'The LEGO Movie 2' Expands The Building Brick Universe In A New Way, Phil Lord & Chris Miller Explain How

The ending of The LEGO Movie promised a clash of playtimes with some aliens from the planet Duplo arriving in Bricksburg and promising to destroy Emmet, Wyldstyle, LEGO Batman and the whole minifigure crew. As The LEGO Movie 2 trailers have teased, the invasion has brought about an apocalypse of sorts, and amidst all the chaos, a new villain named General Mayhem has kidnapped all of Emmet's friends, and it's up to the chipper Master Builder to get them back.

However, much like the original LEGO Movie, there's more than meets the eye with this sequel. The LEGO Movie 2 expands the building brick universe in a way that might surprise you, and it requires a little bit of explanation by co-writers and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. But beware that it dives into spoiler territory for The LEGO Movie 2, so proceed at your own risk.

Before The LEGO Movie 2 hits theaters with a sneak preview screening this weekend, a special screening of the sequel recently took place that was followed by a Q&A session with Phil Lord and Chris Miller. During the panel, they explained the new dynamic that comes in The LEGO Movie 2 when it's revealed that this session of imaginative playtime no longer lies only with the boy Finn from the first film. Instead, this sequel also comes from the mind of his little sister Bianca, played by The Florida Project star Brooklynn Prince. Lord and Miller explained their thought process behind the change in imagination and how it plays with The LEGO Movie universe (via IGN):

"You started this movie knowing that there was a human world, and that the world of LEGO was the world of Finn's imagination. so going into the movie, most people are armed with that information, so we wanted to try and tell a more complicated and sophisticated version of that story, where we had two different imaginations coming together. And part of the fun of the movie is trying to figure out what's happening in the real world and how that's represented in the world of the LEGO."

So when we encounter new characters like General Mayhem and Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, we're getting part of Bianca's imagination in the film. In fact, there are even elements of the movie where she's controlling the characters that Finn was responsible for in the first movie. Lord and Miller explain how they approached that as writers and how it works in the LEGO universe:

"The general idea is that when Bianca, who is played by young Brooklynn Prince, who is an absolute delight of a human being, takes the [...] characters upstairs she's playing with them and telling a story of her own, that's sort of analogous to a story that Finn was telling in the first movie, when he was playing both sides of a war that was happening with President Business, who represented his dad in the story. She's kind of imagining how [the LEGO characters] are experiencing it."

However, Lord and Miller noted that this is merely one interpretation of how The LEGO Movie 2 operates. Apparently there are people on the crew of the movie who interpret it differently. But Lord reiterated, "One interpretation is not that they are retaining their personalities across two imaginations, but rather that," and Miller followed up, "It's her representation of what his point of view would be."

That interpretation sounds like it's the most true to how this kind of playtime would be in the real world between a brother and sister who have their own idea of their toys' personalities. Having their imaginations clash is a delightful concept, and I can't wait to see how that's done in the final cut of the movie.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part hits theaters on February 8, 2019 with a sneak preview this weekend.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part" reunites the heroes of Bricksburg in an all new action-packed adventure to save their beloved city. It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO^® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild. The battle to defeat them and restore harmony to the LEGO universe will take Emmet, Lucy, Batman and their friends to faraway, unexplored worlds, including a strange galaxy where everything is a musical. It will test their courage, creativity and Master Building skills, and reveal just how special they really are.