First look: Everly Carganilla and Connor Esterson as Patty and Tony Tango-Torrez, the new young heroes of Spy Kids: Armageddon, the fifth film in the family-friendly espionage franchise from Robert Rodriguez Credit: Image courtesy of Netflix

The series that saw Robert Rodriguez jump from cool indie director to family-friendly creator is ready for its next mission. Spy Kids: Armageddon is coming to Netflix on Sept. 22.

The reboot/spin-off from the original series stars up-and-coming kid stars Everly Carganilla and Connor Esterson as the pint sized secret agents, and Gina Rodriguez (star of Miss Bala from former Austinite Catherine Hardwicke) and Zachary Levi (no stranger to Austin sound stages from Blood Fest and Richard Linklater’s Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood) as their undercover parents.

Here’s the synopsis for the script, written by Rodriguez and his son, Racer Max:

When the children of the world’s greatest secret agents unwittingly help a powerful Game Developer unleash a computer virus that gives him control of all technology, they must become spies themselves to save their parents and the world.

If that’s not enough, here’s a sneak peek at the film in the first trailer:

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The Spy Kids franchise launched in 2001 with the original Spy Kids, starring Rodriguez’s Desperado star Antonio Banderas and Carla Guigino, who would go on to lose her head in Rodriguez’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic series, Sin City. They played super-spies whose kidnapping leads their kids – played by Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara – to become junior espionage agents.

The film was a smash, leading to a sequel (Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams) a year later, before seemingly wrapping up the franchise in 2003 with the screenbusting Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. Eight years later, Sabara and Vega were too grownup to be spy kids any more, so Rowan Blanchard and Mason Cook stepped into that role for 2011’s Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D.

Gina Rodriguez, Everly Carganilla, Connor Esterson, and Zachary Levi as the Tango-Torrez family in Spy Kids: Armageddon, the fifth in the Austin-made adventure franchise. Credit: Image courtesy of Netflix

The series made the jump to Netflix in 2018 with two seasons of the animated Spy Kids: Mission Critical: then two years later Rodriguez released We Can Be Heroes, the long-awaited spin-off to 2005’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, through the streamer. Not only was Netflix so happy with the massive viewer numbers that Heroes is getting a sequel of its own, but they also brought back the Spy Kids movies for this fifth outing. So fans of his other kid flick, Shorts, keep your fingers crossed …

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This article appears in July 28 • 2023.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.