook up with Gidget, and what if they did have puppies together? How would he and Gidget as a couple be raising children? Like what those two… you have someone with no boundaries and someone who’s all boundaries. Someone with zero worries, and someone who’s nothing but worries. Where does that go in parenting? That would be fascinating to watch that dynamic back and forth.
Seeing Max toying around with his boundaries was a rich mine of material for The Secret Life of Pets 2, as he learned slowly but surely how to be a dog parent to little human Liam. With new parenting skills comes a new outlook on kids in general, and with time passing pretty fast in the franchise, it does feel like Max and Gidget settling down would be a fantastic proposition.
All three ideas for The Secret Life of Pets 3 suggest that there are so many stories that this hypothetical next film could tell. And in those stories, there’s potential to see Max, Snowball, and Gidget grow and go to places we’ve never seen them approach before.
In the varying dynamics of the three leads, and the various supporting pets in The Secret Life of Pets series, there’s an infinite combination of what sort of story magic can be woven. So as long as writer Brian Lynch continues to keep his head in the space of these mischievous, but lovable, animal characters, and as long as the public continues to applaud their ongoing adventures, the things that these pets do in secret will continue to entertain the movie going public.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 is in theaters now, but if you’ve already seen the film and would like to scope out some further animated action, take a look at our 2019 release schedule. There’s plenty more where this came from!
