A little more than a decade ago, July 26, 2014, the first episode of the “Henry Danger” sitcom was aired on Nickelodeon. The series lasted more than five years, with the series ending March 21, 2020. In the middle of its run, an animated series called “The Adventures of Kid Danger” aired on Nickelodeon from January to June 2018. A week after the “Henry Danger” sitcom ended, a spinoff called “Danger Force” aired March 28, 2020, and concluded Feb. 21, 2024. The following year, on Jan. 17, 2025, “Henry Danger: The Movie” premiered on Nickelodeon, Paramount+, Philo, and Amazon Prime Video.
While the original sitcom was viewed by mostly Gen Z (as they were elementary-aged when it came out), by the time “Danger Force” premiered, the demographic of viewers had shifted to mostly Gen Alpha, as they were in elementary school or middle school when it came out.
The premise of the original sitcom was that superhero Captain Man, whose real name is Ray Machester (played by Cooper Barnes), recruited a 13-year-old named Henry Hart (played by Jace Norman) to be his sidekick, (given the title “Kid Danger”). Schwoz Schwartz (played by Michael D. Cohen), a tech-wiz, works for Captain Man and creates inventions for him, and is initially the only person in the town of Swellview to know Captain Man’s and Kid Danger’s real identities. Kid Danger has to keep the secret that he’s a superhero from everyone in the town, including his little sister Piper Hart (played by Ella Anderson) and his parents Jake and Kris Hart (played by Jeffrey Nicholas Brown and Kelly Sullivan, respectively).
However, in season one, episode four, “The Secret Gets Out,” Henry’s best friend Charlotte Page (played by Riele Downs) finds out his secret identity. One season later, during the season finale (season two, episode 19), “I Know Your Secret,” Henry’s other best friend, Jasper Dunlop (played by Sean Ryan Fox) finds out that Henry’s secret identity is Kid Danger as well. From then on, Charlotte and Jasper aid Kid Danger, Captain Man and Schwoz with their missions. Four years later, during the third-to-last episode of the final season (season five, episode 39), “Captain Drex,” Kid Danger reveals his secret identity to his parents. However, they don’t believe him until the following episode, “The Fate of Danger: Part 1.”
“The Adventures of Kid Danger” has the same premise, just animated. However, “Danger Force” features a completely new main cast, which consists of four teenage superheroes-in-training: Chapa De Silva, Bose O’Brian and Miles and Mika Macklin, who are trained at the Swellview Academy for the Gifted. All four children are introduced in the last few seasons of the original “Henry Danger” series, likely a subtle attempt to get the viewers acquainted with the protagonists of the upcoming spinoff.
Miles and Mika (who are in-universe siblings played by Terrence Little Gardenhigh and Dana Heath, respectively), are first introduced in season 5, episode 35, “Escape Room,” a police officer named Officer Walnut tells Piper to babysit her niece and nephew (Mika and Miles) to finish her community service. They become trapped in an escape room by a supervillain, and have to evade the villain.
Chapa (played by Havan Flores) was first introduced in season 5, episode 36, “Game of Phones,” in which she asks Captain Man and Kid Danger to find her stolen phone. Captain Man originally refused, but he got guilt-tripped into helping her. During their search, they run into supervillains and the phone thief and fight them off.
Bose (played by Luca Luhan) was first introduced in season five, episode 38, “The Beginning of the End,” in which Kid Danger and Captain Man are asked to babysit him (outside of their superhero personas). However, they reveal their identities to Bose and everyone else who was in their base (dubbed the “Man Cave”). Captain Man makes the decision to only erase Bose’s memories of himself (instead of all of his memories).
In the newest edition to the “Henry Danger” franchise, a teenage superfan named Missy Martin (who, like every other Henry Danger fan, believed Kid Danger had died in the show’s finale), attempted to necromancy the beloved superhero with a device called the R△D (Reality Altering Device) that she stole while disguised in a crudely made Kid Danger costume, her goal being fighting crime in her town (named Newtown) alongside Kid Danger. Instead, she transported the very much alive Henry Danger (who had faked his death and been continuing to fight crime alongside his best friend Jasper on an island named Dystopia) into Newtown with a portal created by the R△D. When she tried to transport Henry back to Dystopia, the R△D malfunctioned and forced them to travel through multiple fanfictions Missy wrote that came to life (dubbed “The Adventures of Kid Danger & Superfan”).
Throughout the movie, Henry has to face multiple challenges such as being confined to the limitations of the writings of Missy, while also fighting off imaginary supervillains, as well as emotional dilemmas like realizing that the fame had gotten to his head and led his relationship with Jasper to become strained.
The film has its serious moments, but manages to keep its Nickelodeon charm with cringy, meta references and self-aware nonsensical plot lines. Many characters from the original “Henry Danger” series make an appearance, including Jasper, Henry’s little sister Piper, Schwoz, and Frankini. Henry’s other best friend Charlotte, however, does not make an appearance, though it’s explained that she’s away at college. It’s been speculated that Charlotte’s actress Riele Downs didn’t take the role because she was busy filming for the movie “A Breed Apart.”
Jasper’s and Schwoz’s actors (Sean Ryan Fox and Michael D. Cohen) participated in an interview conducted by Good Day NWA. They spoke on how it felt to reprise their roles.
“It was a load of fun, honestly. We got to come back and be a family again. We were all still in contact with each other, so it’s not like we hadn’t spoken. But it was definitely fun to come back and work together again on ‘Henry Danger’ on a bigger scale. We turned a TV show into a movie! It was something a little bit different, but there was familiarity, having the same kinds of laughs that we used to have all those years ago,” Fox stated.
Cohen reflected on the new film and how all of the ex-child actors had grown up in the time they’d been apart.
“It was really cool for me. When we had last worked together in 2019, I’d gone on and done “Danger Force” with a new cast. But I hadn’t worked with Sean, Jace and Ella in years, and they’re adults! It was like ‘oh my gosh, you guys are adults now!’ It was really different, and we got to relate on a whole different level. It was really wonderful. I loved them as kids and I love them as adults. It was a really new experience. I didn’t really anticipate that when we started filming. And I loved it, I loved every moment,” Cohen reminisced.
Fox commented on the evolution of his character, Jasper Dunlop.
“[In the film, he’s] just like myself. Obviously, I was a child when we were doing “Henry Danger,” and I’ve grown up over the years. I feel like Jasper’s grown up as well, especially in this movie. I’m a young adult now, Jasper’s a young adult, so there’s more responsibility on his shoulders. Obviously, he’s now a crime-fighter, so he’s definitely grown up and matured, while still being his lovable, somewhat goofy self,” Fox said.
Cohen described his theory as to why “Henry Danger” is still so popular after all these years.
“I think the cast is like lightning in a bottle. The chemistry [between everyone], they’re just incredible together. It’s an ensemble, and you really feel the love that these characters have for each other. I think that’s what brings people back to it (and of course, [the cast’s] talent). And the writing is just amazing. I think people are going to really enjoy the movie a lot, because the story is amazing,” Cohen divulged.
The film’s supervillain’s include Coach Cregg, an uber-aggressive gym coach with superstrength (played by Andre Tricoteux), Vampiper, the vampire (with electric powers) version of Piper Hart, and Fangkini, the vampire version of Frankini (played by Frankie Grande).
In an interview with CBS Mornings, Grande comments on the portrayal of his character in the film. In response to Frankini’s strong stage presence and big personality being compared to Grande’s nature in real life, this is what Grande had to say:
“I think it might’ve been based a little bit on reality. I’m not quite sure, I wasn’t in the room when he was created. But it is amazing, and I’m just so blessed that I get to play a villain that just wants everyone to sing and dance. Can’t that be all the villains in the world, wouldn’t it be a much happier world?” Grande joked.
Grande then expanded on the significance of his lighthearted supervillain.
“You know, the world is quite literally on fire at the moment. It’s a very difficult time for a lot of people out there. And I know that, as a young queer kid, all I looked to during times of turmoil in my own life and in the world was a level of escapism and finding joy in movies and music. I’m grateful that this project is going to be that outlet for so many people, and that Frankini is as flamboyant and fabulous as he is, and that he gets to be on television. You can get lost with him and go on his journey, and escape the world for a millisecond,” Grande explained.
Grande revealed that he’d been very excited to be able to play his vampire role as well.
“It was so cool. It’s always been my dream to play a creature ever since seeing *does an impression of Gollum saying ‘my precious’* on television all those years ago. I never thought Frankini would be my entrance into the world of being a vampire, but I’m so grateful because as an actor, I got to play two polar opposites in one film, which is just such a blessing,” Grande gushed.
“Henry Danger: The Movie” bore many similarities to “The Thundermans Return” (the “Thundermans” movie that premiered last year). They both released many years after the original source material ended, and both had multiple actors reprise their roles. They also both maintain that iconic Nickelodeon charm, with the characters being very self-aware of the passage of time since they were last on the big screen and their own cringiness (described in more detail in Treanna Moss’s article “Movie Review: The Thundermans Return.”) As well, the superhero Kid Danger returns to his hometown after many years of being away, which is what the “Thundermans” superhero family did as well. Additionally, both films feature new supervillains.
The movie ends in a special appearance and major cliffhanger, which leaves viewers to assume this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of Jace Norman and his castmates. With prospects of a sequel likely, it seems like Nickelodeon’s trend of reboots and spinoffs of Gen Z classics is here to stay.