Melissa McCarthy & Octavia Spencer Will Become Superheroes In A New Movie For Netflix
The Avengers and the Justice League may have the superhero market cornered on the big screen, but since Marvel has been evicted from Netflix, the streaming service is in need for some new heroes. That is where Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer step in. The two actresses will fly high as superheroes in an upcoming Netflix movie. Netflix's Thunder Force stars Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy as a pair of superheroes, Deadline reports.
Not much is known about Thunder Force just yet, but it is being billed as a superhero comedy in which lead characters played by Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer find themselves developing superpowers. The movie will also reunite McCarthy with her frequent collaborator and husband Ben Falcone, whom is set to write and direct Thunder Force. This will mark the first time that McCarthy and Spencer have helmed a movie together, although the actresses have worked together on a few past films, including: 2007's sci-fi drama The Nines, 2008's comedy Pretty Ugly People, and the 2010 romantic drama Love & Distrust.
Most recently, Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer are both coming off of big nights at the 2019 Oscars. McCarthy received her first ever Best Actress nomination for her lead role in the literary biopic Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and Green Book, which Spencer produced, wound up taking home the Best Picture trophy.
Thunder Forces will mark Melissa McCarthy's fifth movie collaboration with her husband Ben Falcone, and the couple's first foray into the superhero genre. Falcone also wrote and directed the big-screen comedies Tammy, The Boss, and Life of the Party, all of which starred McCarthy. Their next upcoming collaboration will be the action comedy Super Intelligence, which is due out at the end of 2019.
The new superhero flick is also Melissa McCarthy's first real jump into working with Netflix, after having briefly reprised her role of Sookie St. James in the Netflix revival of Gilmore Girls back in 2016. Octavia Spencer is already currently working with the streaming service as the star of the upcoming biographical drama limited series Madam C. J. Walker.
Netflix's deal with Thunder Forces notably comes shortly after the streaming service surprised superhero fans by canceling its full slate of Marvel shows. After Daredevil premiered on the site four years ago in 2015, Netflix fleshed out its own Marvel universe by adding Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Punisher, and even a team-up limited series The Defenders, but Netflix announced the cancellation of all of those shows in recent months. Of course, Thunder Forces is different in several ways — it's a movie rather than a show, it boasts A-list talent in its lead roles, it's a comedy rather than a drama, it will create original heroes rather than base them on comics, and it is not tied to a greater superhero universe — but the superhero aspect still makes it seem notable.
There is no word yet on when Thunder Forces may premiere, but hopefully it will pop up on your Netflix account later this year or early on in 2020.
