Summary

• Garland's retirement reduces chances for Annihilation 2, disappointing fans of the sci-fi horror hit.
• Future of potential franchise now uncertain without Garland's visionary direction and storytelling.
• Sequel's success without Garland's unique style remains in question, though story blueprint offers hope.

Alex Garland's reported retirement from directing movies is disappointing for all fans of his work, but particularly bad for anyone hoping for a sequel to a 2018 sci-fi horror hit. Despite only having four films in his resume, Garland has earned his status as a leading genre visionary capable of handling impressive visuals and dense storytelling. While this makes his rumored retirement plans surprising, it also makes the future of a potential franchise he started seem more uncertain than ever.

Garland's surprise announcement that he plans to step back from directorial duties comes following disillusionment with the film industry and the movie-making process. In an interview with the UK's Guardian newspaper, Garland doubled down on earlier comments about stepping back from the spotlight, adding (via Alex Garland movies. In particular, this is bad news for one abortive franchise.

Alex Garland's Retirement Makes Annihilation 2 Even Less Likely

With Garland expressing his intent to step away from the director's chair for the "foreseeable future", the prospects of audiences seeing a sequel to 2018's Annihilation seem increasingly remote. Based on the first installment of author Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach novel trilogy, the movie is a cerebral and visually stunning genre blend, drawing on Lovecraftian horror and complex sci-fi traditions. Scoring an impressive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie ended on a tantalizing cliffhanger, with Natalie Portman's Lena teasing the next stage of human evolution and the total transformation of the Earth.

However, despite the intriguing narrative potential of the story, Garland's plans seem to put a firm dent in any prospect of Annihilation 2. Although the original story is intriguing, it was Alex Garland's direction, building off his success with Ex Machina, that really made the movie stand out. The movie's eerie tone combined the mutative power of The Shimmer with a subtle story of human curiosity and discovery – a delicate balancing act that played to Garland's ability to explore ambiguity. Considering that he also wrote the movie, it's difficult to see how a sequel would work without his involvement, given his outsized influence.

Why Annihilation 2 Still Hasn't Happened

Considering the broader context of the Southern Reach trilogy, the fact that Annihilation 2 never happened is somewhat surprising. The story – thanks in no small part to the source material – seemed perfectly set up for a sequel. Just as VanderMeer's novels split the wider narrative into several installments, Annihilation only deals with what happens when humanity first discovers the mysterious Shimmer – laying the groundwork for the movie's many mysteries to be explored in future entries. In some ways, it seems a perfect candidate for franchisement, with its streaming release insulating it from box office pressure.

Part of the reason that Annihilation failed to live up to its franchise potential is that Garland himself seemed initially disinterested in revisiting the story. Even though VanderMeer's other books seemingly provide the perfect template for how the narrative could be expanded, Garland quickly distanced himself from an imminent Annihilation sequel. In a 2018 interview with IndieWire, the British-born director explained:

“When the thing is done, I am done with it. I instantly start moving on, so I don’t even have an opinion on an Annihilation sequel. All the way through I was clear with everyone, from the studio to the cast, I told everyone that I didn’t really see it as part of a franchise.

"My goal was to make this film and do the best job I can. I didn’t even conceptualize it as the start of a trilogy. Sequels are just not something I’m interested in doing. It’s like when you don’t like steak, you don’t make the decision not to eat steak, you just don’t eat steak. I just don’t do sequels.”

These comments, made in the immediate aftermath of the movie's release, suggest that Garland was never likely to return for Annihilation 2 and, therefore, that his retirement has little impact on the sequel's prospects. However, the fact that he was such an influence on the look and feel of the first movie means that any sequel would struggle to seem like part of the same universe without his involvement – a fact producers are undoubtedly aware of.

It's also untrue that Alex Garland never returns to previous projects. Despite not directing, he was an uncredited writer on 28 Weeks Later, having written Danny Boyle's original zombie horror, and will be returning as a writer for 28 Years Later. This suggests that, if enough time es, Garland can indeed return to earlier stories – which in turn suggests that Annihilation 2 was never truly off the table. Had he not decided to retire from directing completely, there was always the possibility that he could return.

Annihilation 2 Without Alex Garland Wouldn't Be As Good

Despite his obvious initial antipathy towards the idea of Annihilation 2, there's little doubt that any sequel would not have worked as well without him. Hallmarks of Alex Garland's directorial style are evident throughout the movie, from the story's deliberate pacing to the framing of certain group shots to give characters immediacy and intimacy. While the world of The Shimmer is necessarily weird, Garland also made it feel believable – an impressive feat considering the trippy quality of the sci-fi movie.

The unique visual style on display in Annihilation means that any other director would face an incredibly difficult task to make the sequel feel like part of the same story. In many respects, plot details like The Shimmer, Area X, and the lighthouse are less important than Annihilation's unsettling and mysterious tone – something that's much more difficult to capture with a different director. Though there are undoubtedly different ways of exploring Annihilation's broader themes, Alex Garland's approach made the movie stand out in a saturated sci-fi market.

Annihilation 2 Can Still Work, Even Without Alex Garland

There's no denying that Alex Garland was central to Annihiliation's success. However, there is still hope for Annihilation 2, thanks largely to the story blueprint provided by VanderMeer's novel trilogy. Although Garland's movie altered the book's story significantly, even incorporating some elements from later novels, there is still more about Annihilation's world to be explored. The second novel, Authority, for example, examines how the phenomena inside Area X affect the surrounding human settlements, rather than looking at The Shimmer itself. This could be a fascinating direction for a follow-up movie.

In some ways, the different settings of Annihilation's sequels mean that a director other than Garland could be even better suited to the story. Where Garland was able to perfectly capture The Shimmer's strangeness, a story set beyond Area X might require a different approach, suggesting that his involvement isn't completely necessary. While such a change would make Annihilation 2 feel very different from the original, Alex Garland's absence may yet present an opportunity to someone else to finally realize the film's franchise potential.

Sources: IndieWire, The Guardian