Superhero Dad: First Look at Owen Wilson in 'Secret Headquarters'
The secret’s out and the adventure is on! Paramount+ has released the first look trailer of the upcoming family superhero film, Secret Headquarters. Presented by Paramount Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Secret Headquarters is the heartwarming, action-filled summer blockbuster families can watch from the comfort of their own home.
Charlie (Walker Scobell) leads a regular suburban life. He plays baseball and hangs out with his middle-school friends (Keith L. Williams, Momona Tamada, Kezii Curtis, and Abby James Witherspoon). His dad (Owen Wilson) leads a similarly normal existence as an IT technician who frequently has to go to conferences and respond to technology emergency calls. Or so Charlie is led to believe.
While Charlie and his friends are home alone, they discover a secret headquarters underneath Charlie’s house. The lair belongs to the world’s most powerful superhero who just happens to be Charlie’s boring dad. Turns out, his dad’s job as an IT tech is a little bit of a stretch. “IT conferences” actually mean Charlie’s dad is out saving the world. It’s a revelation that shocks Charlie because his dad can’t even “handle hot wings.”
The kids play around in the headquarters with all the different gadgets. They fly with a jetpack, take a tricked-out car joyriding, and joke around with teleportation discs. All of their meddling leads a team of super villains (Jesse Williams and Michael Peña) directly to the headquarters. Now, it’s time for a new group of superheroes to save the day.
Secret Headquarters is directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. A family-friendly superhero might seem like a strange choice from the directing team who burst into Hollywood with the genre-redefining documentary, Catfish. Since the premiere of their documentary at Sundance, the directing and writing duo have gone on to direct two films in the Paranormal Activity franchise, an adaptation of a young adult novel (Nerve), and a superhero film for Netflix (Project Power). While they haven’t made a movie exclusively for families, the duo certainly has an understanding of how to make a high-octane thriller.
Joost and Schulman weren’t alone in writing Secret Headquarters. Christopher Yost and Josh Koenigsberg also helped in crafting the script. The plot is based on a story by Yost who is a well-known name for any comic aficionado. He’s written for both DC and Marvel in the comic format as well as on the big screen (Thor: Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok) and animated tv series like The Batman (2004), The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010), and others. Koenigsberg’s credits include Orange is the New Black, High Fidelity, and the podcast comedy series, Vroom Vroom.
Secret Headquarters looks to capitalize on the ever-growing desire for more superhero content. This trailer comes on the heels of the latest addition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Thor: Love and Thunder) and the end of Amazon Prime’s season three of The Boys. What sets Secret Headquarters apart from other superhero offerings is that the film is made with families as the target audience. Actors like Wilson and Peña will surely delight the parents while kids are swept up in a world of superheroes made just for them.