Pixar’s Super Family Assembles In First Official Image For The Incredibles 2

One glance at Hollywood’s release schedule will tell you that 2018 will be a year to remember for film fans. From Infinity War to Dark Phoenix, The New Mutants to The Crimes of Grindelwald, there’s a rich treasure chest of cinematic treats lying in wait. And we’re merely scratching the surface.

But beyond that reams of lavish, CG-laden blockbusters, there’s another movie sequel that’s beginning to stake its claim as one of 2018’s biggest releases. Its name? The Incredibles 2, Brad Bird’s long-in-development animation that picks up exactly where the original left off – quite literally, as it’ll see Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl go up against The Underminer.

Flanked by their superpowered youngsters – namely Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huck Milner) and the mighty Jack-Jack – it seems Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter’s costumed crusaders are still struggling to strike a balance between parenting and fighting crime. Because when The Underminer strikes and, ahem, undermines the city’s Supers, Violet and Dash are left babysitting the frankly adorable (and dangerous?) Jack-Jack.

Then again, based on Entertainment Weekly’s latest reveal, we imagine the youngest members of the Incredibles soon begin taking matters into their own hands:

Front and center is Helen (AKA Elastigirl), who’s seemingly poised to “throw down the gauntlet” in The Incredibles 2. That’s according to Holly Hunter, who is back in the voice booth as the whip-smart Elastigirl:

She had a real incredible sense of competitiveness and ambition. She throws down the gauntlet in this one. It’s so much fun to see a woman luxuriating in those two arenas, because women have for so many generations been brought up to not be ambitious or to not be competitive, and it’s fun to see Helen basking in those two arenas in much the same way that we give men license to do.

It’s a “full-fledged” journey for Mrs. Incredible, and Hunter believes it’s high time that women began “reasserting their strength” on the big screen.

It feels like women are reasserting their strength in different ways. I just think it’s beautiful that Incredibles 2 is allowing Mrs. Incredible to reveal all these other different colors of who she is.

Initially slated for 2019 – Bird’s follow-up actually switched release dates with Toy Story 4, which has become mired in a controversy of its own following the accusations made against Pixar co-founder John Lasseter – The Incredibles is now due to arrive on June 15th, 2018.