There are moments when you see someone’s work and just know that they are going to manifest greatness at every possible turn. An intrepid young creator crafts something that builds on existing work and leaps fearlessly toward the next level. Enter, Z Cher-Aime: creator, writer, director, and voice actor on the animated short film Captain Zero: Into The Abyss Part II. Who leaves nothing to your imagination and tells you outright, ‘Oh, I’m about to cook something fierce, strap in and stay tuned’ and then does it. Black nuance, context, and reference take the wheel in CZ2 and never let up. Let’s get into it.
First and foremost, I couldn’t stop seeing Cher-Aime all over my Twitter timeline. For the last year or two, our algorithms would align because of some animation or comics discourse. As the production of CZ2 was ramping up and funding was needed, Cher-Aime made no bones about asking up front. There’s a stigma creators have developed around asking for funds, which is counterintuitive because we live in a deeply capitalist society. It was refreshing to see someone, a maker, be like, ‘Yo, give me money. I put everything into this project, and it’s dope AF’. Of course, they didn’t say it like that, but what drew me to their work was their constantly clever reuse of the Disney animated Robin Hood meme. You might know the one, an image of Robin in disguise as a beggar with a cup and sunglasses. I can’t even count how many times they used it to update folks on the funding progress, except that I shared it every single time. I shared it because I saw Cher-Aime’s drive, desire, and initiative to get Captain Zero off the ground. Their enthusiasm for their work was so infectious that they made a fan out of me before I ever saw the film.
After more than a year of online interactions, I have finally seen Captain Zero: Into The Abyss Part II. It goes kinda hard.
The Look (Context)
The animation style in Captain Zero is elevated, to say the least. It doesn’t hide from itself by trying to look like anyone else’s work but is clearly a student of the game. Taking bits and pieces and shaping them into a unique, sharp, thin outlines and glossy catches of light that immediately brought me back to Peter Cheung’s work on Aeon Flux. A staccato kind of fluidity that captures the unique movement of each character, somewhere directly between the smoothness of Osmosis Jones and the dropped frame style of the Sony Spider-Verse films. Action perspectives are placed so well that they conjure the aura of Dragon Ball Z. If Captain Zero’s Oblivion (voiced by Pose powerhouse Angelica Ross) menacingly walking toward Xerxes doesn’t make you think of Broly setting it on Trunks and Gohan in ‘93, then you don’t see the vision. Of course, the brilliance of the design team at Cutting Edge Animation in throwing a vaporwave color scheme-slash-RuPaul Season One filter, along with the old school VHS distortion (and the FBI intro!) to ground the feel of the world of New Troy City cannot be overlooked or understated. Attention to detail is the name of the game in animation, and Captain Zero II nails it.
The Feel (Nuance)
Captain Zero II was so clearly conceived through the lens of the Black experience. It feels comfortable for me to watch as someone having a Black experience. The captions do some amazing work to display the nuance where dialogue and facial expressions alone might go over folks’ heads. Being that this is a short film, a lot of character building needs to happen in a tight timeframe. Framing the whole thing as interstitials between moments in a therapy session is a smart way to get to the root of what drives and torments Xerxes/Captain Zero (voiced by Z Cher-Aime) quickly and effectively.
Nuance is a powerful tool for bringing underrepresented voices and perspectives into any endeavor, more so for a short film debuting at *checks notes* the Tribeca Film Festival (!). So, to have a Black lead character is already a big enough deal. Add to that having a Trans actor voice a Trans character whose color scheme is also the Trans flag’s. The nuance lives in the fact that this is not brought up or extolled upon. You just have to know, to know. Buttafly Girl (voiced by Zolee Griggs) is a Black, femme superhero with mechanical wings who can fly, run super fast, and her hands WORK. All these characters simply exist, and it is everything.
There’s no way we’re going to get through this without noting that acting luminary Keith David is a part of this cast as the abyssal entity plaguing Xerxes and Captain Zero. What does it mean in real life for Cher-Aime to have the GOAT voice actor lend his legacy to the project? (So much, so very much) But what layer of nuance does it add to the project to bring mental health and wellness into the fold as a primary narrative device? Can you imagine how many consumers of animation and Black media will come across this and have that symbolism hit them like a ton of bricks? So much is accomplished within and around this short piece of animation that is worthy of accolades. I’d be remiss not to say that I feel like Keith David revels in the pathos of his darker roles. David’s turn as The Depression Demon is the polar opposite of his Spawn, with the evil intent of his Hordak, the gravitas of his Goliath, but spoken with the creepy omnipotence of his Devil (from Hit-Monkey). It’s kind of scary.
The Nod (Reference)
An aspect of Captain Zero II that cannot be undersold is the cultural references. All kinds of culture, Internet culture, anime culture, superhero culture, Black culture – too much to even articulate in this article! They can be hard to spot upfront, but goodness gracious, they are so present. My favorite has to be the captions reading, “Collective Black confusion,” “white disbelief,” and “white embarrassment.” The animation tells the story of those moments, but adding the visual text adds a great layer for viewers and for audiences who might be hard of hearing.
The long and short of the narrative is about Xerxes dealing with his insecurity and unknowingly succumbing to the personification of his depression. Visual cues to his low self-image are all everywhere. In small facial expressions, being called out by Oblivion in 4K on the news, the depression entity showing up on the jeering faces of his classmates. The point is made enough times that the therapy scenes with Dr. Niobe (also voiced by Angelica Ross), we are familiar with the language of Xerxes lying about how he’s doing. Using the dual/secret identity as both a trope of superheroism on the surface and a tactic for avoidance in therapy is a stroke of genius that plays well at both levels.
Impressed, But Not Surprised
Short films are one of the most challenging pieces of media to deliver. Often, they don’t live long enough in the zeitgeist after their festival runs to be more than a very expensive business card for the production team. I was deeply impressed with what Captain Zero: Into The Abyss Part II was able to pull off. To get all of these pieces into place is one thing, but to do it with a predominantly Black voice cast while exploring a Black male protagonist’s mental health?! Even more impressive. However, when I look at the quality and intention of the work, the team assembled to put it together, I note the accolades and reviews spilling in. I remain impressed, but not at all surprised. At present, Cher-Aime is looking at a potential theatrical release for CZ2 in 2027. (Check out the OG Captain Zero: Part I here!) Stay tuned on where to find it next by tapping into @CaptainZeroTAS on social media.
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