Holly Hunter just casually confirmed Incredibles 3 is finally happening and my brain is doing that thing where it’s excited and terrified simultaneously.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Hunter dropped that she’s starting voice recording in March. March. As in, two months from now. The Parr family is coming back and apparently nobody thought to prepare me emotionally for this.
The Incredibles 3 Director Switch
Here’s where it gets interesting. Brad Bird isn’t directing. After two decades steering this franchise, Bird stepped back because he’s busy with Ray Gunn, his passion project that’s been in development for literally a decade.
Peter Sohn is taking over. The Elemental guy. The Good Dinosaur guy.
My first thought: wait, really? Elemental had that rough theatrical run before becoming Pixar’s biggest streaming turnaround story. Good Dinosaur is… fine? It’s fine. But then I remembered–Sohn has been at Pixar forever. Voice of Emile in Ratatouille. Story artist on Finding Nemo. The man knows the studio’s DNA.
Still. It’s weird. Bird created these characters. He understood their rhythms, their family dynamics, the specific way Bob Parr’s midlife crisis manifests as superhero nostalgia. Can Sohn capture that?
I genuinely don’t know. And I think that uncertainty is part of why this news feels so loaded.
Brad Bird’s Fingerprints on Incredibles 3
The good news: Bird wrote the script. He’s also co-producing. So his voice is still in this thing even if he’s not calling shots on set.
The previous two Incredibles films made about $1.8 billion combined. That’s not pressure or anything. The first one is still considered peak Pixar by a lot of people–myself included–and the sequel had that incredible (sorry) 14-year gap that somehow didn’t kill the momentum.
A third film coming 10 years after Incredibles 2? I’ve already seen people on Twitter going “10 years AGAIN? They’re really doing this AGAIN?” and like… yeah. The timing is giving déj? vu. But also Pixar knows how to bring back franchises when it matters. Both things can be true.
That Empty Summer 2028 Pixar Slot
There’s an empty spot on Pixar’s summer 2028 schedule and Hunter’s March recording start lines up suspiciously well. Nothing’s officially confirmed but come on. Disney isn’t burying Incredibles 3 in November. They’re not that unhinged.
The real question is what this story even is. We got Bob’s midlife crisis in the first one. We got Helen’s spotlight in the sequel. What’s left?
Violet-centric? Jack-Jack origin chaos? Dash actually being a teenager dealing with… teenager stuff while also being a super?
Bird wrote it so presumably there’s a real vision here. But until we see literally anything–a poster, a teaser, a single frame–I’m just sitting with the fact that Incredibles 3 is actually happening and I have roughly two years to emotionally prepare for whatever Pixar is about to do to my childhood and–
What’s Worth Tracking
Peter Sohn directing is the gamble — Not bad, not obvious. Just genuinely uncertain which is kind of exciting?
Brad Bird wrote the script — His voice is still in the DNA even without directing.
Summer 2028 is basically confirmed — Empty Pixar slot + March recording = the timeline makes sense.
Twitter already has opinions — “10 years AGAIN” is becoming a thing and honestly fair.
FAQ: Incredibles 3 Production Updates
Why isn’t Brad Bird directing Incredibles 3 after creating the franchise?
He’s deep into Ray Gunn, a project he’s been developing for over a decade. Sometimes passion projects win over franchise obligations, and Bird chose his original vision over returning to familiar territory. He still wrote the script though, so it’s not a complete departure–more like he’s the architect but someone else is building it.
How does Peter Sohn’s directing style fit the Incredibles action-comedy tone?
Honestly? We won’t know until we see footage. Elemental showed he can handle family dynamics and emotional beats, but Incredibles has a specific superhero rhythm that Bird perfected. Sohn’s never done action setpieces at this scale. This is either a stretch that works brilliantly or a mismatch we won’t see coming until the trailer drops.
