We’ve known for a few weeks that a new Critters sequel/reboot series is coming soon to a screen near you, and now the writer/director behind the new series — Jordan Rubin — is letting fans know just what they can expect from the return of the Crites. Spoiler alert: It sounds awesome.
In a recent interview with Slash Film, Rubin reiterated that the series is not a full-on reboot, and will take place within the continuity established in the original Critters movie. “I wouldn’t say it’s an origin story because the Critters already exist in the world,” he said. “They’re returning to Earth because they left one of their offspring behind that they’re trying to find. They’re being chased by the bounty hunters. So it’s a new binge, but it’s not an origin story per se like Batman Begins where you’re seeing from the ground up. This is a world that already exists that we’re joining.”
As you likely noticed above, Rubin notes that the Crites will be chased by bounty hunters in the new series — a beloved aspect from the original film we weren’t sure would be returning. But it sounds like the new bounty hunters, while new characters, will be pretty similar to our old favorites, Ug and Lee. “The bounty hunters are always shape shifters, this nebulous face which can become different things,” Rubin said. “But yeah, two new bounty hunters coming to Earth in their same Terminator type walk and taking on different forms as they encounter them.”
Rubin goes on to state that the later Critters sequels aren’t really taken into account in the new series, as it’s the canon from the original film that he’s mainly focused on continuing. He also reveals that the series will consist of 8 episodes of about 10 minutes, roughly making up a feature length film. As far as the film’s human characters, Rubin thinks they should please fans of ’80s horror. “There’s a kid that’s in high school and it revolves around a high school world and a family,” he said. “It’s a little bit more modern and a little bit more dysfunctional than the first Critters, but it’s that kind of typical American family you would see in an early ‘80s horror film, but with more of a modern bent and a little more dysfunction.”
Finally, the director revealed that he is in talks with the Chiodo Brothers — the visual effects artists who created the puppets for the original Critters — to return and make the puppets for this new incarnation. “We spoke to them and I’m trying to make that work. I think that would be amazing. It’s all a matter of budget and if it can work out with their schedule and where we shoot,” he said. But if things don’t work out with the brothers, don’t fret, the series will still feature puppets. “We’re speaking to a couple different puppet houses,” Rubin said.
Critters: The New Binge is expected to start shooting in the next couple of months, and will air on Verizon’s free streaming service, go90, sometime in the near future.
