Of all the movies that have received sequels decades after their original entries, Twister didn’t seem like it would necessarily be a candidate. But for fans of the original like myself, prayers have been answered as the, perhaps obviously titled follow-up Twisters is coming this summer and a new trailer is full of just the action those fans are looking for, including what looks like very intentional callbacks to the original.
The trailer opens with a random tornado hitting a rodeo event, which itself seems very reminiscent of the tornado hitting the drive-in movie theater in the original Twister. There also looks to be a scene that might be taking its cues from the Twister finale. There’s a shot in the new Twisters trailer that shows star Daisy Edgar-Jones holding on tight while the tornado destroys what’s around them. Check out the trailer above and then give the end of Twister a look below for comparison.
The first Twisters trailer showed us some of the action we can expect, and the new one certainly doubles down on all that. It also gives us a bit more characterization and plot, revealing that the characters played by Edgar-Jones and Powell will start as competition, before apparently joining forces to try and investigate, and possibly even attempt to dissipate a tornado.
I certainly love seeing the callbacks to the original Twister. At the end of the day, we know the sequel is likely to follow the same beats as the original as they both deal with tornado chasers. That’s not a deal breaker by itself. Following in the footsteps of the original is what is likely to bring the old fans back, and as long as it’s all done well, nobody is going to mind.
Seeing all of these moments, but done with modern technology, is almost certainly going to look incredible on the big screen. Stuff like that is why a lot of people go to the movies and why the first Twister was a box office smash in the ’90s. Even the Twister director admits the sequel was inevitable based on the money involved.
At the same time, I love the ways that Twisters has changed up the formula. Glen Powell and his ragtag team of chasers are, at least at the beginning, going to be set up as the “bad guys” which flips the script on the original film, where it was the more formal and professional team that was seen as the enemy.
Twisters marks the second time that Glen Powell has joined a sequel to a film that saw its original success decades ago. While it seems unlikely that this one will be quite as big a box office hit as Top Gun: Maverick, stranger things have certainly happened. We’ll find out just how many more Twister fans are out there when the Twisters release date arrives in July.