How To Train Your Dragon 4 Can Only Ever Happen Under 1 Condition

Summary

• Dean DeBlois must be involved in How to Train Your Dragon 4 to maintain the franchise’s success and quality.
• The first three How to Train Your Dragon films were critical and commercial hits, setting a high standard.
• Without DeBlois’ input, a fourth movie could risk ruining the trilogy’s impeccable reputation and mythology.

Although How to Train Your Dragon 4 is unlikely, many hope it will still happen, and it should only be made if one person is directly involved in the production. The How to Train Your Dragon movie and TV franchise began when the first film, How to Train Your Dragon, was released in 2010. The animated fantasy movie, loosely based on Cressida Cowell’s 2003 book of the same name, centers around Hiccup, a young teen with aspirations of becoming a dragon slayer alongside his Viking brethren, and his unexpected bond with a rare Night Fury dragon that he names Toothless.

How to Train Your Dragon
is available to stream on Amazon, Hulu, or The Roku Channel;
How to Train Your Dragon 2
is free to stream on Tubi; and
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
is on Hulu.

How to Train Your Dragon was an overwhelming success — the feature film grossed almost $500 million against a $165 million budget and received two Oscar nominations. Consequently, DreamWorks Animation ordered two sequels, the first of which (How to Train Your Dragon 2) premiered in 2014, and the third (How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World) debuted in 2019. Unfortunately, for all intents and purposes, The Hidden World was treated as the last installment in the series. However, no one should count out the possibility of How to Train Your Dragon 4 (despite the unlikeliness of it happening).

Dean DeBlois Has To Be Involved If How To Train Your Dragon 4 Happens

Dean DeBlois Directed & Wrote The First 3 Movies

If DreamWorks decides to circle back to How to Train Your Dragon 4, the studio must ensure Dean DeBlois is involved, otherwise, a fourth movie is pointless. DeBlois co-directed the 2010 animated fantasy film alongside Chris Sanders and co-wrote the script with Sanders and Will Davies. However, for the second and third installments, DeBlois took sole control over the series and directed and wrote How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The Hidden World by himself. DeBlois’ influence is integral to the franchise’s success, as How to Train Your Dragon is one of the best fantasy movies of the 2010s.

If
How to Train Your Dragon 4
is produced without [Dean] Debois’ involvement, it could ruin the franchise’s impeccable reputation because it will likely be quite different from the first three films (and worse in quality).

Unfortunately, DeBlois previously claimed he had no interest in developing How to Train Your Dragon 4. But perhaps he has changed his mind since then. During an interview with Collider in 2014, the filmmaker explained:

“I think I’ve talked [DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg] down from [How to Train Your Dragon 4]. There may be spinoffs to come, but my involvement and my dedication to completing a story that has a reason for being and a strong sense of integrity and three chapters I think is in place and intact. Everybody seems to be in agreement that we’re moving in the right direction.”

How To Train Your Dragon 4 Happening Without DeBlois Could Ruin The Original Trilogy

The How To Train Your Dragon Trilogy Received Critical Acclaim

A fourth installment in the film series without Dean DeBois’ input would be detrimental to the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy. The first three movies were all critical and commercial successes, and their achievements wouldn’t have been possible without DeBois. If How to Train Your Dragon 4 is produced without Debois’ involvement, it could ruin the franchise’s impeccable reputation because it will likely be quite different from the first three films (and worse in quality). So, DreamWorks has to tread carefully when considering How to Train Your Dragon 4.