On the heels of Amazon Prime's television remake of A League Of Their Own, actor and star of the original movie Tom Hanks shares details of the scrapped A League Of Their Own sequel. The classic 1992 sports film features Hanks as jaded and alcoholic former baseball player Jimmy Dugan in one of his most iconic roles. A League Of Their Own follows the washed-up player as he reluctantly agrees to coach the first all-female baseball team. Lauded for its portrayal of female athletes, inclusivity, and heartfelt message, A League Of Their Own was directed by Penny Marshall. It starred Geena Davis as Dottie Hinson, Lori Petty as Kit Keller, and Madonna as Mae Mordabito.
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Based on the true story of the first All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), forged in 1943 as male players departed for World War II, the A League Of Their Own story was recently brought back to life by co-creators Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson, for the 2022 television reboot of the same name. Now featuring an ensemble cast of Gbemisola Ikumel, Roberta Colindrez, Priscilla Delgado, Chanté Adams, Kelly McCormack, Nick Offerman, and D'Arcy Carden, A League Of Their Own re-tells the inspirational story from a new perspective, shedding light on the racial discrimination of the times, edging slightly more progressive than its source material. With Nick Offerman now portraying coach Dove Porter, who ultimately abandons the team, Hanks is opening up about the potential A League Of Their Own sequel and what it would have entailed.
As a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hanks reveals details of the A League Of Their Own sequel that never came to fruition. According to the actor, filmmakers were working on a script based around the idea of including a Jackie Robinson character–focusing on the racial barrier that the famous player broke. However, the idea never came to be, and now Hanks is sharing his perspective on the scrapped sequel. Read on to see what Hanks has to say about A League Of Their Own 2:
"Um, League Of Their Own, we thought, too, that there was a possible thing to bring Jimmy Dugan back after the color barrier–after Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier… and we had… there was actually a pretty nice screenplay…but all these other kinda like market forces come into it because one of things that often happens is that the original people that made it happen don't have anything to do with the sequels, and so they're really made by studio executives"
Although A League Of Their Own broke barriers regarding gender roles and stereotypes, the film did not address racial disparities at the time and featured no Black players. While doing so was historically accurate, it was noticeably absent in a film widely praised for its inclusivity. However, it's exciting to learn that the potential sequel, on the other hand, would have offered more insight into racism at the time. As Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier as the first Black Major League baseball player, it would have been interesting to see how filmmakers could have incorporated this societal milestone into the league's story, potentially seeing a Black woman on the team.
While it's challenging for prequels, sequels, and reboots nowadays to live up to their source material, A League Of Their Own could have benefited from a more inclusive sequel that featured Black female athletes. While the Amazon Prime remake offers a more diverse, improved-upon story, it's clear the show can honor the movie's role in history by catering to contemporary issues, changing and tweaking to today's audience. While A League Of Their Own never got its sequel, here's hoping the series continues to shine a light on the film's legacy and thrive on the streaming platform.