Invader Zim, one of the strangest, most endearing series Nickelodeon released in the early aughts, is finally going to return to television in the form of a new TV movie.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Nickelodeon is moving ahead with the project, putting the series in the same category as Hey Arnold! and Rocko’s Modern Life, which are also getting TV movies from the network. It’s all a part of the network’s devotion to celebrating 25 years of Nicktoons and providing new content for fans of the original series who are now in their 20s and 30s.
Invader Zim followed an alien named Zim who arrives on Earth with imperialistic ambitions to essentially conquer the human race and take over the planet. The series, which was applauded for its satirical take on society at the time, only ran for two seasons, but it developed a core group of fans who still love it to date.
Richard Horvitz (Zim), Rikki Simons (GIR), Andy Berman (Dib) and Melissa Fahn (Gaz) will return for the film. Back in 2013, show creator Jhonen Vasquez tweeted that “Zim is still cancelled forever,” but the creator uses the account to continuously talk about the series.
AMAZING NEWS FOR INVADER ZIM FANS: Just had my first ice cream Drumstick in years and it was AMAZING! Also, ZIM is still cancelled forever.
— Jhonen Vasquez (@JhonenV) May 9, 2013
There’s no estimated release date for the movie, but Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie will be released later this year and the film based on Rocko’s Modern Life is currently in production. Early concept art of the Hey Arnold! movie was shown off during Nickelodeon’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con last year.
Invader Zim is currently available to stream on Hulu.
Update: Nickelodeon confirmed today creator Jhonen Vasquez is involved with the movie.
Update 2: The first teaser for Invader Zim’s TV movie has been released. It can be seen above.