Following the success of We Can Be Heroes, Netflix is teaming up with Robert Rodriguez once more, this time to reboot the fan-favorite Spy Kids franchise. Although not yet officially named, the new film is expected to be titled Spy Kids: Armageddon and will centre on a new family of spies. Here’s everything we know about the new film. Like the first four Spy Kids films, Robert Rodriguez will write, produce, and direct this one.
Rodriguez recently completed the Netflix film We Can Be Heroes, as well as episodes of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. We Can Be Heroes is a Spy Kids universe sequel to the 2005 3-D film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Said film has become one of the most successful children’s films in Netflix history, with 53 million households watching it in its first four weeks on the service. The new film will be produced in collaboration with Skydance Media and Spy Kids rights owner Spyglass Media, which signed a deal with Rodriguez a year ago to work on redeveloping the property.
Spy Kids: Armageddon, despite not having a title at the time, was first announced on March 30, 2022. Skydance will oversee development and production, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger producing. Racer Max and Elizabeth Avellan will also produce. Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre of Spyglass will executive produce.
What is Spy Kids: Armageddon’s storyline?
There are very few plot details for the film, but we do have a brief logline: “A relaunch of a classic family franchise that will centre on the activities of a multicultural family. Tony and Patty will need to employ all of their gaming prowess to free their captor-captured spy parents.
A second plot summary for the upcoming reboot has also been released by Netflix: “When the children of the world’s greatest secret agents accidentally assist a powerful Game Developer unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology, they must become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.”
Tony and Patty are the replacements for Juni and Carmen in the first Spy Kids movie, which features two spy kids who have their parents kidnapped. Whether Spy Kids: Armageddon is a hard reboot or a soft reboot is currently unknown.
If the former is true, this would be analogous to the Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith-starring The Karate Kid, which takes place in an entirely different universe from Cobra Kai and the first two Karate Kid films. Therefore, no The Karate Kid characters will ever show up in Cobra Kai.
But there is a good chance that the original cast will show up if this is just a soft reboot set in the same world as the first films. The older Juni and Carmen might even take on a mentoring role for the new kids, as is customary for legacy characters. In our opinion, Danny Trejo’s Machete, with his cool spy gear, would be the most likely character to return.
Who is in the cast of Spy Kids: Armageddon?
So far, there have been two waves of casting announcements for the new Netflix Spy Kids film. Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin, LOST OLLIE), Zachary Levi (Shazam!, Chuck), Everly Carganilla (Yes Day), and Connor Esterson were added to the cast in June 2022.
It was announced in July 2022 that Billy Magnussen will star. D.J. Cotrona (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) and Neal Kodinsky (1883), who will play Villain Vargos, are also expected to appear in the film.
When will Spy Kids: Armageddon be available on Netflix?
Netflix’s Spy Kids: Armageddon is currently in development, with few details available. Filming is expected to begin in the middle of June 2022 in Austin, TX.
Robert Rodriguez announced the completion of the new film on Instagram on August 31st.
Spy Kids: Armageddon has yet to be released by Netflix, but given its early development stage, it’s safe to assume that it won’t be for a while. Maybe in the second half of 2023.