Super Troopers 3: Behind the Badge — What to Expect From the Threequel

The early 2000s were a time that was ripe for comedy films, and one of the biggest cult classics that has emerged from that era is Super Troopers, created by comedy troupe Broken Lizard, consisting of members Jay Chandrasekhar, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, Steve Lemme, and Kevin Heffernan. While promoting the upcoming Super Troopers 3, the Broken Lizard guys embarked on a “Behind the Badge” tour, reflecting on the formation of their comedy troupe, the origins of Super Troopers, and what fans can expect from the latest installment.

How Super Troopers began

The panel began with a discussion of Broken Lizard’s origins as a sketch comedy group. They met while in college at Colgate University and formed a troupe at the insistence of fellow Colgate student Jonathan Glatzer (Better Call Saul, Succession), when Glatzer was going to take an exchange semester in London, leaving a theater vacancy at Colgate for the semester, and the rest is history.

AUSTIN, TEXAS – JULY 13: (L-R) Kevin Williams, Erik Stolhanske, Jay Chandrasekhar, Paul Soter and Steve Lemme speak onstage during The Super Troopers 3: Behind The Badge Tour at Speakeasy on July 13, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images for Searchlight Pictures)

Super Troopers might be Broken Lizard’s most famous work, but their debut film was actually an under-seen indie named Puddle Cruiser that debuted at Sundance in 1996. Miramax circled an acquisition of Puddle Cruiser, and while things didn’t materialize (which Soter sarcastically said was Harvey Weinstein’s worst mistake), he expressed interest in whatever Broken Lizard’s script would be.

Chandrasekhar shared the story of how, after taking a development executive from Miramax a bit too seriously, they pitched a movie about NASA training a cat to go to space (a concept that I think would actually make for an excellent Broken Lizard joint), but eventually settled on the idea for Super Troopers after observing some State Troopers while on a road trip.

Although Super Troopers would become Broken Lizard’s big break after premiering in 2001, and the demand was high for a follow-up, the troupe says they resisted making a sequel for a while. They explained that their background in sketch comedy made them want to play and explore different characters, not get shoehorned into these specific archetypes, and that resulted in projects like Club Dread, Beerfest, and The Slammin’ Salmon. They also worried that if they made more Super Troopers movies, they would end up getting stuck in the franchise like “the Police Academy guys,” which was far from what they wanted.

However, as we know, the Broken Lizard guys would eventually return to the world of Vermont State Troopers. They discussed some of the other potential ideas that were floated, like an entry set in the past they called “Super Troopers ‘76” or a space-set sequel they would have named “Super Troopers: Stellar Fellers.” Of course, neither of these would come to fruition, but we would eventually get Super Troopers 2 and the upcoming Super Troopers 3.

What we saw from Super Troopers 3

The Broken Lizard team described the elevator pitch for the third entry in the series as “Meet the Parents meets Super Troopers.” The film follows Farva (Heffernan, mysteriously absent from the panel while the rest of the guys joked about how they would barbecue him in Austin fashion) as he rescues Thony’s sister, causing her to fall in love with him. This sends Thorny (Chandrasekhar) on a quest to stop the wedding.

Kevin Heffernan in SUPER TROOPERS 3. Photo by Patrick Harbron, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2026 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

At the event, Broken Lizard unveiled a new clip from the film — an extended version of a scene from the trailer in which a pantsless Farva orders a delivery of “short and wide” condoms to Thorny’s doorstep. It’s a fun visual gag that feels very cut from the same cloth as the humor from the early Super Troopers days.

If the rest of Super Troopers 3 is as much of a return-to-form as this brief clip we saw, we are certainly very excited to see what the Broken Lizard guys have come up with.

Super Troopers 3 opens in theaters on August 7.