EW can exclusively reveal a sneak peek at the cousins’ action-packed sequel to 2019’s “Code 8,” which debuts on Netflix next month.
EW – Robbie Amell and Stephen Amell are turning up the heat in their Code 8 sequel.
EW can exclusively reveal that sci-fi movie Code 8: Part II will hit Netflix next month on Feb. 28. Before that happens, check out a sneak peek at the film in a new batch of electrifying photos.
“When I got to see it for the first time, I got to the end of it, and I was like, ‘I want more. I want more,'” Stephen tells EW. “The whole experience feels like we graduated, it’s been extraordinary.”
“We were able to make the first movie thanks to the passion of the 30,000 fans who backed us — we wouldn’t be here without them,” Robbie says. “Having the opportunity to bring them along on the next part of Connor and Garrett’s story, but without asking for anything in return is just incredible.”
After the super-powered cousins first starred together in the CW’s Arrowverse as DC Comics heroes, they went on to bring their sci-fi passion project to life in a 2016 proof-of-concept short. Their resulting Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, which sought to raise $200,000 to make a full-length movie, raised an overwhelming $2.4 million. So the Amells created, starred in, and released Code 8 in 2019.
Now, after a stalled continuation with a now-canceled Quibi series, they’re debuting the official sequel film on Netflix, which they produced. “When I see the opening credits, that one little shot that comes up that says ‘Producers’ and then it says ‘Robbie and Stephen Amell,’ I get goosebumps whenever that happens,” Stephen says. “It’s really cool.”
“Jeff [Chan], our director, is very good at blending genres so it’s got the excitement, but you have these real characters and real relationships that you care about, because if you don’t care about them, then the powers mean nothing,” Robbie says. “He’s amazing at creating these worlds and these stories where you’re invested in the people. And then, we get an incredible visual effects team, we get to have some very cool action scenes, and we deliver the entertainment factor because at the end of the day, that’s the goal.”
Code 8 Part II picks up after the events of the first movie, which introduced a gritty world where 4 percent of the population is born with supernatural abilities. Instead of being loved as superheroes, these power-enabled people face discrimination and live in poverty, often resorting to crime.
Connor Reed (Robbie), a power-enabled young man, was lured into the lucrative criminal world by Garrett (Stephen), who helped Connor sharpen his powers in order to execute a series of crimes on behalf of a drug kingpin, while a militarized police unit hunted them down.
The sequel, EW has learned, is a different story entirely from what would’ve been the Quibi spinoff. We now find Connor working as a janitor as he attempts to distance himself from Garrett. But when a 14-year-old named Pav (Sirena Gulamgaus) is targeted by corrupt police officers after investigating the wrongful death of her brother, Connor is forced to re-team with Garrett, the person who destroyed his life, to help the young girl.
