On August 16, 2019, Netflix and Nickelodeon’s Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus will be available for streaming on Netflix. The 90-minute film was created and executive produced by Jhonen Vasquez, and revisits the animated alien as he realizes that his almighty leaders from Irk had no plan on coming to planet Earth. This causes Zim to lose all faith and confidence in himself, giving his human nemesis Dib, a paranormal investigator, an opportunity to stop him.
Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus is a reboot of the popular Nickelodeon show, Invader Zim, which debuted in 2001 and followed Zim, an extraterrestrial from the planet Irk, alongside his constantly malfunctioning robot GIR, as he embarks on a mission to vanquish Earth and enslave all of humanity.
The original show was met with critical praise for its humor and animation. The Guardian’s Sam Thielman wrote, “[Invader Zim]’s sense of humor is somehow dark without being bleak; even when the show takes its cues from horror movies it’s often quite scary, but it’s somehow never too much. […] Invader Zim didn’t last nearly long enough, but it did spawn a cult following almost immediately and became a password for alienated millennials and teenagers everywhere.”
In keeping with Thielman’s praise, the series eventually won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation. It likewise won an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production and a World Animation Celebration Award for Best Title Sequence.
For the 2019 film version, Richard Horvitz will return as the voice of Zim. He will be joined by fellow voice actors Rikki Simons (Gir), Andy Berman (Dib), and the co-creator of Rick & Morty, Justin Roiland. Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus will also feature Melissa Fahn, Rodger Bumpass, Jhonen Vasquez, Wally Wingert, Kevin McDonald, Olivia d’Abo, Eric Bauza, Breehn Burns, Fred Tatasciore, Jenny Goldberg, Mo Collins, and Michael McDonald.
This week, Netflix and Nickelodeon released a teaser for the film reboot that shows Zim in his “official hiding room” cackling maniacally and demanding that his computer laugh, too.
You can watch the official teaser trailer below.