“Good Burger 2” will be the launch pad for a new era of collaboration between Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, according to the two actors.
In an interview with Variety, Thompson says he and Mitchell will “one million percent” keep working together after the debut of the long-awaited sequel to their cult classic Nickelodeon film on Paramount+.
“It would be only right for us to continue to go explore what Kenan and Kel could have been when we were in our 20s when we left Nickelodeon and decided to try to figure it out, instead of just automatically doing the Abbott and Costello thing,” Thompson says. “Now that we’re older and sharper and wiser and this that and the other, we can do it at such a high level on so many different outlets or whatever. We know so much now. There’s so many different parts to the business. There’s so many different opportunities and we’re just ready to tackle all of that. So it’s very exciting, I think, especially when we’ll be able to own it.”
Thompson and Mitchell first met when they were both cast members on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series “All That,” from which “Good Burger” originated. Along with the success of the first film, the duo worked together for four seasons on their own Nickelodeon series “Kenan & Kel.” Once the show ended, they “were exploring life as individuals for a while,” Thompson said, before coming back together when the stars aligned for “Good Burger 2.”
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The pair have an undeniable comic chemistry, something they noticed as soon as they first met on the set of “All That.”
“As soon as I met him, laughter, jokes, the whole entire time,” Mitchell said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna hang out with this kid, man.’ Then our families are similar. Our moms are still best friends. I mean, it’s just been great, man. And to do something that you love, you know, it’s not really work. We’re just having fun.”
In the new film, Dexter (Thompson) is forced to return to Good Burger after his latest invention goes awry. He is welcomed back with open arms by his best friend Ed (Mitchell), who now owns the lone Good Burger location. But the evil Mega Corp. is determined to acquire the store from Ed so that they can franchise it and create a chain of locations staffed entirely by robot workers.
“We wanted to be with the times, with the the robot field and AI, all those different things,” Mitchell said. “That’s something that is a threat to the fast food industry and you get to see that in ‘Good Burger,’ which is pretty cool. And we wanted some action in there and we want some depth. That was a thing with the characters. You see some emotional parts in the movie as well.”
That emotional depth includes Ed having a wife and a whole brood of kids. In fact, two of Mitchell’s actual children, Honor and Wisdom, appear in the film as Ed’s children. That, along with a storyline about Dexter’s relationship with his niece and sister, makes family a central part of the film.
According to Mitchell, that was very much by design. “That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “We want families to come together on Thanksgiving, and just enjoy [the movie].”
“Good Burger 2” streams on Paramount+ starting Nov. 22
