Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | June 17, 2026
My parents were definitely the “okay with violence but not so much with sex” types when it came to what we watched. That doesn’t mean that I never watched a sex scene with my parents. In fact, I’ve likely seen more than I’d like to admit, but it was certainly something that my mother was not comfortable with us seeing. That has continued to this day, as I sit here for the 37th year in a row. And yet, despite my mother’s protestations against procreation, we saw Austin Powers a lot.
I don’t know why that series is the one that she made a blatant exception for, but, after my older brother rented it from the video store at one point because he had, I think, seen it at a friend’s house, we watched the first movie as a family, and had a pretty great time. We had so much fun, in fact, that my mom came with us to see The Spy Who Shagged Me in a movie theater. I shouldn’t have even been in that theater, and yet, I was, because my mom loved that horny bespectacled Brit.
Still, I do think the shine wore off by the time Goldmember rolled around. The third film in the franchise did quite well, bringing in over $290 million, but that was a slight drop from the second film, which cost half as much to make. It felt like there were rumors for years that a fourth film was incoming, but Mike Myers decided to introduce the world to the Guru Pitka first, and, thankfully, he did not catch on in the same way Austin Powers did.
From there, Myers has mostly hung back, making occasional appearances in biopics to tell the lead character that their song won’t be successful (and it’s funny, see, because we know the opposite is true). He put out a miniseries on Netflix and popped up on SNL quite a bit recently, but it seemed like Myers was taking more of a back seat. Then, while attending Trevor Noah’s World Cup Watch Party, Myers was asked if a fourth Powers film was on the way. His answer was simple: “Yes.”
Today is my mom’s birthday, so I’m sure she’s going to be thrilled. Also, the internet seems to be abuzz with the news. But, how will a character like Austin Powers hold up today? And I don’t mean his personality. If something is funny and of a certain quality, you can get away with a lot. But the quality part is the question. I think Goldmember is pretty fun, but it’s not the best of the series, and the potential for diminishing returns is high. Regardless, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want Myers back in that crushed velvet and/or bald cap.
