![‘Code 8: Part II’: Stephen & Robbie Amell Discuss The Sequel to Their Indie Hit, the ‘Arrowverse,’ ‘Suits: LA’ & More [The Discourse Podcast]](https://theplaylist.net/wp-content/plugins/wp-fastest-cache-premium/pro/images/blank.gif)
In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo powers up to discuss the Netflix film, “Code 8: Part II” with producers and stars Stephen Amell (“Arrow,” “Heels”)and Robbie Amell (“Upload,” “The Witcher”).
In the sequel to “Code 8,” Connor (Robbie Amell) is out of prison and working as a janitor at a community center, having cut ties with his former criminal associate Garrett (Stephen Amell). Connor’s attempt at staying out of trouble is destroyed when he’s forced to help 14-year-old Pav escape from a pack of corrupt officers led by Sergeant King. King uses the newly launched robotic K9s to track Pav down, while Connor finds himself once again reaching out to Garrett and his crew for help, but can he trust the man who landed him in prison in the first place?
The film also stars Alex Mallari Jr., Sirena Gulamgaus, Jean Yoon, and Aaron Abrams. Jeff Chan directs a script he co-wrote with Chris Paré, Sherren Lee, and Jesse Lavercombe.
During the interview, Robbie and Stephen Amell discuss the experience of seeing the first “Code 8” film go from a low-budget Indiegogo passion project to number one on Netflix.
“It was kind of like one incredible moment after another, and then going number one on Netflix was when we were like, ‘Oh, wow!” Robbie Amell shared. “This went from hundreds of thousands or a couple million people seeing this to like tens of millions of eyeballs watching our little independent film, and then a really cool moment was Netflix coming in and supporting us on ‘Part Two’ and us not having to go back to the Indiegogo well and say, ‘Help us do this again!’ Instead, we were just able to say, ‘Hey, thank you. We’re gonna make you a sequel and we hope you enjoy it.”
But Netflix wasn’t always the streaming home of “Code 8.” Before the streamer collapsed, Quibi had swooped up the property to develop as a series, which, according to Robbie Amell, both was and was not what became of ‘Part II.’
“That was really a happy accident. We were in between ‘Code 8’ Part I & Part II, and we had some really big fans at Quibi, and they came to us, and they were like, ‘Hey, if you want to do this, we’ll give you the platform to do it,’ Robbie Amell said. “And, unfortunately, it didn’t work out over there, but at the same time we ended up where we always wanted to be which was which was on Netflix. One was never going to negate the other; it was going to be like a ‘Code 8: 1.5,’ if you will.”
With the absolute odds-defying success of the first film, director Jeff Chan is already lobbying for a third entry in the series, which Robbie Amell was happy to confirm.
“Jeff and Chris are definitely thinking of part three, but it all comes down to performance,” Robbie Amell stated. “And if people watch it, then we get to keep making it. We love this world. there’s a lot more to this world to offer. Two feels bigger than part one, and it continues to build on that world.”
Fans of Stephen Amell may still be wondering what happened to his Starz wrestling series “Heels,” as the entity has recently removed Season 2 from all platforms after showrunner Mike O’Malley revealed they were shopping the series to streamers. During the interview, Stephen Amell confirmed that “Heels” was another victim of the recent wave of studios removing projects from their platforms to save tax dollars.
“Starz took it off the platform for a tax write-off – Uh-huh,” Stephen Amell said. “I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Starz and the whole whole team there. Jeff Hirsch and everyone – they treated us great. We were one of the first productions to go back, post-COVID, or I guess during COVID. And I know that they are actively trying to place it at a streamer. There has to be a deal in place in case it does go on a streamer and it blows up. They have to have a deal in place for season three. So I think that they’re still ironing that out. I would personally like for it to end up on Netflix because I would like more people to see it. Very proud of that show.”
Stephen Amell is set to step into his biggest role yet as the lead of the new, “Suits: L.A.” While the world was swept up in ‘Suits’-mania when the long-canceled show debuted on Netflix last year, Amell admitted that he missed the boat.
“I just came to it when I heard about ‘Suits L.A.,” admitted Amell. “I’m on the fence if I’m going to watch the original series or not. I haven’t seen it…We go to camera in early April up in Vancouver. We’re going to do a couple of days in LA as well on the pilot. And yeah, they’re still casting. And I know that they’re still casting because I’m getting bombarded with text messages from various people who are reading…I’ve got to finish this press tour and then gear up for ‘Suits’ because everyone assumes that it’s going to be a massive hit, which is not adding any pressure whatsoever.”
Stephen Amell is perhaps most well-known as Oliver Queen in the hit CW show, “Arrow,” which spawned its own popular DC superhero universe, which featured spinoff shows, “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “Legends of Tomorrow,” “Batwoman,” and more. In the interview, Amell also discussed wanting to return to the character in a special capacity.
“I just adored playing the Green Arrow,” Amell said. “I didn’t want to be done with the character forever. I just wanted to be done with it in like 23 episodes a year. I was ready for a break, but listen, if I hadn’t missed it, I wouldn’t have gone back for that one episode in the last season of ‘Flash.’ I love playing the character and would love to bring it back in some sort of limited series where we could get around the fact that, I think in the finale, I must have killed like 75 people, but we weren’t allowed to show blood. So maybe like a Netflix or a Max or something like that—get some hard R. I think people would love that…It was like a decade of superhero television, which was really cool because when our pilot came out, I’ll never forget it—the review in Entertainment Weekly where it said, ‘This is a decent pilot, but superhero shows on television don’t work.’ Yeah, I wonder if Greg Berlanti read that and said, ‘I’ll show you.”
“Code 8: Part II” is currently streaming on Netflix. You can hear the full interview below:
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