In the era following Austin Powers 4 would be a perfect follow-up film. To make sure the popular spy cinema spoof hits all the marks, Austin Powers 4 should look no further than the current James Bond. Especially in the time period after 2021’s monumental 007 chapter, there is a clear reason why the spy genre is ripe for a fresh satire.
By the late nineties, Mike Myers roared back onto the movie scene in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997). Director Jay Roach and Myers took advantage of the rich history of James Bond movies to satirize. Their box office smash brought forth a refreshed take on earlier spy spoofs, with Myers' last Austin Powers premiering 20 years ago. The SNL veteran completed his trilogy series that included 1999’s The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). Since MGM’s James Bond franchise has dominated the spy thriller subgenre over the decades, there is no better time to refresh Austin Powers for a new generation. As the fourth film is in development, Myers remains tight-lipped as he revealed on SiriusXM, stating "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence of such a project." In reality, No Time to Die just gave Mike Myers a free ticket to glory.
Should the long-awaited Austin Powers 4 movie release close enough to No Time To Die for the film to still be culturally relevant, it could set many things right for each franchise. Releasing Austin Powers 4 after Daniel Craig’s legendary exit from the role would open up an entirely fresh element of the James Bond franchise for the spy parody series to take on, and would provide a comedic send-off for this era of spy films. Similarly, a new Austin Powers sequel gives Myers an opportunity to look back at his own series of spy parodies clearly in retrospect, given the chunk of time that is now between Austin Powers 4 and previous installments.
With the death of No Time to Die’s iconic secret agent, 007’s post-Craig period is also the death of an era for James Bond. As Agent 007 heroically dies in the Faroe Islands at the end of his last film, the role of Bond is on hold until the next star arrives. The dormant MGM franchise would let Austin Powers 4 return at the right time, as this lets the parody tackle all of Daniel Craig's time as Bond while they're fresh in audience's minds, without having to spoof two potentially tonally different versions of Bond.
Additionally, an Austin Powers 4 would make a perfect meta-text if Myers acknowledged the franchise’s own flawed history. The Wayne's World actor would be given the chance to see Austin Powers 4 take a good look at previous installments of Austin Powers movies. This would allow the film to riff on the franchise’s troubles with critical reception and the period of time it took to catch up with a sequel, as well as its own questionable handling of elements of the Bond franchise it looked to parody. With tons of 007 material waiting to be spoofed, Austin Powers 4 would make a perfect follow-up to No Time to Die, both providing one last send-off to Daniel Craig's James Bond, and using this to breathe new life into the Austin Powers franchise itself.
