10 Insane Changes Movie Sequels Made
2. Vanessa Was A Fembot All Along - Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
The first Austin Powers ends with Austin (Mike Myers) and Vanessa (Liz Hurley) saving the day, getting married, and heading off on their honeymoon, but the sequel categorically undoes this happy ending in fittingly absurd fashion.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me opens with Austin and Vanessa still on their honeymoon, just as Vanessa is revealed to have been a murderous fembot controlled by Dr. Evil (Myers) all along.
After attacking Austin, she self-destructs, leaving Austin momentarily distraught before euphorically realising that he's single once again.
It's of course played 110% for laughs, but still comes as a genuine surprise considering how legitimately great Myers and Hurley's chemistry was in the first film, and that audiences expected to see them together again throughout the sequel.
It's a great gag though, so perfectly satirising the James Bond franchise's "revolving door policy" for female characters. Further in that vein, Hurley was replaced as Austin's love interest by Heather Graham's Felicity Shagwell for the rest of the film.