Will Smith Can’t Keep Zendaya’s Name Out of His Mouth When Teasing ‘Hancock 2'

Hancock was one of the first films I knew the production history of before I saw it. It was a spec script written by Vy Vincent Ngo and made the rounds in Hollywood for years before it was purchased. The film then struggled to get behind cameras as it was being re-written by Vince Gilligan (who shares a credit with Ngo). Then, the film was pitched to Will Smith. When he agreed to star, production ramped up, almost ten years after the movie was written. At the time, Will Smith had the power to get things greenlit simply by showing interest. Now, not so much.

Did you know it’s been 17 years since Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars? Okay. It hasn’t. But I do feel like I’ve lived through enough life events since then to equal the life of a high school senior. The moment, which genuinely made me stand, gasp, and ask my wife, “What just happened?” feels almost quaint now. Still, it was a bad thing to do. Chris Rock got millions out of Netflix for talking about it, and Will Smith has returned to beloved franchises and music videos.

Just because things seem almost normal now does not mean they are. The same night Smith hit Rock he won his first Oscar. That would bolster the career of most people, especially those who already possess mega-star power. Smith’s work has more reflected that of someone trying to claw their way back into people’s good graces. He made another sequel to Bad Boys (though to be fair, he had made one that did quite well before the world shut down). Smith made a song about passing on The Matrix (it rips, honestly), which felt like an SEO-driven move. Now, he’s pitching a sequel to Hancock with Zendaya… or he’s pitching it to Zendaya.

Mentioning people you want to be in your movie without asking them first is not a new practice. Testing the waters to see how people react can be a useful way to gauge approval and excitement. Look at any recent “casting announcement” for the new Harry Potter show. Plenty of people have been announced as “in talks” but Warner Brothers refuses to confirm any of them. It’s almost as if they want to see how those actors may be treated if they sign up to star in a new show created by a rabid bigot whose involvement has been defended by the House That Michigan J. Frog built.

Smith seems to be employing this tactic as he brought up a sequel to Hancock (which, like the original, has languished in development hell) on xQc’s live stream (I’m totally young and hip and didn’t need to look up who that person is, by the by. Skibidy). “There’s a really cool Hancock 2 idea,” Smith revealed. “We haven’t even talked about it.” Saying something is cool and then revealing there have been no discussions is a weird way to generate hype, but okay, Will. Smith then offered the biggest tease saying, “I’m going to give you one little piece. Zendaya [is] being approached for a role in Hancock 2.”

If you want to get people excited, you have to aim big. Zendaya certainly fits that bill. Her star power is undeniable and would likely help get the movie going (if it is ever… talked about). But it’s pretty wild to see Smith in such an opposite position as to when the first Hancock soared drunkenly into the skies. Smith was offered $20 million in his pay-or-play contract for the original film. He would still get paid out the ass even if he didn’t make it. Now, he’s surprising influencers and invoking Zendaya in an attempt to get the film into production.