The LEGO Ninjago Movie Will Feature A Villainous Cat

Everyday terrors are coming to The LEGO Ninjago Movie. The cast of the upcoming LEGO Movie spin-off recently revealed at San Diego Comic-Con (via Entertainment Weekly) that one of the film's main villains will be a cat named Meowthra, who wreaks havoc on the city.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie stars Jackie Chan as Master Wu, a wise-cracking kung fu master tasked with training six teenage warriors, led by the Green Ninja Lloyd (Dave Franco), to defeat the evil warlord Garmadon (Justin Theroux), the "Worst Guy Ever" who just happens to be Lloyd's dead. The epic showdown tests the team of fierce but undisciplined ninjas as they have to learn how to check their egos and unleash their true power.

Franco introduced a new trailer for the film at SDCC, and while it hasn't been released to the public yet, it does provide quite a few more interesting details about the film's plot. These include a focus on the struggles Lloyd has to deal with as the son of "the worst guy in the world," as well as the budding relationship between his parents Garmadon and Koko (Olivia Munn).

However, the big reveal from the trailer is the villainous cat, who producer Dan Lin said is one of the many "natural elements" that will be incorporated into the film. "It's almost like LEGO put in your backyard, with real water, real trees, real grass," he said. "I don't want to give away too much but we also have other real world elements that slip into the world. In the first movie, we had the Kragle, and we've taken that to the next level with LEGO Ninjago."

"We're trying to capture what's going on in your mind as you play with LEGO— the first LEGO Movie was an action adventure movie," Lin continued. "LEGO Batman was a superhero movie. And now LEGO Ninjago, we try to tackle the martial arts-and-giant-robot movie."

LEGO Ninjago may take place in a world that Theroux describes as "like a fight club for 10-year-olds," but despite its more fantastical elements, the film will be grounded by its focus on family. This was reinforced by the fact that Franco and Theroux recorded their lines together, which is unusual for animated movies. "This is already my favorite project I've ever been a part of," Franco said. "Genuinely, I'd be so content if the only acting roles I get from here on out are LEGO Ninjago sequels. I'll be a happy man."

While Chan couldn't make the panel, he did pop by via video message to let the audience know that the moves you see his master playing out on screen are actually his. This wasn't just something clever the actor pulled out– the movie actually used real fight choreography with Chan and his team as a basis for the movie's fight scenes. "It's something that's never been done before in an animated movie, and it makes it all feel very real," Lin said. "And what's fun is, we played with the restrictions of the LEGO mini-figs. It's really fun seeing Jackie Chan martial arts action with LEGO mini-figs doing it. The arms don't bend!"

Michael Pena, Abbi Jacobson, Kumail Nanjiani, Fred Armisen, and Zach Woods also star in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, which is directed by Charlie Bean based on a script from Hilary Winston, Bob Logan, and Paul Fisher. The movie is due out on Sept. 22; while we wait, see the untold truth of The Lego Movie.