Incredibles 3: Elemental director Peter Sohn to helm the animated sequel

Brad Bird is returning for the next Parr family adventure in Incredibles 3, but he will not be directing. Peter Sohn has taken the reins. According to Variety, Brad is still involved in a writing capacity with the project. He is also co-producing it alongside Dana Murray.

Peter Sohn has directed a couple of Pixar films, including The Good Dinosaur (2015) and Elemental (2023). He was also a voice actor in Ratatouille (2007), Monsters University (2013), Lightyear (2022), and others. Interestingly, while studying at the California Institute of the Arts, Sohn had a summer job working on The Iron Giant (1999), which was also directed by Brad Bird.

Although there's no official word on why Brad is not directing Incredibles 3, it’s likely that the filmmaker is busy with other projects. As Variety notes, he’s currently involved in a couple of them: Ray Gunn for Skydance and 1906 for Disney.

Peter Sohn has been a part of the franchise since the beginning

Orange County Register Archive. (Image via Getty)

Peter Sohn has been part of the franchise since the beginning. In the first film released in 2004, he took on various roles including story artist, animator, and more. Later, he served as a story consultant for its 2018 sequel. Both films performed exceptionally well at the box office, with The Incredibles grossing $631 million globally and Incredibles 2 earning $1.2 billion.

Although Sohn has been involved in Pixar projects since 1999, Incredibles 3 marks only the third film he is directing. We have already mentioned the other two films above. For The Good Dinosaur, he co-wrote the story with Erik Benson, Meg LeFauve, Kelsey Mann, and Bob Peterson. For Elemental, he collaborated on the story with John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, and Brenda Hsueh.

Although these two films didn't achieve the same level of success as The Incredibles, they were well received. The Good Dinosaur was a nominee for the Golden Globe Awards. Elemental found success a bit later after its release and is regarded as a sleeper hit. It received nominations for both the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

The story so far before Incredibles 3 arrives

Incredibles 2 was nominated for an Oscar, while the first film won two. (Image via Pixar)

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe took time to consider the cost of superhero operations, The Incredibles franchise addresses this issue in its very first movie. This leads the "supers" to go underground due to new rules. However, that doesn't stop them from fighting evil. Incredibles 2 sees the government shutting down their Superhero Relocation Program, creating a financial crunch for the "supers."

Nonetheless, they are ultimately hired by a private organization for secret missions. They must relocate to a new house for this, but it is worth it. There are no details on Incredibles 3's story, but the "supers" have regained the trust of the public. It features the Parr family once again preparing for their next task, which suggests that the upcoming film is less likely to focus on the legal troubles present in the first two films.

Stay tuned to Soap Central for more updates on Incredibles 3.