First it was just 2020 and now, as the pandemic is taking its time to slow down, even 2021 seems packed with a whole lot of staying at home and quarantining. As movie theatres begin closing down again, it is becoming a difficult task to find new films on streaming platforms that would appeal to a family including different generations. Thankfully, Robert Rodriguez is teaming with a pool of talent, that includes names like Pedro Pascal and Christian Slater, to beat this very dilemma with his upcoming family action film, We Can Be Heroes.
Though Robert Rodriguez is prominently known for his films like Machete, El Mariachi, and Sin City, he is also fondly remembered for family-adventure-comedy flicks like the four Spy Kids films and 2005's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. These films have set many evenings where families came together to witness the compelling adventures he concocted, and Rodriguez knows that it's precisely what the current times need.
"A lot of families have spent a lot of time together. I've been getting calls from all kinds of studios: 'Reboot Spy Kids.' 'Reboot Sharkboy.' Of course, they want to. They're all sitting at home with their kids."
Well, Rodriguez has accepted the requests and his upcoming film We Can Be Heroes, set in the same universe as Sharkboy and Lava Girl, will feature its own set of brand-new heroes whose first-look images have recently been released by Netflix.
While the first-look images only focus on Pedro Pascal, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christian Slater, and Boyd Holbrook, the film has a pretty hefty ensemble cast which includes actors like Christopher McDonald, Taylor Dooley, Adriana Barraza, Vivien Blair, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Akira Akbar, Lyon Daniels, Sung Kang, Haley Reinhart, J. Quinton Johnson, Nathan Blair, Lotus Blossom, Hala Finley, Andy Walken, Dylan Henry Lau, Andrew Diaz, Brittany Perry-Russell, Brently Heilbron and JJ Dashnaw.
We Can Be Heroes will see Pedro Pascal, Christian Slater and Boyd Holbrook as superheroes who are members of a team called the Heroics, with Priyanka Chopra-Jonas as Director of the Heroics. But stuff hits the fan when the group of superheroes is kidnapped, and rescuing them as well as saving the world becomes the responsibility of their kids.
In this new team of teen super-vigilantes, almost everyone has powers. There is one who has the ability to predict the future, while another, according to Rodriguez, has the "amazing power" of changing his face. "[For] a kid, that's an amazing power," he said. "What if you could become anyone else?"
The only one who has yet to discover her powers is young Missy (YaYa Gosselin), who is stuck relying on others and getting to know her fellow superheroes. They band together to find their parents, which also includes Missy's father, Marcus Moreno (Pedro Pascal, who is ready to retire from his hectic life of being a superhero.
Just like fans of the actor are excited knowing that We Can Be Heroes is yet another project that will allow them to experience the talented actor's magnetic vibe on-screen, Rodriguez himself was beyond ecstatic at the prospect of finally working with him.
"I've wanted to work with Pedro since forever. [Marcus] can be a badass if he needs to. He takes the glasses off, and he looks legit."
As for whether We Can Be Heroes is set to be a sequel to Sharboy and Lavagirl, apart from a vague "it could be", Rodriguez hasn't revealed much about his upcoming project. The film is set for a global premiere date of January 1, 2021, on Netflix. This news comes to us via Entertainment Weekly.
