INDIANAPOLIS — Not all people who have superpowers are looked at as heroes.
In "Code 8," 4% of the world's population has superhuman abilities, but most of them live under the poverty line and turn to crime to protect the ones they love.
Actors and cousins Robbie Amell ("Upload," "The DUFF") and Stephen Amell ("Arrow," "Heels") co-star in the sci-fi action film and its sequel, "Code 8: Part II," which is now streaming on Netflix.
"Part II dives a little more into Lincoln City. It builds the world out a little more. We meet a couple new powers, and there's a lot of corruption," Robbie said. "Very much, it's a chase movie. It happens very fast, and then it's almost happening in real time."
And what you may not know is "Code 8" started as a 10-minute short film of the same name. Robbie then created an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in 2016 with the hopes of getting a feature film made. By the end of the month-long campaign, they had raised $2.3 million from more than 28,000 backers.
"Our fans and the fanbase we created and cultivated in our other jobs just really showed up," Stephen said. "The fact that it's now a big Netflix movie and has a billboard in Times Square, and we get to do a world premiere in Toronto, which is our hometown where we shot both movies, it's extraordinary."
And despite both of them being actors for nearly 20 years, the "Code 8" short film and two feature-length films are the only jobs these cousins have done together.
"It's great. Anytime you work with someone you know, outside of the job that you're shooting together, is great," Robbie said. "He knows how to make me laugh, he knows how to piss me off — all of these things come in handy when you're working across from somebody. The more chemistry you have, the easier it is pull things from one another."