I got to see Wanted last night and without getting into particulars (review embargoes and all) I will say that as I was watching it, it felt like nothing more than a setup for a franchise of films in which Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) plays the hero. Sure it has cool tricks and special effects, but it has that "origin story" feel to it and everything just seems like one big set-up for a second film and apparently that isn't exactly too far from the truth.

Terrence Stamp, who has a rather small part in the film, was talking to MTV and gave us this line:

"I play a character who's called Pekwarsky... He's an enigmatic character who doesn't feature a lot in the first one, but it's something that's written for a sequel."

Now this isn't exactly a rant on Wanted, because it is hardly the only film that falls into the sequel trap. I mean, what half-baked film doesn't get a sequel nowadays? Pink Panther 2, Night at the Museum, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Saw and even The Punisher is getting a third try. Why they are determined to resuscitate that franchise over and over again is beyond me.

One of the greatest things about the recent Incredible Hulk was how they pretty much abandoned the whole "origin story" angle and got it out of the way within the first 5-10 minutes via the opening credit sequence. We were immediately thrown into the story and we never felt like we missed anything because bits and pieces of the origin were peppered throughout the film, just enough to give us the details we needed an nothing more.

As for Wanted, it was far better than Timur Bekmambetov's boring-as-sin Night Watch, but it had a similar feel. However, whereas Night Watch hardly exists on its own without the idea of follow-up films there is at least a sense of closure at the end of Wanted. I just think the desire to create a franchise seems to be on the mind of so many Hollywood executives now that it is starting to hurt the overall quality of the films being released.

Wanted is a prime example, the film isn't even in theaters yet and we are already speculating a sequel. Considering trailers give away the majority of films nowadays I guess it is no surprise that people feel as if they have already seen the first film. Hell, studios should release the first film as a trailer only and toss the sequel into theaters. Would that be too much to ask? Then, of course, the press junkets would involve bloggers asking about Wanted 3.