Stretch Armstrong Returns in New Netflix Animated Series
Netflix and Hasbro officially announced today that they are producing the return of the iconic hero Stretch Armstrong in a new animated series that will be shown exclusively on Netflix. The new series, Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters, will debut on the streaming media service in 2017. The show marks Hasbro Studios’ first original program for Netflix.
Hasbro describes the new series as an animated action/comedy series. The show will focus on the over-scheduled teenaged named Jake Armstrong and his two best friends. After the trio are exposed to an experimental chemical, they become the crime-fighting group of Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters, a team of unlikely stretchable superheroes who expand beyond the confines of their lives and embark on a series of adventures.
According to Netflix, Stretch Armstrong will sport a new look for the show. Stretch Armstrong originated as a toy property, featuring the famous stretching and rubber Stretch Armstrong, in the 1970s. It’s not the first time Stretch Armstrong was revamped. Cap Toys released a line of Stretch Armstrong toys in the 1990s that included a dog companion for Stretch named Fetch and even a villain named Vac Man. Some time ago, Hollywood attempted to produce a Stretch Armstrong movie, but a film never materialized.
Speaking on Netflix’s investment into kids’ programming, Andy Yeatman Director of Global Kids Content for Netflix stated: “With roughly half of our 75 million members regularly watching kids content, we’re happy to expand our original slate with these three great series. We know kids love Netflix and that’s in part because they never really outgrow us. We program and recommend new TV shows and movies from preschool through their teen years and into adulthood.”
All episodes for the first season of Stretch Armstrong will launch on Netflix at the same time around the world. There’s no news yet from Hasbro on what kind of toy support they have planned for the show, but it sounds like a pretty safe bet.