Filming on The Inbetweeners 3 is well underway, but new set photos have left fans more confused than Neil trying to work out what Swansea is. Spoilers: it’s not an animal.
The new set photos show the boys — Will, Jay, Simon, and Neil — back on their old estate and getting into trouble. It’s just like old times. In fact, it’s a little too much like old times for some fans, who are wondering why the lads are still dressing like they’re teenagers.
Fans question why the boys look unchanged
After all, the boys are in their late thirties to early forties now; you’d expect their sartorial tastes to have changed with the time, and you’d definitely have thought Simon would have outgrown looking like a spotty baby crossed with the Statue of Liberty.
‘I hope there’s a lore reason that Jay is wearing that still and him and Simon have the same hair,’ wrote rchius9 on Reddit. ‘I really dislike legacy sequels where the characters haven’t grown or aesthetically changed in any way.’
‘As fun as it is to see Simon’s hair gelled, it does make me kind of worried,’ agreed AlexMercer28900. ‘I really don’t want these guys to act the same way in their 40s like they did when they played teenagers. Simon spiking up his hair when he’s almost middle-aged, I hope, is the outlier and not something that will be consistent throughout.’
Some fans see a deeper meaning
Rasples1998, however, had a slightly more nuanced take on the characters still looking the same. ‘I think the point is that they got older but never grew up,’ they wrote. ‘I’d expect the theme of this to be about maturing and personal growth and for the boys to finally start acting like adults and taking responsibility, but I’m just guessing.’
Others, however, have a different theory, and it involves another returning character, Simon’s ex, Tara. In the photos, a pregnant Tara can be seen standing about, and that’s got some people wondering if this might be a flashback to the boys’ younger days, which would also explain why Simon’s car, the iconic yellow Fiat Cinquecento Hawaii, is still up and running.
Flashback theory gains traction
‘I think the bit with Jay & Tara is a flashback,’ wrote TwentySevenMusicUK. Mamsies meanwhile added: ‘Looks like they’re shooting a flashback sequence, with the yellow car, the boys’ hair and outfits, and Tara still having the same dyed hair.’
Another user said, ‘Simon’s gelled hair is interesting’ because there are photos where he doesn’t have the iconic greasy crown. ‘It could make sense [if this is a flashback], they wrote. ‘Or maybe in the film they decide because they are back together, to dress like how they used to for a laugh. ‘Tara dresses the same as well, so I’m not sure if it’s meant to be a flashback or present day. I find the Inbetweeners doing flashbacks out of the ordinary, though.’
Sadly, we can’t say what’s happening at this point. All we know is that the film will contain a fairly innocuous jamboree of adolescent nonsense, and which Inbetweeners fans wouldn’t want that?
