If you’re a Netflix subscriber, chances are that you’ve already seen Project Power, the streaming service’s latest action-packed original blockbuster that looks set to follow in the footsteps of Michael Bay’s 6 Underground, Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction and Charlize Theron’s The Old Guard in rocketing to the top of their all-time most-watched list.
The superhero thriller is currently dominating the platform and understandably, fans are now calling for a sequel. The unique concept of a street-level drug that gives people superhuman abilities for five minutes lends itself perfectly to further outings, after all, and while the movie did a solid job of establishing the mythology, it deliberately seemed to barely scratch the surface of the possibilities.
Presumably this was done to leave the door open for follow-ups, and based on how Project Power ended, that definitely seems to be the case. All three of the main characters survived to the end credits, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Frank and Dominique Fishback’s Robin heading in the opposite direction from Jamie Foxx’s Art and his daughter Tracy.
It was revealed during the third act that Tracy was kidnapped by the nefarious Teleios organization because she was born with powers that she inherited as a result of the experiments on her father, making it unlikely that she’ll ever stop being hunted. And while Art said it was over for him, action sequels have never exactly shied away from bringing people back for the fabled ‘one last job’.
As Decider explains:
It turns out the people behind the pills want to send Art away on a boat called Genesis. A lady in a pantsuit named Gardner (Amy Landecker) explains that Tracy is the next Henrietta Lacks and that her cells could contribute to major medical advancements. Frank and Robin sneak onto the boat to rescue Art. Using the security cameras, Robin finds where Tracy is locked in the ship and helps her escape. Tracy seems kind of out of it, probably because she’s been being experimented on.
When the evil doctor kidnaps Robin at the last second, Art finally takes his pill. His power, it seems, is to generally “f*ck shit up.” The doctor and all the guards die in a massive explosion/annihilation. Robin, somehow, is spared. Art appears dead too, but Tracy uses her powers, which are healing powers, to save him. Art and Tracy leave town together, now on the run. It’s not clear whether the problems this drug has caused are gone for good, but as Art tells Frank when he’s leaving town, “It’s over for me.” Before he goes, Art pays Robin the $5,000 he promised her, along with a can of tomato soup—possibly the very same can that was in the store when Robin decided to stay to help Art. Robin gives her mom the soup, and the movie ends. Over the credits, we see Robin working on her lyrics.
Project Power might have brought the movie’s story to a pretty definitive ending, but the idea of more adventures was clearly left on the table. And even if Foxx doesn’t return, then Fishback proved herself more than capable of leading a sequel on her own. Not to mention that we still need an answer to the question of what is Robin’s power?
Based on the early numbers, it seems like a foregone conclusion that a second installment will be announced in the very near future and if it is, then fans will surely be in for a treat, as the slate is almost completely blank when it comes to crafting the next chapter’s narrative.
