We Can Be Heroes marked the return of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, but will there be another movie? Throughout his career, Robert Rodriguez has explored different genres, going from western with El Mariachi to horror with From Dusk till Dawn and even neo-noir crime with Sin City. Rodriguez has also spent time in the realm of fantasy movies for children, beginning in 2001 with Spy Kids, which made way for a franchise consisting of a total of four movies and one animated TV show. Following the success of Spy Kids, Rodriguez brought The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, but it didn’t have the same impact and was heavily criticized for its story and visual effects.
Now, more than a decade after the movie’s release, Sharkboy and Lavagirl returned in the standalone sequel We Can Be Heroes, though in minor roles as the movie introduces a new generation of superheroes. We Can Be Heroes follows the children of Earth’s superheroes (among those Guppy, Sharkboy and Lavagirl’s daughter) as they team up to save their parents after they’re kidnapped by alien invaders. This pushes the young heroes to learn to work together so they can save their parents and the world as well, as the aliens have other plans. Although it has been better received than The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, We Can Be Heroes got mixed reviews, but the audience’s reaction was a lot more positive.
In the end, We Can Be Heroes achieved its goal of entertaining a younger audience while also being a movie that more mature audiences can enjoy, especially after all those jokes and references to not only superheroes from Marvel and DC Comics but also to the President of the United States. Given the success We Can Be Heroes has had so far, can the audience expect another Sharkboy and Lavagirl movie soon?
Will We Can Be Heroes 2 (Or Another Sharkboy & Lavagirl Movie) Happen?
Thanks to the success of We Can Be Heroes, Netflix didn’t waste much time in announcing that a sequel is in development, with Robert Rodriguez back as writer and director (and perhaps more, staying true to his nickname “the one-man film crew”). As the first movie introduced Guppy (played by Vivien Blair), it’s possible Sharkboy and Lavagirl could make another appearance, but they shouldn’t be expected to take the lead. As for a proper Sharkboy and Lavagirl movie, it’s unlikely it will happen as We Can Be Heroes proved to be a better story and a more successful one, but they can still return in minor roles in the sequel.
We Can Be Heroes 2 Release Date
We Can Be Heroes 2 doesn’t have a projected release date yet, and with the coronavirus pandemic leaving many projects on hold, it’s hard to say when the movie could be released. In addition to that, Robert Rodriguez is already involved in other major projects, most notably Disney+’s The Book of Boba Fett, a spin-off of The Mandalorian and where Rodriguez will serve as executive producer (and it wouldn’t be surprising if he directed a couple of episodes as well). The Book of Boba Fett is expected to be released in late 2021, so We Can Be Heroes 2 could see the light in mid-to-late 2022.
We Can Be Heroes 2 Cast
The twist in We Can Be Heroes revealed that the alien invasion and the kidnapping of the Heroics was part of a training program to get their children together and for them to learn to work together, as the world needs a new (and younger) group of Heroics. Taking that into account, We Can Be Heroes 2 would see the young cast back, supposing no characters go through a recast, so viewers can expect to see YaYa Gosselin, Lyon Daniels, Nathan Blair, Andy Walker, Lotus Blossom, Dylan Henry Lau, Vivien Blair, Isaiah Russell-Bailey, Akira Akbar, and Andrew Diaz again. As for the original team of Heroics, it’s unknown if they could be involved in this new adventure in some capacity, but viewers surely hope to see Pedro Pascal as Marcus Moreno one more time.
We Can Be Heroes Story Details
Details about the plot of We Can Be Heroes 2 are a mystery, but it’s expected to follow the young Heroics in a new mission, which will hopefully not involve rescuing their parents again. We Can Be Heroes has many similarities to the first Spy Kids movie, and if Robert Rodriguez follows that pattern, the sequel could see the young Heroics going on a dangerous mission that might require the intervention of their parents, but without them being the focus of the story.