Nickelodeon reviving Invader Zim for TV movie
Jhonen Vasquez’s seminal societal satire Invader Zim will return to Nickelodeon, as the network has just announced greenlight plans for an Invader Zim television movie.
The series, which debuted on Nick in 2001, followed an alien named Zim who arrived on Earth with imperialistic intentions of conquering the planet (in order to gain favor with his home race). Wildly ineffective but hilariously earnest, Zim and his robot companion GIR attempted to blend in and study the human race while simultaneously trying to enslave it.
Four key original voice cast members — Richard Horvitz (Zim), Rikki Simons (GIR), Andy Berman (Dib), and Melissa Fahn (Gaz) — will return for the 90-minute movie, which picks up on a “perpetually desperate and delusional” Zim hatching a new plan to achieve his goal.
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Zim’s return is significant for a couple reasons, one of which being its healthy second life in the zeitgeist as something of an animated cult classic despite just two seasons of story (which, really, is the crux of the whole “cult classic” part). Moreover, Zim joins Hey Arnold and Rocko’s Modern Life as the third title in Nickelodeon’s animated vault to be re-booted for TV: Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie will air this year, and a Rocko’s Modern Life TV special is also currently in production.