Last week, the first trailer for Max Steel came as a complete surprise to, well, everyone. The live-action film adaptation of the Mattel-toy-turned-cartoon hasn’t exactly been in the press a whole lot since its first promotional images came out more than two years ago, but now it looks like something is finally happening.

The latest trailer gives us the lowdown on Max McGrath (Ben Winchell), who finds out he has energy-bending superpowers because it turns out his scientist dad had given them to him before he mysteriously died. Max meets a small floating robot named Steel (voiced by Josh Brener), who teaches him how to use his powers and can also combine with Max to form — you guessed it — Max Steel.

Along with the trailer, Yahoo also had a chat with director Stewart Hendler in which they asked what had taken the movie so long to be released. Hendler said:

I wish it was something sexy and interesting, but it really just comes down to paperwork and release date. It just took a second for them to figure out what date they wanted it on, and find the perfect window for it. It’s Mattel’s first movie, and [the movie’s distributor] Open Road is new, so the handshake took a minute. But now it’s onward and release-ward.

Max Steel isn’t a particularly big name for a toy franchise, and wasn’t hugely popular for a very long period of time, so it’s difficult to figure out who exactly this movie is for. But when asked, Hendler wasn’t too worried about drawing an audience:

I think the challenge is to serve the fans of the brand and be accessible to people who know zero about it. So I think the tightrope that you walk is just trying to make something that’s fun regardless of whether you’ve ever heard of Max Steel or not. But also, if you’re someone who grew up on it and watched the cartoons… there will be inside jokes and Easter eggs and stuff for you to catch.

Max Steel also stars Maria Bello as Max’s mother and Andy Garcia as Dr. Miles Edwards, and hits theaters October 21. Watch the international trailer below:

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