Spy Kids Reboot: Everything We Know So Far

After a detour that saw him inject the "Star Wars" galaxy with some of his trademark multi-colored zaniness on "The Book of Boba Fett" (which was, for all the criticism it attracted, amusingly consistent with George Lucas' retro pop culture-flavored vision for the franchise), filmmaker Robert Rodriguez is getting back to playing with his own toys. His next project is none other than a reboot of "Spy Kids," the hyperactive family-friendly action-adventure movie series that Rodriguez himself launched all the way back in 2001.

The latest as-yet-untitled "Spy Kids" movie will be the fifth of its kind after the first film, the 2002 sequel "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams," 2003's "Spy Kids 3D: Game Over," and 2011's "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World," all of which were also directed by Rodriguez. Moreover, it seems this new movie will be a proper fresh start for the property, as opposed to a backdoor legacy sequel where original leads Carmen (Alexa PenaVega) and Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara) have both grown up and had "Spy Kids" of their own ... although, both actors would be more or less old enough to star in such a film now. How are we feeling, fellow millennials?

A co-production between Netflix, Skydance Media, and Spyglass Media Group, the "Spy Kids" reboot will stream as a Netflix Original film at some point in the future, with 2023 being a real possibility (given how rapidly Robert Rodriguez tends to churn out movies). It marks the latest collaboration between Netflix and Rodriguez after the animated series "Spy Kids: Mission Critical," which Rodriguez executive produced, and the latter's 2020 directorial effort "We Can Be Heroes," a superhero movie that's technically a sequel to the filmmaker's 2005 offering "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D." Yes, I'm saying there are multiple Rodriguez-verses.

As for Skydance, it, too, has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Netflix so far. The streamer reportedly brought in a whole lot of views with the Skydance-backed action films "The Old Guard" and "6 Underground" (the latter of which is pretty terrible, as even Netflix has politely admitted) and the pair have since re-teamed on this year's time-travel adventure "The Adam Project." Netflix also has sequels to both "The Old Guard" and "We Can Be Heroes" in the works, so it's no surprise to see them sticking with both Skydance and Rodriguez on "Spy Kids."

Here's the semi-official "Spy Kids" reboot synopsis that's currently floating in the online ether:

This latest chapter is set after the children of the world's greatest secret agents unwittingly help a powerful Game Developer unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology, leading them to become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.

Specific details aside, it sounds like the reboot will, true to form, have the same basic plot as the original "Spy Kids" movie (kids save their super-spy parents). Robert Rodriguez didn't exactly stray far from that setup for "We Can Be Heroes," either, pitting the children of the world's greatest superheroes against an invading alien force in the film. Both movies also share valuable messages about the nature of family, the value of teamwork, and the lessons that different generations can teach one another. It's not much, but it does make it a tad easier to tolerate just how little Rodriguez tends to change up the formula for his kids films (his latest included).

The big thing the first four "Spy Kids" movies had going for them was the way they centered Latino characters at a time when decent representation was a rare event in genre movies outside of those made by Robert Rodriguez (which is not to say that things are that much better now). This will, naturally, remains the case with the reboot, which has "Jane the Virgin" herself, Gina Rodriguez, playing a lead role opposite kid actor Everly Carganilla ("The Afterparty") and newcomer Connor Esterson. "Shazam!" star Zachary Levi is also set to play a key role in the film. "The Survivor" star Billy Magnussen has also been cast in an undisclosed role.

In keeping with all his other projects, Rodriguez will write, direct, and produce the "Spy Kids" reboot, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger producing for Skydance and Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre executive producing for Spyglass. Personally, it's been a hot minute since Rodriguez genuinely impressed me with his work outside of his efforts on "The Mandalorian" and, at times, "The Book of Boba Fett" (although even that comes with some major caveats). But, hey, here's hoping his reboot surprises me and soars to the same silly heights as the first "Spy Kids" movie did two decades ago.