We Can Be Heroes: The Sequel

We Can Be Heroes: The Sequel (also known as We Can Be Heroes 2) is a 2022 American superhero film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film is a sequel to the 2020 film We Can Be Heroes and continues the storyline from the first film two years later, with the new Heroics having to fight off creatures created in an evil scientist's lab.

Unlike the first film, which was released exclusively on Netflix, We Can Be Heroes: The Sequel was instead theatrically released on November 25, 2022, and received positive reviews from critics, who deemed it superior to its predecessor and praised the visual effects and performances, although the plot was criticized. The film was also a box office success, grossing $74 million against a budget of $20 million. A sequel, We Are Heroes, was released on October 13, 2023, and features characters from the Spy Kids franchise, making the Sharkboy & Lavagirl and Spy Kids series part of the same cinematic universe.

Plot
Two years after taking over from their parents, the new Heroics continue to fight crime in their city and other parts of the world. However, after Rewind suffers a concussion and is temporarily restricted of his powers due to medical concerns, the Heroics take a break from fighting evil. Due to this, a lab scientist gone mad named DeAndre Barrett takes advantage of their absence begins developing a chemical substance that can transfer powers from one person to another. He tests it out by drinking it, breaking into the house of the leader of the Heroics, Missy Moreno, and steals her father's, Marcus Moreno, ability to make things move to his will.

The next day, the Heroics arrive at headquarters like usual, only to find a note on the door left by Barrett, with the written words, "I've stole some powers, will be back soon for all the rest of you". Frightened, they take a helicopter and go back to the alien base where they took their new roles as the Heroics originally, and Wheels leads the crew into the pyramid room, where they find Ojo, a drawer of the future who turned out to be Supreme Commander of the Aliens and the leader of the takeover for the new Heroics. They explain what happened and ask Ojo to draw what will happen next, but she says that she can't do it anymore and that she lost the power. She agrees to come along with them, anyway, but when they get outside, their helicopter is destroyed. Wild Card uses his powers to transform into a plane, and they fly off to find Barrett.

They arrive back at headquarters and decide to rest before they locate Barrett. However, while they are sleeping, he sneaks into the base and takes away their powers. When they wake up, Slo-Mo finds himself going at normal speed and Facemaker cannot morph his face. All the Heroics then find out that their powers are gone, except for Wheels, who was up working in a separate room while everyone else was sleeping. Infuriated, Missy leads the crew to a helicopter and they fly over to Barrett's base, due to Wheels knowing the exact location from his rides around the neighborhood.

When they arrive at Barrett's base, he greets them and shows off all the powers he stole from the Heroics. They try to take him on, but all mercilessly get thrashed back into a pit, where Barrett then seals it up. Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Rewind is watching the television when he sees that the Heroics have been captured. Thinking about his friends and sister, fellow member of the Heroics Fast Forward, he sneaks out of the hospital and hijacks an ambulance. He then arrives at Barrett's base, where he keeps rewinding time so Barrett cannot do anything to him. Rewind then runs and finds the pit, where he frees his friends. Noodles and Missy lead part of the crew into shelter, whilst A Capella and Guppy hide inside a different room with Rewind, where they find the power-transferring chemical substance. They sneak it back to the rest of the Heroics and they all take a sip from the vial. They then confront Barrett again and take back their powers, and police arrive to arrest Barrett. They also ask Ojo if she would like to join the Heroics, to which she politely refuses and goes back to her home base.

Back at base, everyone holds a surprise party for Rewind, and all the past Heroics, including Sharkboy and Lavagirl. come to celebrate as well. Ms. Granada, former leader of the Heroics, and Ojo come to visit and chat with the crew. In a post-credits scene, Max, the person who created Sharkboy and Lavagirl, comes in and asks for the Heroics.

Cast

 * YaYa Gosselin as Missy Moreno


 * Hala Finley as Ojo, Ms. Granada's stepdaughter.
 * Lyon Daniels as Noodles, Invisi Girl’s son.
 * Nathan Blair as Wild Card, Tech-No's son.
 * Andy Walken as Wheels, Miracle Guy's son.
 * Lotus Blossom as A Capella, Ms. Vox's daughter.
 * Dylan Henry Lau as Slo-Mo, Blinding Fast's son.
 * Vivien Blair as Guppy, Sharkboy and Lavagirl’s daughter.
 * Isaiah Russell-Bailey as Rewind, Crimson Legend & Red Lightning Fury's son.
 * Akira Akbar as Fast Forward, Crimson Legend & Red Lightning Fury's daughter.
 * Andrew Diaz as Facemaker, Crushing Low's son.
 * Mike Epps as DeAndre Barrett, a scientist gone mad who is the main antagonist

Additionally, all of the past Heroics from the first film reprise their roles, which includes Pedro Pascal as Marcus Moreno, Boyd Holbrook as Miracle Guy, Christian Slater as Tech-No, Taylor Dooley as Lavagirl, Sung Kang as Blinding Fast, Haley Reinhart as Ms. Vox, J. Quinton Johnson as Crimson Legend, Brittany Perry-Russell as Red Lightning Fury, Jamie Perez as Invisi Girl and Brently Heilbron as Crushing Low. Taylor Lautner replaces JJ Dashnaw as Sharkboy, with Lautner originally playing Sharkboy and Dashnaw having a silent role in the first film. Priyanka Chopra Jonas also reprises her role as Ms. Granada from the first film, and Cayden Boyd makes a cameo as his character Max from The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl.

Production
After the success of We Can Be Heroes, Netflix approached director Robert Rodriguez to make two sequels on the film. However, he stated that he wanted the film to be theatrical and would instead produce a television series for Netflix. Instead, Dimension Films, who have handled distribution of many of Rodriguez's past films, bought the rights for $3 million. The cast from the first film was announced to be reprising their roles, with the exception of Christopher McDonald, who played President of the United States Neil Anami. Additionally, Taylor Lautner was announced to return to his role as Sharkboy, reprising it from the 2005 film The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl. Principal photography began in March 2021, shooting in Texas and Georgia. Visual effects were once again provided by Weta Digital.

Release
The film was originally set for release on March 18, 2022, but was pushed back to November 25, 2022, due to conflicting reshoots. A teaser trailer was released on April 13, 2022, with a full trailer being released on September 3, 2022.

Box office
We Can Be Heroes: The Sequel has grossed $47.4 million in the United States and Canada and $27.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $74 million, against a budget of $20 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $21 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.

In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross $15-20 million in its opening weekend. The film grossed $9.3 million on its first day, including $800,000 from Thursday night previews, and debuted with $19 million, finishing third. In its second weekend, the film grossed $11 million, falling down to fifth. The film closed out its domestic theatrical run with $47 million.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's consensus reads, "We Can Be Heroes: The Sequel outranks its predecessor with a more serious tone but the same low-budget fun." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on a scale of A+ to F. According to PostTrak, 69% of audience members gave the film a positive score, with 52% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Sequel
A sequel, titled We Are Heroes, was announced in December 2022 and was released on October 13, 2023. The film features characters from the Spy Kids franchise and its spinoff films Machete and Machete Kills. The film also features Toby Thompson from the film Shorts, effectively connecting all of Rodriguez's kid-oriented films into one universe.