Mr Incredible faces his toughest challenge yet in this exclusive Incredibles 2 image

It’s been a long time coming, but Pixar favourite The Incredibles is finally getting a sequel this summer, 14 years after the super-family were last seen about to face of with new villain the Underminer.

Incredibles 2 picks up exactly where that film left off, but this time out, Helen (AKA Elastigirl) will be at the forefront of the action, when she’s picked to be the lead on a mysterious new campaign to put supers back in the spotlight. Which means, Bob (AKA Mr Incredible) is left to deal with things on the home front while Elastigirl is out fighting crime.

“I enjoy putting Helen through action scenes, just because her power is uniquely suited to a certain approach to action scenes,” writer/director Brad Bird tells our sister publication Total Film magazine in their latest issue (which also comes with a special Pixar supplement). “And I love dealing with Bob having his self-esteem undercut a little bit by not being the first choice [hero], which he's never dealt with in his life before.”

Being left holding the baby is a bit more challenging for Bob than it is for your average parent, given that (unbeknownst to the family at the start of the film), baby Jack-Jack has more powers than the rest of the family put together. Childcare is taking its toll on Bob, as you can see in the exclusive pic below…

“[Bob’s character] has aspects of my father in it, or me at my most bumbling ineptitude of being a father and a husband,” adds Bird. “It just seemed like it would be a rich sort of thing to do to push each character in other directions.” And as with the original, the domestic side of the story is as important as the superheroics. “We had a rule on the first one that you don’t do something fantastic for very long without having something mundane pop up, and that you don’t do something mundane for very long without having something fantastic pop up,” says Bird. “That’s always been the dance of the idea. Certainly, we have fun with that in this one.”

For much more on Incredibles 2 – which opens in the US on June 15 and in the UK on July 13 – pick up a copy of the latest issue of Total Film magazine, which is on sale from Friday June 1 and comes with a special collectable Pixar supplement.

And if you never want to miss an issue of Total Film (or a special supplement), why not subscribe? You’ll save money on the cover price, and you’ll get every issue before it hits shelves. Pop on over to My Favourite Magazines for more info.