First look at Netflix’s grown-up Sharkboy and Lavagirl reveals a Taylor Lautner replacement

© Image: Netflix

The finest piece of cinema to come out in 2005 is undoubtedly Robert Rodriguez’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. And good news for us all, the sequel looks just as delightfully outlandish.

If you’re not familiar with this part of Rodriguez’s filmography, allow me to explain. Following the success of the Spy Kids trilogy — the first of which is simply an objectively good film — came Sharkboy and Lavagirl. It’s not really a good movie, but it is a fantastic experience.

This absolutely zany adventure starred Taylor Lautner and Taylor Dooley as the titular superheroes, who may or may not be figments of a young boy’s imagination, as they team up to save the world. It’s known for cartoonish costumes and sets, garish special effects, overly histrionic acting, and the most unnerving minute and a half of film, as Lautner’s Sharkboy sings a very aggressive lullaby.

The sequel, entitled We Can Be Heroes, comes to Netflix on Jan. 1, an auspicious start to 2021. It follows a team of children who have to save their parents from an alien invasion. From the first pictures alone, it already vibrates with the same unapologetically childlike energy of Spy Kids. And on Wednesday, Netflix released new photos of the Sharkboy and Lavagirl sequel featuring the heroes themselves. They’re grown-up now and … have a kid! That’s right — Sharkboy and Lavagirl canonically banged and reproduced. While Taylor Dooley reprises her role as Lavagirl, Taylor Lautner did not sign up to play Sharkboy again, which is honestly a personal betrayal, but I’ll get over it because Lavagirl just looks amazing.

The Netflix cast list reveals that joining the cast are Pedro Pascal, Priyanka Chopra Jones, Boyd Holbrook, and Christian Slater. Check out other pics from the movie below: