SpongeBob Villain Plankton To Lead His Own Netflix Movie, First Image Revealed (2024)

The classic SpongeBob SquarePants antagonist Plankton will now get his own Netflix movie. Sheldon Plankton and his computer wife Karen are an iconic aspect of the popular animated series, which first aired in 1999. Since SpongeBob's debut, several feature-length movies have been made, most recently including 2020’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

Now, Netflix has announced the development of a Plankton-centric movie. Along with this news came the revelation of the film’s first image.

David Needham will direct the film, and its plot will see Plankton in dire straits when his plans to dominate the world are crushed. The film has reportedly been in development for over four years and features original songs from Bret McKenzie, Linda Perry, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Bob Mothersbaugh. In the image, a 3D-animated Plankton stands deviously, holding a remote with a red button. In a window behind him is an image of the Earth. A dog-like sidekick, who also sports just one eye and the same coloring as Plankton, stands next to the character, with his tongue sticking out.

How Will The Plankton Movie Stack Against Other SpongeBob Movies?

The Plankton Movie Is Not The Only SpongeBob Movie Coming Out

The image shows that the Plankton feature film will be in the sleek, computer-generated animation style that characterized The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. This style is a departure from that of the 2004 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie or the original show, which used 2D animation in a style that was suggestive rather than photorealistic. The updated Plankton model is missing some of the charm of the hand-drawn original SpongeBob, but the use of the style is unsurprising given the recent SpongeBob trends.

The Plankton movie will represent the first time any SpongeBob character has gotten extended solo treatment. This puts pressure on the film to perform well, as the previous SpongeBob movies have been generally well-reviewed. The 2004 feature had a 68% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, while Sponge Out of Water and Sponge on the Run had 81% and 67% scores, respectively. Hopefully, the Plankton movie can continue this positive score trend.

While the Plankton movie did not get an exact release date, the film is expected to hit the streamer in 2025. This situates the film in an interesting position as 2025 is also slated to see the release of another full-length Bikini Bottom jaunt, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants. The concurrent release of both films will likely mean the two will be compared even more than the Plankton film will already be compared to previous versions of SpongeBob Squarepants.

Source: Netflix

SpongeBob SquarePants

Comedy

Family

Animation

Spongebob Squarepants is an animated comedy created by Stephen Hillenburg and starring voices from Tom Kenny, Bill fa*gerbakke, and Rodger Bumpass. The series revolves around a sea sponge that goes on many misadventures with his friends Patrick, Squidward, and Sandy Cheeks in the lands of Bikini Bottom and the surrounding sea.

Cast

Tom Kenny , Bill fa*gerbakke , Rodger Bumpass , Clancy Brown , Carlos Alazraqui , Paul Tibbitt , Dee Bradley Baker , Jill Talley , Tim Conway , Sara Paxton , Mark Fite , Mary Jo Catlett , Tom Wilson , Sirena Irwin , Lori Alan , Ernest Borgnine , Mr. Lawrence , Carolyn Lawrence

Release Date

May 1, 1999

Seasons

14

Network

Nickelodeon

Franchise(s)

SpongeBob SquarePants

Writers

Tim Hill , Stephen Hillenburg , Derek Drymon , Nick Jennings

Directors

Vincent Waller , Dave Cunningham , Stephen Hillenburg , Paul Tibbitt

Showrunner

Vincent Waller , Marc Ceccarelli