‘Carmen Sandiego’ Animated Series Coming To Netflix, Gina Rodriguez To Voice

The world’s most elusive thief will find a home in 2019 on the streaming giant, Netflix. Carmen Sandiego, the computer game franchise from the ’80s, will make a comeback as an animated series about its eponymous character.

Gina Rodriguez, who is best known for her role as Jane Villanueva on Jane the Virgin, will voice the main character for the 20 episodes ordered by Netflix. Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike in Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things, will voice Carmen’s criminal accomplice, Player. Each episode is expected to run 22-minutes long.

The show, like the game, will be educational – viewers will follow Carmen across the globe and through time as she commits daring heists. The Netflix show is also expected to delve into Carmen’s backstory and begin to explain how she became such a prolific criminal.

The Carmen Sandiego franchise began in 1985 with the release of the computer game, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego. The game was wildly popular and variations of the original were made over the next three decades. The games are still being made – Carmen Sandiego Returns was released as recently as 2015.

Several shows based on Carmen have aired as well. Game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego was broadcast on PBS from 1994 through 1998. Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego aired from 1996 through 1997 on PBS as well.

While the announcement of the reboot is fairly recent, Rodriguez has already taken to Twitter to share her excitement over her role.

“‘Don’t ask where … ask who’ (just call me Carmen),” Rodriguez’s tweet read. She also added a winky-face emoji.

The Carmen Sandiego reboot will be produced by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Duane Capizzi (The Batman) will be the show’s co-executive producer and the show runner.