Doom shall fall upon the Earth like a bumblebee descending on a flying pig spaceship once more! If you’ve seen “Invader Zim,” you know how beautifully creepiness and comedy can blend. Disturbing and thrilling, the misadventures of an ambitious alien wowed viewers with its random, dark humor.
“Invader Zim” ran on Nickelodeon from 2001 to 2002 and again on Nicktoons in 2006. Too few viewers in its core demographic led to its cancellation — which makes a lot of sense, considering the show had a lot of sinister material for children ages 2-11. For those who missed seeing Irken Invader Zim fail miserably at destroying Earth over and over again, lament the loss of such a brilliant show no longer.
Nickelodeon has released a trailer “Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus,” a new TV-movie featuring everyone’s favorite inept extraterrestrial. Although the movie doesn’t have a set release date yet, the creators have mentioned that it will come out sometime in 2019, and the trailer identifies its arrival as “soon-ish.”
But what’s in the trailer itself? It seems jumbled at first watch, so I figured a break-down was in order to see what shenanigans I could expect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrC_uJ3_tqI
Where does the movie leave off from?
In the beginning of the trailer, a dark, starry screen emphasizes a red-splattered “NOW.” Zim’s lopsided house still resides on the same quiet street. It seems like nothing has changed there over the years.
Gaz walks down the hallway of her house in a “Gazmat” suit, heading toward her brother’s bedroom — clearly, something’s wrong with Dib.
In his room, Dib has glowing monitors zoomed in on Zim’s house. He’s let himself go: His hair is messy, and he hasn’t exercised in a while. Obviously, time has passed, and Dib is still completely obsessed to the point of madness with stopping the evil Zim.
Who’s coming back?
Throughout the trailer, Zim and Gir appear to be stretching and doing push-ups; they’re getting ready for something big. The aforementioned Florpus, doom of the planet, perhaps? Dib and Gaz both show up several times in the trailer, so they’re returning too, along with their father, Professor Membrane.
The Almighty Tallest are also seen spitting … soda? … on what appears to be a snack vendor, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows them. With all the favorites coming back, along with all their original voice actors, the eccentric vibe should be a hoot and a half to watch.
What exactly is going on?
The basic premise of the “Invader Zim” movie hangs on what Zim never knew in the original series: He realizes the Almighty Tallest don’t care what he does on Earth, and they’re not coming to watch his stunning victory over the humans.
Very hype for the #InvaderZim hype! 👽💞 pic.twitter.com/8LCoYCiOP8
— ʕ • ᴥ • ʔ Rain .*✧ (@Rainboopz) July 29, 2018
Zim, whose authoritative and oblivious nature made him a veritable god of confidence, has his self-esteem shaken. That’s exactly the break Dib had waited for.
To speculate, Zim always rebounded quickly when he questioned his actions in the TV series, so I suspect Zim will zoom into action to grab the Almighty Tallests’ attention by coming up with his craziest plot ever to destroy humanity. Upon hearing this, Dib will try to enlist his absent, super-genius dad to help quell the threat. That’s my take — but who knows what else might happen?
What questions does the trailer raise?
Several unexpected elements in the trailer make me wonder if they have a bigger part to play in the movie.
In a short part of the trailer, Gir throws a stack of greasy pizzas on the ground and rolls around in them. Behind him is a hastily-made banner with “Phase 2” painted on it. Pizza stickers show up a few times in the trailer, and once the sticker even seems to have some kind of calming effect on a flying moose (real mini moose or classic toy moose, you decide). The stickers, and maybe the pizza, could be part of Zim’s master plan to take over Earth. It could also be a just a running joke throughout the movie. Because the show is so random in nature, neither would surprise me.
While Gir drives a waffle-cannon over the pizzas he rolled around in, pay close attention. A machine stands behind Gir, reading, “Dib’s Master,” and underneath that is a red-stamped “REJECT.” Could part of Zim’s plan be to control Dib once and for all?
Enslaving him would make sense, considering the change in Dib throughout the trailer. At the beginning he has surrounded himself in darkness, letting his hair grow long and wild as he waits. In that disgusting state, he visits Zim’s house and appears to be pleading with Zim for something. Obviously Zim finds him pathetic, but what else is new?
Invader Zim has a movie coming out oh my God 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
— SutorētoGasu (@dickytusmall) August 6, 2018
Then about halfway through the trailer, Dib returns to his healthy state. How remains a mystery, but if Dib stands in the way of Zim succeeding in his conquest, Zim will certainly have a plan to get rid of him.
However the Irken enemy plots our downfall, fans can be ready for a great TV movie. With a fantastic new art style, the return of favorite characters and that loveable humor, Invader Zim’s return will bring about the doom of all screens … soon.
