The live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon is hitting cinemas this week, but director Dean DeBlois is already thinking of the next chapter. DeBois, who also directed the original animated trilogy, recently shared some details about how a live-action sequel would look like, and one actress he would like to see returning – Cate Blanchett.
"Well, I'm wishful as well. It's still early days," DeBlois told ComicBook when asked about the possibility of seeing Blanchett returning to the franchise as Valka, who was first introduced in 2014's How to Train Your Dragon 2.
"I think she is probably waiting for a script, but I've been knocking on that door. I wrote the character of Valka for her, so I told her it'll always be hers to turn down first," the director continued.
In the animated movies, Valka is Hiccup's mother and Stoick's wife, who was taken by a dragon shortly after Hiccup was born and was thought dead. Two decades later, however, she accidentally crosses paths with her son and finally reunites with her husband.
If she returns, Blanchett would not be the only How to Train Your Dragon actor making the shift from animation to live action, as Gerard Butler also returned to the franchise to play Stoick, Hiccup's father, after voicing the character for a few years.
Talking about the yet-to-be-confirmed sequel, DeBois also shared some details about the future of Toothless, as we see the beloved dragon maturing on screen. "We knew we were going to go there. The idea is that Toothless is roughly Hiccup's age in dragon years, so he is a juvenile, an adolescent, as well, aging into adulthood," the director explained.
"That is going to alter his design in subtle ways, but mostly it's going to alter his mentality because he's a very sentient dragon. He has his own opinions about everything, and he'll also start to come into his own as a leader of his kind."
How to Train Your Dragon releases on June 13. For more, check out our list of all upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond.
