Robert Rodriguez envisions reuniting original Spy Kids stars?

Robert Rodriguez is open to the idea of bringing back the original Spy Kids actors, Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara, for another film. However, he emphasizes that the considerable time gap between the most recent installment, Armageddon, and 2011's Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World made it essential to "reboot the franchise."

In a recent interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the director discussed his rationale for introducing a brand-new family and a fresh set of child stars in the latest Spy Kids chapter, which is now available on Netflix.

Rodriguez explained, "I wanted to re-establish a new family. Because it’d been so long [since 2011’s All the Time in the World], it was important to just start the franchise fresh and then go from there.”

The previous Spy Kids film, All the Time in the World, featured PenaVega and Sabara alongside Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Rowan Blanchard, Mason Cook, Ricky Gervais, and Jeremy Piven. 

Alba portrayed an agent for the Organization of Super Spies, married to McHale's spy-hunting reporter. Vega and Sabara played the niece and nephew of Alba's secret agent, while her stepchildren (Blanchard and Cook) confronted a villain aiming to unleash a time-manipulating weapon known as Project: Armageddon.

Although Rodriguez is eager to expand the Spy Kids universe with a new family, he hasn't ruled out the possibility of bringing back the original characters.

“I would love to bring back [characters], I would love to connect the worlds. That would be so fun,” he expressed. “It could still be in the same world, so if we get to make more films, there easily could be legacy characters that come back.” 

Rodriguez also touched on the significance of releasing another Spy Kids sequel in today's Hollywood landscape. He noted, “It’s hard to make movies in Hollywood that aren’t [based on] a preexisting material that a studio owns.” 

“So when you can come up with your own story and make sequels to it, man, you’re going to make as many of those as you can because it’s a rarity,” he added. 

The original Spy Kids released in 2001, featured Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino as two spies who, after being abducted, must be rescued by their children, played by PenaVega and Sabara. Since then, four additional films, including Armageddon, and an animated series titled Spy Kids: Mission Critical, have been added to the franchise.