Z Cher-Aime and Andre Engco, co-founders of Cutting Edge Animation, are expanding their acclaimed animated short series Captain Zero: Into The Abyss into a full-length animated feature, with production slated to begin in 2027. To help fund the project, the pair have launched a Kickstarter campaign, which hit its initial goal of $10,000 in just 24 hours and is now working through a series of stretch goals to reach its ultimate goal of $250,000.
EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg is on board to executive produce alongside Tom Leonardis of One Ho Productions. Also serving as executive producers are cast members Larenz Tate, through his family’s Tate Men Entertainment alongside LaRon Tate and Lahmard Tate, and Angelica Ross, through her company Miss Ross Inc. Additional executive producers include Troy Pryor of Creative Cypher and Coty Galloway of Bad Penny Productions.
The voice cast includes Ross, Tate, and Emmy winner Keith David, along with Christopher Judge, Gary LeRoi Gray, Zolee Griggs, and Nandi Nfr Ka, with additional roles still being announced.
Set in “the neon apartheid known as New Troy City,” the film follows Xerxes Zidor, a Hyper-Human teen desperate to be seen in a world that demands he stay invisible. As his psyche is investigated by Dr. Niobe, Xerxes battles the physical embodiment of his own depression while being hunted by a digital nihilist bent on destroying him and the city around him. The project, a decade in the making, threads themes of teen empowerment, BIPOC heroism, mental health awareness, self-worth, environmentalism, and compassion through its central conflict.
“This is not your typical superhero story,” said co-director Z Cher-Aime. “Captain Zero champions underrepresented people, instilling in fans that which makes us different, and embracing those differences is our superpower. We hope this film gives people hope and the power to speak up and take action for what is just, especially now.”
Cher-Aime, a Haitian-American writer, director, and suicide survivor, and Engco, a Filipino-American writer-director, have been building toward this moment for years. The pair raised $36,000 on Kickstarter in 2024 for preproduction, then secured an additional $145,000 independently to produce the 14-minute short Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II. That short premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, went on to win three Telly Awards, and earned an NAACP Image Award nomination and a Midwest/Regional Emmy nomination. It also debuted on AMC+ this summer and will get a special screening with the creators in attendance at New York Comic Con on October 8.
The Kickstarter will also launch Cutting Edge Comics, a publishing imprint releasing a six-issue series expanding the film’s lore, with backer rewards ranging from collector’s edition comics to VIP access at the film’s eventual world premiere.