Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh has spoken about the possibility of a Oasis reunion.

The first trailer for Trainspotting 2 was released last week and Welsh has told NME that the film sequel will be better than the original.

It was recently revealed that Oasis turned down the chance to appear on the first Trainspotting soundtrack because they thought the movie was about actual trainspotters, while actor Ewan McGregor has said that he got emotional when watching new Oasis documentary Supersonic.


Speaking in interview with NME, Welsh said of the likelihood of a possible Oasis reunion: “I don’t know. I think if [Noel and Liam Gallagher] can patch things up between them then they could probably work together again but they probably have too many things to go through the motions.”

“They’d have to be really vibing,” he continued. “One is one of the greatest singers of their generation and the other is one of the greatest songwriters and they grew up in the same house. They love each other but can they actually stand each other? If they get to that point then they could really do some great stuff again.”

Welsh also said that he experienced a similarly emotive response to Supersonic: “I just saw it recently, [Factory Records boss] Alan McGee sent it to me. It was fantastic. I actually just emailed Noel [Gallagher] the other day and told it him that. It really did bring out the emotions around the band. It was interesting.”

“I think [Gallagher mother] Peggy was the star of the show. She was really classic. She contextualised them and that all sort of sibling rivalry, she made it very human, something a lot of people can relate to. When it’s just two guys in a band, it seems like petulant pop stars but when you have the mother talking about them growing up, it makes it much more real and sympathetic.”

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Speaking to NME about whether he had any reservations about making a sequel to Trainspotting, Welsh said: “We were all nervous before we decided to do it… [but] once we saw the script, everybody was confident that we were certainly not going to trash the legacy of the first film and that we were going to build on it.”

“It has managed to take the most dynamic elements of the [Trainspotting] book and Porno [Trainspotting sequel book, on which T2 is partially based] but also look forward to how it can be contemporary and present day… In some ways, I think it’s a better movie [than Trainspotting]… They have become such iconic characters and this is going to cement that status even more.”


“It feels like a big epic movie,” Welsh went on to say. “I’m very, very excited about it and I think people are going to be excited [too]. You’ll always get the critics who moan about it not being the original Trainspotting movie or being too much like it… [but] it’s going to be a great film, a great standalone film but also work with the first film as well to bring that whole world together.”

Describing the movie as feeling “very now”, Welsh added: “I think it’s a magnificent achievement to be able to do that, to keep the spirit of the book but also to make a modern British film.”

Explaining what it was like for the cast and crew to work together again 20 years on, Welsh compared the situation to a band reunion for the right reasons: “Everybody is older and so much more skilled. Everybody is really hungry again and vibing being back together. [It’s like] when you watch a band get back together and a lot of bands you see, their kids have grown up, they’ve got divorced or they need money, that kind of thing, but they aren’t really producing good stuff. That was one of the most important things, to see if we were still creating that buzz working together.”

READ MORE: Trainspotting 2: Everything We Know So Far About Danny Boyle’s Upcoming Sequel