Incredibles recap: the story so far

No. 01 · 2004 · Film

The Incredibles recap

The Incredibles (2004) follows Bob Parr, a banned superhero stuck in an insurance job, whose secret mission drags his whole family back into action. Brad Bird wrote and directed it for Pixar. Fifteen years after lawsuits forced every super into hiding, Bob (Craig T. Nelson) lives in suburban Metroville with his wife Helen (Holly Hunter), once Elastigirl, and their children Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Spencer Fox) and baby Jack-Jack. He sneaks out for vigilante nights with his friend Lucius Best (Samuel L. Jackson), alias Frozone, and is fired after throwing his boss through a wall. A woman named Mirage (Elizabeth Peña) hires him to stop a robot on the island of Nomanisan. Designer Edna Mode (Brad Bird) makes new suits for the whole family. The employer is Syndrome (Jason Lee), once Bob's rejected fan Buddy Pine, who has been killing supers to perfect his Omnidroid. Start here.

How The Incredibles ends

The Incredibles ends with the Parrs and Frozone destroying the Omnidroid in Metroville after Syndrome loses control of it. At home, Syndrome snatches Jack-Jack to raise as his sidekick, but the baby's powers erupt in midair; Helen catches him, and Bob throws his car at Syndrome, whose cape is sucked into his own jet's engine. Three months later, the Underminer bursts out of the ground and the family puts on their masks. Incredibles 2 picks up from that exact moment, 14 years later in real time.

Post-credits scenes

No. The Incredibles has no mid- or post-credits scene; the credits run over animated artwork of the characters.

No. 02 · 2005 · Film

Jack-Jack Attack recap

Jack-Jack Attack (2005) shows what happened to teenage babysitter Kari McKeen while the rest of the Parr family was away on Nomanisan. Brad Bird wrote and directed this Pixar short, which was released on The Incredibles DVD and grew from a scene cut from the film. Kari (Bret Parker) tells the story to government agent Rick Dicker (Bud Luckey) in an interview. After Helen's call cuts out, Kari plays Mozart to stimulate baby Jack-Jack Parr's brain, and his powers start to appear: he vanishes and reappears, floats to the ceiling, passes through walls and floors, and bursts into flames when she shows him a flash card of a campfire. By morning she has learned to counter each outburst. Then a man in a cape with an S on his chest arrives, offering to take over. Set during the first film and best watched after it.

How Jack-Jack Attack ends

Jack-Jack Attack ends with Kari admitting she handed the baby to Syndrome, who claimed the S stood for Sitter, because she was too frazzled to question him. She tells Dicker that her parents did not believe her story. When she says she wishes she could forget all of it, Dicker obliges and wipes her memory with a device, keeping the family's secret. The short shows the start of the scene that closes The Incredibles, where Syndrome flies off with Jack-Jack.

No. 03 · 2005 · Film · optional

Mr. Incredible and Pals recap

Mr. Incredible and Pals (2005) is a deliberately cheap in-universe cartoon in which Mr. Incredible and Frozone track down a villain who has stolen a bridge. Roger L. Gould directed this Pixar short, released on The Incredibles DVD and drawn in the style of low-budget 1960s Saturday-morning shows, with still frames and live-action mouths pasted onto the characters. Mr. Incredible, Frozone and their silent rabbit sidekick Mr. Skipperdoo find a radioactive rivet at the site of the missing West River Bridge and blame the villainess Lady Lightbug. Frozone builds an ice bridge to keep traffic moving, and the heroes follow her trail to an abandoned fairground. Lady Lightbug reveals her plan to steal the free world's bridges and wreck its economies. In a commentary track, Craig T. Nelson and Samuel L. Jackson watch in character as Bob and Lucius, explaining the pilot was made before supers were banned. Stands apart from the story.

How Mr. Incredible and Pals ends

Mr. Incredible and Pals ends with Mr. Incredible riding a flying roller coaster to knock Lady Lightbug out of the sky after she snares Frozone in radioactive silk. The bridge goes back in place, and Lady Lightbug sits trapped in a jar. A teaser promises the next episode, against a giant ear of corn. On the commentary, Lucius grows so annoyed at the show and his portrayal that he walks out, demanding it never air.

No. 04 · 2018 · Film

Incredibles 2 recap

Incredibles 2 (2018) picks up seconds after the first film, sending Helen Parr out to win back public support for supers while Bob minds the kids. Brad Bird wrote and directed it for Pixar. After a messy fight with the Underminer, the government shuts the relocation program. Telecom heir Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) and his inventor sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener) offer to rebuild the public image of supers with body-camera footage, and choose Helen (Holly Hunter) because she causes the least damage. Bob (Craig T. Nelson) struggles with Dash's math (Huck Milner now voices Dash), Violet's heartbreak after agent Rick Dicker (Jonathan Banks) wipes her date's memory, and the sudden, many powers of Jack-Jack. Helen hunts the Screenslaver, a villain who hypnotizes people through screens, and unmasks a pizza delivery man who turns out to be a puppet. Follows The Incredibles directly.

How Incredibles 2 ends

Incredibles 2 ends with Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack freeing their hypnotized parents and Frozone aboard Winston's yacht, which Evelyn, the real Screenslaver, has aimed at the city. The supers stop the crash, Helen catches Evelyn as she flees in a jet, and supers become legal again. Violet gets her date with Tony Rydinger back, then leaves him at the theater as the family joins a police chase. Incredibles 3 is set for June 16, 2028, with Peter Sohn directing and Bird writing.

Post-credits scenes

No. Incredibles 2 has no mid- or post-credits scene, though the credits play theme songs for Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone.

No. 05 · 2018 · Film

Auntie Edna recap

Auntie Edna (2018) is a Pixar short covering the night designer Edna Mode spends babysitting Jack-Jack Parr during Incredibles 2. Ted Mathot, the story supervisor on Incredibles 2, directed it, and it was released with the film on digital in October 2018 and on Blu-ray in November. In the feature, an exhausted Bob Parr leaves the baby with Edna, voiced by director Brad Bird, after Jack-Jack's powers start appearing one after another, and the next morning he finds her calm and in charge. The short fills in the hours between, as Edna tries to keep up with a baby who keeps producing new powers while she works out what to make for him. It answers a question fans had asked Bird about what happened that night, in the same way Jack-Jack Attack did for the babysitter Kari. Set during Incredibles 2 and best watched after it.

How Auntie Edna ends

Auntie Edna ends with Edna in control by morning, having designed Jack-Jack a new suit built around his growing list of powers. That handoff is the scene Incredibles 2 shows: Bob arrives worn out to collect his son, and Edna presents the suit and tells him that parenting, done properly, is a heroic act. No further Edna short has followed, and Incredibles 3 is set for June 16, 2028.