How to Train Your Dragon 3 – What moviegoers can expect

DreamWorks’ How to Train your Dragon 2 received its share of critical and commercial acclaim, although it didn’t quite fulfil the high expectations raised by its predecessor despite being one of the top-grossing animated movies of the 2014 summer movie season.  

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What it certainly did was whet audience interest in the How to Train your Dragon franchise and I for one am definitely looking forward to How to Train your Dragon 3, whose release has been pushed back a year from summer 2016 to summer 2017.  That has disappointed a lot of fans, myself included, but at least it shows that DreamWorks is confident about the future of the franchise.

About How to Train your Dragon 3 (HTTYD 3)

According to reports, the third and apparently final part of the trilogy follows Hiccup as he takes on the mantle of village chief after his father’s passing. The voice talent includes A-listers Gerard Butler, America Ferrara, Jay Baruchel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson, Kristen Wiig and T.J. Miller.

Many moviegoers will be shocked to learn that there are no dragons in HTTYD 3 – hard to imagine as that is. Unsurprisingly, Hiccup battles feelings of helplessness and inadequacy after succeeding his father, the redoubtable Viking chief who has always set high standards for his only child. After a long time, Hiccup faces a life without dragons, including his own best friend and ally Toothless. The final part deals with powerful emotions and the bittersweet reality of a Viking world without dragons.

How to Train your Dragon – What Next?

But ardent fans of the HTTYD franchise needn’t remain heartbroken for long. I’ve heard rumors about a possible How to Train your Dragon 4 down the line but that remains a matter of speculation. Writer/director Dean DeBlois has not discounted the possibility of a fourth instalment in the blockbuster Vikings-dragons saga, which is likely to be (if it is ever made) a self-contained stand-alone movie that takes the action forward from where its predecessor left off. But I’d better not jump the gun at this point until we have something concrete from the makers of the film.

I’m not too happy about having to wait for another year and a half for How to Train Your Dragon 3. Thanks to the growing buzz around the movie, the second sequel sounds like a highly interesting departure from the story.