"This was the day our heroes fell."
"Alone, our powers are special. Together, we're unstoppable!"
— Missy Moreno
We Can Be Heroes is a 2020 American superhero film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, serving as a stand-alone sequel to The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Rodriguez was also cinematographer and editor of the film, which stars Priyanka Chopra, Pedro Pascal, YaYa Gosselin, Boyd Holbrook, Sung Kang, Taylor Dooley, and Christian Slater.
When Earth falls victim to an Alien Invasion, the telekinetic, sword-slinging superhero Marcus Moreno (Pascal) comes out of retirement to lead his former teammates, the Heroics, in battle. Unexpectedly, the Heroics wind up being handily defeated and captured by the aliens. In retaliation, Marcus' non-superpowered daughter, Missy (Gosselin), rallies all of the Heroics' children in an effort to free their parents.
The movie was released on December 25, 2020, by Netflix. The following month, Rodriguez announced that Netflix greenlit a sequel.
We Can Be Heroes contains examples of:
- Absurdly Youthful Mother: While it's never directly stated, Lavagirl seems to be one. Considering Taylor Dooley was only 28 during filming and Guppy seems to be 4-7 years old, Lavagirl and Sharkboy must have gotten married and had their daughter very young.
- Adults Are Useless: All the adult heroes are captured and put out of commission early on, and the adult personnel at the Heroics' HQ are more concerned with keeping the kids in line — many of them turn out to be working for the invaders. It's ultimately subverted with The Reveal that the entire thing was staged to see if the kids were ready to take over as Heroics from their parents.
- Agony of the Feet: Towards the end of the film, Wild Card shapeshifts into a bowling ball and lets himself fall on the feet of one of the bad guys.
- Alien Abduction: Aliens capture all of the adults, as well as Missy's grandmother, Anita Moreno.
- Alliterative Name: Missy and Marcus Moreno, in keeping with the venerable superhero tradition of alliterative names.
- All of Them: Mrs. Granada's answer when a technician asks her which superhero they should send to face the aliens.Technician: Which hero should we send, ma’am?
Mrs. Granada: All of them. - Alternate Continuity: Robert Rodriguez clarified in an interview
that The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl and We Can Be Heroes don't take place in the same universe. - Art Initiates Life: Ojo can create monsters by drawing them.
- Badass Family: The Morenos span at least three generations of skilled, moral fighters.
- Badass Normal: Missy has no powers, taking after her mother rather than her Heroic father Marcus, but she can still handle herself just fine in a fight, and is a capable leader when push comes to shove.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: Miracle Guy can breathe in space just fine, even carrying on a shouted conversation with Tech-No while the latter is still in Earth's atmosphere.
- Benevolent Alien Invasion: The entire purpose of the invasion was simply to test if the new generation of superheroes were up to scratch.
- Big Bad Friend: The true leader of the aliens is none other than Ojo, though in a subversion of the trope, it turns out that both she and the aliens were Good All Along.
- Bumbling Dad: Rodriguez introduces Marcus as one: while cracking eggs for an omelette, he gets distracted by the TV reporting on an alien attack on Miracle Guy, and ends up dumping the eggs in the sink and the shells in his mixing bowl.Marcus: (to Missy) Morning, kiddo. You sleep okay?
Missy: (picking eggshells out of the bowl) Did you? - Cane Fu: When the Heroics mistake a cloaked Anita for an enemy, she fends them off with her cane.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: As it turns out, the aliens are led by children.
- Combat Stilettos: The adult superheroines all wear them, aside from Lavagirl. Given that they all seem to be able to fly, this might not be much of a problem.
- Combat Tentacles: The aliens all have superstrong tentacles emerging from their backs.
- Comm Links: Missy and Marcus call each other through wrist communicators that resemble mundane bracelets.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Some of the Heroics, such as Ms. Vox, manage to take down a few alien ships before being overwhelmed. Most of them don't even manage that much.
- Curse Cut Short: Wild Card pulls one of these when Missy reveals that Ojo is an alien:Wild Card: Holy... doo-doo.
- Destructive Savior: Property damage is apparently quite common when the Heroics go into action. Crushing Low is shown accidentally destroying the City Hall during its reopening from having been destroyed by a previous Heroics battle. At one point, the kids discuss ways that they can avert this in their own careers.
- Dual Wielding: Marcus Moreno wields two katanas.
- Elemental Baggage: Guppy needs to have some kind of fluid around, such as water and later liquid metal, in order to utilize her hydrokinetic abilities.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The entire movie takes place in no more than 12 hours.
- Fights Like a Normal: Marcus has telekinetic abilities, but he primarily fights using his katanas.
- Flipping the Table: Noodles breaks a table in two after losing a game of funny faces with Facemaker.
- Foreshadowing:
- When the kids overhear President Anami on the alien ship, he mentions that the Supreme Commander already knows the outcome of the invasion. This hints that Ojo, who can see the future, is the Supreme Commander.
- Wheels notes that everything on the ship seems to be designed for children. He's half-right; the ship was designed by children, because the aliens are from a planet where children are in charge.
- The name of the alien's planet, Ogima, is backwards for "amigo", Spanish for "friend", hinting early on that the aliens aren't evil after all and are just trying to help.
- When Wild Card goes off on his own, we see him try to activate his powers to break through doors to absolutely no effect. Since Wild Card's problem is that he keeps activating the wrong power, not that he can't activate any at all, this is an early hint that we're really seeing Facemaker posing as Wild Card.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: There are some fun little details hidden throughout the film.
- While scrolling through Ojo's drawing, one depicts Ojo as having tentacles growing from her back. Missy sees this and deduces that she must be an alien spy.
- Lavagirl's wedding ring can be seen in the scene where she stops Sharkboy and Miracle Guy from fighting.
- On Missy's Heroics-themed clock, the Miracle Guy figurine is humorously shown letting the other 'heroes' all do the heavy lifting.
- Underneath Missy's alarm clock are the two Sharkboy & Lavagirl novels. One wonders if this world's version of Max is an author...
- Futuristic Pyramid: The superheroes are all trapped inside one on the alien spaceship.
- Genius Bruiser: Wheels is The Smart Guy of the team, and he inherited his dad's superstrength, though his lack of Required Secondary Powers confines him to a wheelchair.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: Marcus Moreno wears glasses in his awkward civilian identity, but removes them before performing superheroics.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Facemaker's ability is considered the weakest among the team, but at the end of the film, he demonstrates that it can be used for full-on Voluntary Shapeshifting by tricking the aliens into capturing him instead of Wild Card.
- Heroic Lineage: The Heroics' kids prove by the end of the movie that they can carry on their parents' legacy while learning from their mistakes.
- Honor Before Reason: Missy gets upset with her dad for breaking his promise to retire from heroics to save the world.
- Marcus joins the fight against the aliens, telling Missy he must lead by example before he goes, even though he was 100% doomed to be captured due to being surrounded by hundreds of aliens as the last Heroic standing.
- Human Aliens: Ms. Granada, Ojo, and the other aliens.
- Human Ladder: Early in the film, Missy sits on another girl's shoulders to help retrieve a ball stuck in a tree. She isn't able to reach it, but the ball falls down a few seconds later.
- An Ice Person: Guppy can turn water into ice and make objects such as keys or shurikens from it.
- Also, once Wild Card has managed to get his powers under control, he is able to make a Freeze Ray to enclose his enemies in blocks of ice.
- I Believe I Can Fly: When the adult superheroes first attempt to fight the aliens, they're all either flying under their own power or using jet packs.
- Introdump:
- Missy meets the other Heroics' children in succession as each shows off their powers to her at "daycare".
- The Heroics themselves get this treatment when a TV news show reports on their battle against the aliens.
- Invisibility: As indicated by her name, this is Invisigirl's main superpower.
- "Jaws" Attack Parody: While demonstrating her powers to Missy, Guppy recreates the iconic shark-rising-out-of-the-water image from Jaws.
- Kid Hero: All of our main protagonists are these; after all, the whole plot of the movie is about superpowered kids who intend to rescue their superhero parents from the clutches of the evil aliens and save the planet from the impending alien takeover.
- Lamarck Was Right: Guppy's parents are Sharkboy and Lavagirl, and the combination of the former's aquatic motif and the latter's lava-controlling abilities somehow resulted in her having hydrokinetic abilities.
- The Leader: Due to her lack of powers, this is Missy's primary contribution to her team, though she can fight if need be.
- Leader Wannabe: Wild Card likes to consider himself the leader of the team, but he is much less suited for the role than Missy.
- Little Miss Badass: Guppy is the youngest and smallest team member. She's also the team's super-strong bruiser and prone to berserker rages.
- Lonely Rich Kid: Missy enjoys the luxuries of her father's high-paying job, but other kids are only interested in whether she has superpowers or not (and how those superpowers can benefit them). When she tells them she doesn't, they all walk away. It's become a Vicious Cycle, as she doesn't try to socialize at all because of experiences like this.
- Make Some Noise: A Capella. She can alter the range of her voice to be high or low, the latter having a secondary effect that causes objects (including people) to float. One note she sings is explicitly stated to be beyond the range of human hearing, and causes all the dogs around the Heroic HQ building to act up.
- Making a Splash: Guppy has the power to control water, and also liquid metal, apparently.
- Match Cut: The movie twice cuts from Missy cupping her head to an imprisoned Marcus cupping his own. The second doubles as an Ironic Echo Cut, as both Morenos then admit to their respective teammates that they don't know how to break free from the aliens.
- Mind over Matter: Marcus summons his katanas with telekinesis before joining the fight against the aliens.
- Missing Mom: Missy's mother passed away some time ago, necessitating Marcus' retirement from superheroics.
- The Mole: Ojo is the Supreme Commander of the aliens, and was quietly observing the kids' actions. However, neither she nor the aliens are actually evil.
- Mole in Charge: Both the President Neil Anami and Mrs. Granada, the leader of the Heroics Program, are actually aliens.
- Muggle Born of Mages: Missy didn't inherit her father's powers.
- My Beloved Smother: Anita Moreno to Marcus — when she ends up in the same prison cell as the Heroics, she scolds Marcus and his teammates for forgetting their training.
- Never Mess with Granny: Anita Moreno trained all of the Heroics in combat. As an old woman, she also trains the Heroics' children to fight, and proves that she can still defend herself remarkably well.
- Octopoid Aliens: While we never get a good look at their true appearance, the aliens are tentacled creatures.
- Parents in Distress: This is the entire premise of the movie; the kids must save their parents from aliens. Subverted, as they were never in any actual danger and would not have stayed captured or been hurt had the kids failed.
- Pintsized Powerhouse: Our heroes are kids, so of course they all are. Special mention goes to Guppy, the youngest and smallest one, who nevertheless can benchpress grown men twice her size with her shark strength.
- Power Incontinence: Wild Card is said to have every power in existence, but he can't use the ones he wants on command (accidentally turning into a toaster while trying to use heat vision, for example). He manages to overcome this block during the film's climax to fend off the aliens.
- President Evil: Turns out President Anami is actually an alien who wants to invade Earth. Subverted, as he's later revealed to have been Good All Along.
- Recycled Premise: Crime-fighters get captured, so their kids have to save them and foil the bad guys' scheme. There's one key difference, however, beside those caused by the Genre Shift: the kids in Spy Kids didn't know their parents were spies until some time into the first movie, while the kids in We Can Be Heroes already know that their parents are superheroes.
- Red Herring: At first, it seems that Ms. Granada is the Supreme Commander, with some Five-Second Foreshadowing of the aliens referring to their leader as a "she" and Ms. Granada somehow showing up on the ship right after the kids overhear this to supposedly congratulate them, and then Ojo revealing that Granada is an alien spy. Then the climax reveals she was only The Heavy -— Ojo is the alien leader.
- Required Secondary Powers: Lampshaded and averted. Wheels has super strength, but his bones aren't strong enough to support his muscles, requiring him to use a wheelchair.
- Retired Badass: Missy's father is a former superhero. He's forced to suit up again by Granada for the invasion.
- The Reveal: Several in relatively quick succession:
- Both President Anami and Ms. Granada are members of the alien armada.
- Ojo is the Supreme Commander of the aliens and has been quietly observing the kids since the invasion.
- Finally, the invasion isn't really an invasion. It's a training exercise to prepare the children of the Heroics to take over for their parents.
- Rubber Man: Noodles can stretch his limbs to great lengths, and they're completely flexible and prehensile when he does so.
- Sarcastic Confession: As Missy and Marcus watch Miracle Guy get placed into an ambulance on the news, Marcus reassures Missy that it was probably from a training exercise. We learn at the end that the alien invasion was a training exercise for the kids.
- Sdrawkcab Name:
- President Neil Anami, whose name spells "I'm an alien" when reversed.
- The alien's planet, Ogima, is "Amigo" reversed, hinting very early on that the aliens aren't actually evil.
- Secret Public Identity: Marcus Moreno doesn't have a superhero name, at least not that the audience is made aware of.
- Seers: Ojo can see the future, and draws exactly what she sees.
- Shared Universe: The movie seems to be part of the Spy Kids universe, seeing as how Christopher McDonald plays President Amani in both this and the second film.
- Shock and Awe: One of the powers mastered by Wild Card at the end of the film is "electricity fingers", which he uses to shock all the bad guys.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Rewind and Fast Forward can control time to some degree. Rewind can reverse time for a few seconds, while Fast Forward can move it forward by a few seconds. They don't get along well.
- Smug Super: Miracle Guy is decidedly self-obsessed and overconfident.
- Social Media Before Reason: In the opening scene, Miracle Guy puts off fighting aliens (which are charging directly towards him) to get a selfie with them, and predictably, is taken off guard and knocked unconscious by their attack.
- Spin-Offspring: Guppy is the child of the titular characters from The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.
- Stealth Pun: Marcus says that leadership is Missy's superpower.
- Suddenly Speaking: Ojo is revealed to have been faking her muteness all along in order to observe the other kids unnoticed.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Literally. Guppy creates an enormous shark with liquid metal to devour Ojo's monsters during the final battle.
- Superpowerful Genetics: Played With all over the place, with some examples played straight, others averted, and some that are in-between. To wit:
- A Cappella plays it fully straight, having the same sound-based powers as her mother Ms. Vox.
- Guppy is the daughter of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, with resulting abilities that are something of an add-together-and-divide-by-two of their respective power sets: she has Sharkboy's Super-Strength and strong teeth, but not his other animalistic features, and instead of Lavagirl's fire-based abilities, has control over water instead.
- Wheels has Super-Strength like his dad Miracle Guy; unlike the dad, his body isn't adapted to handle the increased power, leaving him functionally paralyzed from the waist down. He also has Super-Intelligence, which doesn't seem to be a part of Miracle Guy's Flying Brick package.
- Slo-Mo seems to have an inverted version of his father Blinding Fast's Super-Speed, being stuck in a constant state of slow motion. It's later implied that his powers are actually a form of weaponized Toon Physics that he hasn't fully learned to control yet, enabling him to perform feats like dropping huge distances without harm and throwing around grown men like toys.
- A number of the kids have powers completely unrelated to their parents'; for example, Noodles is a Rubber Man, while his mother Invisi-Girl does Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Powers sometimes seem to skip a generation too. Missy has no powers despite her dad's telekinesis, while Superpower Lottery winner Wild Card is the son of Tech-No, the Heroics' Gadgeteer Genius who otherwise doesn't seem to have any powers at all. Miss Granada doesn't have any powers, and yet Ojo can predict the future. Subverted, as it turns out both of them are aliens and have the same abilities, though Ojo can make improbably accurate predictions of the future nonetheless.
- Super-Speed: Similar to The Flash, this is Blinding Fast's superpower.
- Superman Substitute: Miracle Guy. He is a Flying Brick in a blue costume who is considered the top hero of the world.
- Super Wheelchair: Wheels' wheelchair is outfitted with advanced computer technology, and he can program it to move on its own.
- Swiss-Army Tears: After the aliens have captured the team and taken Guppy's water bottle, the kids cry on purpose to give Guppy the water she needs to make a key and escape.
- The Team Normal: Missy is the only person on the team who doesn't have any superpowers.
- Teleportation: This is the power Wild Card tries hardest to master throughout the film. He finally manages to do it towards the end.
- Those Were Only Their Scouts: When Mrs. Granada sees a small number of aliens on the radar, she thinks the problem is manageable. However, Marcus Moreno then points out that those are only scouts, and expands the scope of the radar, showing that there are many, many more aliens coming.Marcus Moreno: I'm afraid those are just the scouts, the tip of the spear. This is what we're really up against.
[the field of view expands, revealing a swarm of aliens larger than Earth itself] - Time Master: Rewind can rewind a few seconds of time. His twin sister Fast Forward can skip time ahead by a few seconds.
- Undercover When Alone: Even when alone with each other, the Heroics and their staff act as if the alien invasion is the real deal, presumably in case the kids are listening in on them.
- Vichy Earth: It turns out the president of America is actually an alien.
- We Have Ways of Making You Talk: This is said by Mrs. Granada after capturing who she thinks is Wild Card to interrogate him.Mrs. Granada: We have ways of getting the truth out of you, you know.
- Women Are Wiser: Anita credits Missy's mother with teaching Marcus how to lead the Heroics.
- Wonder Twin Powers: Rewind and Fast Forward's Time Master powers are shown to function like this once they learn to work together: each can enhance the other's powers. When Fast Forward enhances Rewind, he can retroactively alter events as they occur; when he does the same for her, she can focus her powers to only speed up one person instead of everyone around her, granting them functional Super-Speed.
- The Worf Effect: Miracle Guy gets taken out early in the movie as a sign that the alien armada is not to be taken lightly.
- You Can Talk?: This is everyone's reaction when Ojo, who was thought to be mute, starts talking.Noodles: Ojo, did you just talk?
- You Can't Make an Omelette...: This is what Missy says when she explains to her teammates her idea of how to break out of the vault.Missy: Well, I figure this is kind of like making an omelette. You always start by...
Noodles: ...Breaking some eggs.
"When you need us, we'll be there."
