In photos: It’s Elastigirl to the rescue in ‘Incredibles 2’

After 14 years, the Parr family is back for another crime-fighting adventure in Pixar’s Incredibles 2. The long-awaited sequel to the 2004 animation hit The Incredibles brings the squad together in fiercer form. The movie will be released on June 22 in India.

Director Brad Bird, whose credits include the acclaimed animation film Ratatouille (2007) and the live-action thriller Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011), returns to handle the sequel. The film will pick up from where the 2004 film had left off, with the introduction of a new villain, The Underminer.

As the trailer tells us, the Parrs – Bob or Mr Incredible (Craig T Nelson), Helen or Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huck Milner) and Jack-Jack – will have to continue hiding their powers and keep up appearances as a regular suburban family in a world where superheros are facing an image crisis.

Kajol will voice Elastigirl in the Hindi dubbed version.

On the sidelines, a campaign is on to change people’s negative perceptions about superheroes, for which “Elastigirl is our best play”, Bob Odenkirk’s Winston Deavor declares in the trailer. Deavor is a fan of the superheroes, and wants the world to start liking them again. So while Elastigirl goes out to save the world and rally support for her tribe, Mr Incredible becomes the reluctant stay-at-home dad, a task that his Herculean strength has not prepared him for. Making matters worse is that Jack-Jack’s superpowers start coming to the surface, in often destructive ways.

Bard Bird has confirmed that he wanted to explore two storylines for the sequel: Elastigirl’s new job and the adored toddler Jack-Jack’s growing powers. “It was that I had a notion that I thought was worth building from, which was that Helen would get the assignment rather than Bob,” the filmmaker told American ticketing website Fandango in an interview. “And I knew that I had an unwrapped present from the first movie, which was that the audience knew that Jack-Jack had powers, but the family did not. I had those notions in my brain.”

While the Parrs battled fan-turned-villain Syndrome in the first installment, they will have a bigger challenge in their hands this time: John Ratzenberger’s The Underminer and a new nemesis, Screenslaver.

Screenslaver will reportedly terrorise people through their computer and television screens. “Screenslaver uses screens to control people,” the filmmaker told Fandango. “And that’s probably as far as I’ll go. It’s sort of implied in the trailer what his deal is. So, yeah, that’s a fairly descriptive name for a villain.” The makers have remained tight-lipped about who is voicing the villain.

Two other popular characters who return in the sequel are Bob’s best friend Lucius Best, better known by his superhero name Frozone (voiced by Samuel L Jackson) and eccentric fashion designer Edna Mode (Brad Bird), who makes suits for superheroes.

Some of the new additions to the cast include Breaking Bad alums Jonathan Banks and Bob Odenkirk. Banks will star as Rick Dicker, a government agent responsible for keeping the Parr family’s secret. The character was voiced by Bud Luckey in the 2004 film. Odenkirk plays Deavor.

Sophia Bush and Isabella Rossellini will also join the ride as Voyd and Ambassador. While Bush’s character can create voids in which objects can disappear, Ambassador is an advocate for the superheroes.