Robert Rodriguez’s hit new Netflix movie, We Can Be Heroes, gained some extra buzz for featuring the unlikely comeback of the heroes of The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Yet the director’s films occupying the same cinematic universe is nothing new. He previously brought back Danny Trejo’s Machete from the Spy Kids franchise and turned him into the protagonist of his own adults-only action series. But fans have been waiting for more from Machete for a long time now.
At the end of 2013’s Machete Kills, a threequel was teased with a brief trailer that unveiled its extraterrestrial title – Machete Kills Again… In Space. People loved the concept of the director going even bolder and crazier with the franchise, but eight years later, and we’re still waiting for it to materialize. While speaking to Discussing Film, Rodriguez admitted that the idea for the third movie was sort of intended as a joke, but audiences took to it way more than anticipated.
“We tried to make it in the trailer,” Rodriguez said. “We said: let’s just make the trailer. That will satisfy people because they’ll see enough of it in the trailer. They’ll go, ‘Okay I already saw that movie.’ But no, they still keep asking anyway (laughs)!”
Machete started life as a fake trailer in Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse before it was actually turned into a feature in 2010, so fans shouldn’t give up hope just yet that … In Space could happen some day. That said, even Trejo admits it’s looking unlikely at this stage, though he would direct the thing himself if he could.
Apart from being something of a joke, another reason the next Machete movie’s not in development right now is due to how busy Rodriguez is. For the moment, he seems to be focusing on his more family-friendly fare. Following We Can Be Heroes’ strong performance, he’s already working on a sequel. Plus, after directing an episode of season 2 of the Star Wars show, Rodriguez is involved with Mandalorian spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett for Disney Plus, which is shooting now and coming to streaming this December.