Ryan Gosling Teases Potential Ken Storyline In A 'Barbie' Sequel

With the massive success of Barbie, the question of whether or not there will be a sequel—and whether it could live up to the goofy fun of the first one—has been on everyone’s mind. And if more Barbie is on the way, could the next one revolve around Ken?

Stars Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera were asked about the potential franchise future during London’s BFI Southbank on Friday. As other members of the cast and crew before them, they did their best to sidestep the question, insisting they don’t know what’s in the works, while still having a little fun with their answers.

Ferrera, who played Barbie’s new human friend, Gloria, mentioned that director/co-writer Greta Gerwig and star/producer Margot Robbie didn’t have their sights set on building a franchise with Barbie.

“They put it all out on the table. Every bit of it that they loved and that they knew to do, they did,” she said, according to Variety. “Which is refreshing, right? We’re not setting it up for 20 years of Barbie movies. But then again, I know nothing, so there might be 20 years [of Barbie]… or a Ken spinoff?”

Despite there being something tangibly uncomfortable about the idea of Hollywood taking the success of Barbie and turning into a Ken-centric franchise, it’s admittedly impossible not to love Gosling’s Ken. His take on the role felt like a pivotal part of the film working as well as it did, and there’s no question fans want to see more of him as Ken.

But Gosling has previously been open about how intense his workout and diet was to pull off the stereotypical Ken physique his version of the doll required, which almost certainly played a role in his response to Ferrera’s suggestion.

“Can it be a husky Ken?” he asked. “Can I play Husky Ken, like Sandwich Ken? Can I play that Ken next time?”

Honestly, let Gosling do whatever he wants at this point—Robbie, too, after all the brilliance she’s shown both as an actor and producer on various projects. But it’s hard to imagine Warner Bros letting the success of Barbie end here, so we’ll see where things go. If they do produce another Barbie movie, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that it actually hits the big screen rather than getting shelved for a tax break. It’s so hard to predict these days!