It’s been over twenty years since the last Spy Kids movie was released, and now the long hiatus from the We Can Be Heroes helmer has finally reached its odyssey now that he’s back with his newest installment in the beloved franchise, Spy Kids: Armageddon.
Coming back with another set of characters and castmates, the fifth Spy Kids movie depicted a pretty similar premise to its predecessors, which begs the question, is Spy Kids: Armageddon a sequel or a reboot of the original franchise?
Spy Kids: Armageddon Reboots the Original Movies
This isn’t the first time director Robert Rodriguez attempted to reboot his Spy Kids franchise, considering that the fourth Spy Kids film, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, was a standalone sequel to the original trilogy.
Spy Kids: Armageddon is an entirely different story that established its own grounds by not having Carmen and Juni or any of the Cortezes around in the film at all.
Instead, the film revolves around the Tango-Torrezes, a family of four with younger Spy Kids, and a more modern take on the family-themed story.
According to the director himself (via Netflix Tudum), “[Spy Kids: Armageddon] really wants to stand on its own, kind of establish the family. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be any references to the original films. There [will] be Easter eggs.”
The film recasts every character we followed in the original Trilogy, which makes sense as to why Spy Kids 5 reboots the franchise. This time, with more high-tech gadgets and a global-wide crisis for its premise, which you can check out below:
When 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, they must become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.
Although this couldn’t beat the heart of the Carmen and Juni Trilogy, Spy Kids: Armageddon could be Rodriguez’ starting point for making a new batch for his ongoing franchise.
Will Spy Kids: Armageddon Get A Sequel?
Director Rodriguez made it clear that the entire filming process for the potential sequel will highly depend on the schedule of the kid actors, aka the new Spy Kids, Connor Esterson (as Tony Tango-Torrez) and Everly Carganilla (as Patty Tango-Torrez).
However, on the whole idea of making another sequel for this reboot? The director has plenty of ideas on what to do next:
“[A sequel] would be great. The first Spy Kids series we had a movie in the theater every year for three years straight for Spy Kids 1, 2, and 3. They were consecutive. We were just finishing one and starting the next, so that would be really great. But fortunately, with these kids, we got them so young, they’re younger than the original Spy Kids. They’re only eight years old, so we’ve got them for several years.”
The kids’ schedule in question here is since the kids are still schooling, Rodriguez would have to wait until their summer break when he could get the actors to film for about four or five hours a day.
Spy Kids: Armageddon holds plenty of promises in producing a new sequel. Considering the film didn’t tease their next potential mission like the original did, the director could pave the way for Tony and Patty to return.
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