Netflix announces that the frenetically silly early-2000s cartoon series Invader Zim will return this summer in the movie Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus. Animator and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez created and produced the 2002 Nickelodeon cartoon, which starred an alien warlord who attempted to bring Earth to its doom, then frequently failed spectacularly.
The show was a hit with critics and fans, winning an Emmy, an Annie Award, and a World Animation Celebration award, but was canceled before its second season was completed. Nickelodeon has continued airing the show in reruns since then, and the never-aired episodes finally appeared in 2004 on a Zim DVD. Characters from the show appeared in multiple video games, such as Nickelodeon Party Blast, Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, and Spongebob Squarepants Featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom. Nickelodeon announced in 2017 that a new Zim project was in the works for Netflix.
Now, Netflix has taken to Twitter to announce that Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus will arrive on the service sometimes this summer, although they stopped short of confirming a specific release date. As part of the Tweet, the official poster for the movie was also released, and can be seen below.
Invader Zim was intended for ages 11 to 15, but the show’s creators frequently ran into problems with Nickelodeon censors. The episode “Door to Door” was pulled from airing because it contained an attack similar to the September 11, 2001 attacks. In other instances, the show intended to permanently kill off characters, but Nickelodeon did not allow killing, so creators were required to add details that said the characters were alive, or to change the story outright. One episode, “Hamstergeddon,” included an end card that said “no characters were harmed in the making of this episode.” With the creative freedom offered by Netflix, Invader Zim should now be afforded the opportunity to properly find its audience, no matter the age group.
Netflix has a history of reviving shows from all eras, all the way from Lost in Space, which last aired in 1968, to Full House, which ended on ABC in 1995, to Lucifer, which ended on Fox just last year. Hopefully Invader Zim will find new life like those shows have, as fans would no doubt be thrilled to see his world-conquering adventures continue long after the credits roll on Enter the Florpus. Even if that doesn’t happen though, at least Zim got to put at least one more nefarious plot into action.
Next: 15 Most WTF Things That Happened in Invader Zim
Source: Netflix
