Why Inception 2 Will Remain A Pipe Dream

Yes, it's been over a decade and no, we haven't talked enough about Inception. A sequel to Inception would surely be financially rewarding at the very least, following in the footsteps of the original. Still probably won't happen, and here's why.

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Inception 2 is very unlikely to happen. | © Warner Bros.

The story of Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his gang of dream-infiltrating criminals has been all over the world back in 2010 – “Did you get the ending of Inception?” is ingrained as “small talk starter” in my memory because of the impact the movie had.

Christopher Nolan's movies are famous for their complexity, and he's infamous for playing around with confusing plot points like memory (that's often a tricky one), time (with how weird it can get), or a wrong sense of identity.

Inception's Infamous Ending: The Reason Why There Won't Be A Sequel

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I wouldn't mind Inception 2. | © Warner Bros.

The question of the decade – at least for movie enthusiasts – seemed to be “Is Cobb still dreaming at the end of Inception?” The genius behind making a movie that still sparks the same discussion to this day is something that Christopher Nolan can surely be proud of. It took him more than ten years to write it, but it paid off!

So, imagine: Christopher Nolan, at this point, had another decade to write a possible sequel. Why didn't he? The success of Inception makes it an almost criminal offense to not give the fans more, right?

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We need to say goodbye to the gang. | © Warner Bros.

Wrong. The reason why there won't be an Inception 2 is actually pretty simple (opposed to the plot of the movie): The story is told. It's done. Cobb got his endingwhatever it may be in the end, I'm team “it's up to interpretation” personally – and revisiting the gang would kind of undermine their story.

I don't know about you, but I don't want Inception's legacy tainted by a sequel that couldn't live up to the first installment – and let's be honest, it would be nearly impossible to live up to that.

Let's look at the bright side. Even though we didn't get Inception 2, Christopher Nolan spoiled us with enough other masterpieces: the Batman trilogy, Interstellar and recently also Oppenheimer .

Tanja Haimerl

Tanja is obsessed with gripping stories in all kinds of media: games, TV shows and books alike. She did her Bachelor's thesis on The Last of Us, got her degree in media studies thanks to that and can't stop talking about it....