America's favorite matriarch is back and with more family members than ever in A Madea Homecoming, which arrives February 24 on Netflix. This marks a new era in the long-running Madea franchise, which first began as a play in 2000. Not only is it the first new film since 2019's A Madea Family Funeral, which was meant to be a fond farewell to the iconic character, it's also the first installment to premiere directly via streaming.

Homecoming begins, as expected, with yet another family reunion underway. The grand occasion this time around is the graduation of Madea's great-grandson Tim (Brandon Black, Dear White People), though his excitement for the future is partially dampened by the secrets he's keeping from his family. Little does he know that his best friend Davi (Isha Blaaker, The Flight Attendant) is harboring secrets of his own, which threaten to spill out in front of both of their families.

Related: Tyler Perry’s A Madea Homecoming Trailer Reveals Madea’s Age

Black spoke to Screen Rant about sharing the screen with an industry giant like Tyler Perry, and explained why he felt so connected to his character.

What was it like to become part of Madea's extended family?

Brandon Black: Yeah, to jump into quite an expensive family and already have so much lore as to what all these characters have done previous was really cool.

And it's crazy for me to come in, and then also be bringing my best friend in the movie, played by Isha [Blaaker]. He's not from this family or this country, so it was kind of fun to play host to him - quite literally, because Isha's also not from here. So, it's kind of like, "Here's my crazy family... And here's this Atlanta heat and this humidity."

It was really cool. I think that having a place in that family tree is icing on the cake.

A Madea Homecoming tackles a lot of important topics that Americans are talking about in this day and age, and Tim specifically is an important part of at least one of those discussions. Did you feel an added responsibility to bring honest conversations to the table?

Brandon Black: Yeah, of course. I felt like it wasn't going to be hard for me to do, because me and Tim aren't too far apart. I'm not studying to be a lawyer, but I am also opinionated the way Tim is.

And what I loved about Tim is that he is a gay man who's kind of struggling to reveal these things to his family but he's sure of himself. He knows exactly who he is; it's just now telling them. And he also is not afraid to go back and forth at the dinner table about other topics. It's not just that he's gay. He's an opinionated, strong-minded person, and I love that about him.

a madea homecoming - isha blaaker & brandon black

Madea is obviously a force of nature, but Tyler Perry is also a huge name in the industry. What was it like to not only work alongside him, but get to collaborate with him on your character?

Brandon Black: There was a moment when we were shooting, and it was just me and Mr. Perry. It moves very fast, so you don't always have these grounded moments as a person, because you're kind of saving it all for when you're on camera. But there was a time when we were switching lenses or something, and I was just like, "I'm one-on-one with Tyler Perry, who everybody knows. I have one on one scenes with Tyler Perry."

There was this crane swooping down to go over his shoulder, and I just got a little bit emotional because I'm making a whole movie right now that is going to be seen. It's an amazing thing, to jump in with him.

More: Tyler Perry Interview: A Madea Homecoming

Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming lands on Netflix February 25.