‘Spy Kids’ Is Being Rebooted by the Original Director and Fans Are Torn
Photo via ComicBookNOW/Twitter
It’s been over 20 years since Robert Rodriguez’s family action-comedy film “Spy Kids” first premiered and, my, how time flies. And if that piece of information doesn’t make you feel old, then maybe this might: Rodriguez is officially rebooting the beloved franchise.
The news just broke that Rodriguez will return to write and direct a “reimagined” take on “Spy Kids” that centers around a “multicultural family.”
Other than the details above, we still don’t know the other details about the reboot. It is notable, however, that Rodriguez has been hinting about a reboot for a while.
When a new movie called “We Can Be Heroes” set in the “Sharkboy and Lavagirl” universe hit Netflix on January 1st, Rodriguez revealed that he is constantly being asked to revive the “Spy Kids” franchise.
“I’ve been getting calls from all kinds of studios: ‘Reboot Spy Kids.’ ‘Reboot Sharkboy.’ Of course they want to,” he told EW. “[The executives are] all sitting at home with their kids.”
This is big news for fans of the original movie that spawned a four-film franchise.
The 2001 movie was such a hit that Rodriguez returned to direct four sequels: “Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams”, “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over”, and “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” (a stand-alone sequel starring Jessica Alba and Joel McHale).
At the time of its release, “Spy Kids” was groundbreaking for featuring a Latino family as the lead characters. Back then, Latino representation in movies and on TV was even scarcer than it is now.
Just last year, Robert Rodriguez talked about how he had to fight to ensure the original “Spy Kids” family was Latino.
“For me it was a big victory…to have the kids in ‘Spy Kids’ be a Latin family,” he explained at a virtual Comic Con panel. “The studio was like, ‘Why are you making them Latin, though, why don’t you just make them American?’ They are American, they’re based on my family.”
“There were no roles being written for Latins at that time, back in 1999, nor were they being cast. If I wasn’t Latin, I would have given up the fight,” he continued. “When you’re doing anything that’s new, this just happens to be about diversity, you’re going to get a question and you have to have a good answer.”
Of course, fans have had varied reactions to the news.
“Spy Kids” is a movie that many Latinos of a certain age hold near and dear to their hearts.
This fan hoped that the reboot would not tarnish the legacy of the original franchise.
Don’t ruin my childhood pic.twitter.com/lkDcUnhiyf
— BULLETCLUB4LIFE 🤘🏼 (@iammichael_17) January 27, 2021
This fan hoped that Rodriguez was still committed to displaying Latino representation onscreen:
They better still be a Mexican family. I swear if they white wash the one thing we have!!
— Mattie Wavy (@2bitmatthews93) January 27, 2021
This person had a good idea about what the reboot should be called:
Shouldn’t it be called Spy Grandkids bc those other characters are grown af by now
— Sheryl (@Semh87) January 27, 2021
Whatever happens, we’re sure that the rebooted franchise is in good hands with Robert Rodriguez!