John Krasinski is a Robot In Netflix's Next Gen Trailer & Poster

The Office and A Quiet Place's John Krasinski voices a kindly robot in the trailer for Netflix's animated film, Next Gen. The company spent approximately $30 million in order to win a bidding competition for the worldwide rights to Next Gen earlier this year, at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

Written/directed by Kevin R. Adams and Joe Ksander (the art director and animation director on 9, respectively), Next Gen was developed by the Canadian studio Tangent Animation (Ozzy) and adapted from the comic 7723 by Wang Nima. Krasinski lends his voice to the film for the role of 7723: a top-secret combat robot who, in Next Gen's future setting, joins forces with a "rebellious" girl in order to stop a madman from executing his plans for "technological world domination" (per the official synopsis). Joining Krasinski in the voice cast here are Costance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians), Charlyne Yi (Steven Universe), and Michael Peña (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as the scrappy pup Momo.

Netflix has now released an official Next Gen trailer that quickly introduces the film's various players and touches on some of the major plot points in the film. The clip also offers a sneak peek at the character Justin Pin (Jason Sudeikis) - who, between his sandals, casual wear, and man-bun, has a pretty stereotypical Silicon Valley tech industry look - and Dr. Tanner Rice (David Cross), the scientist responsible for designing 7723 in the first place. You can watch said trailer in the space above, then check out the Next Gen poster below.

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Interestingly, Next Gen is one of two upcoming releases that explore Iron Giant-esque tales of teenaged girls befriending giant robots and getting caught up in grand adventures along the way. The other film, of course, is December's Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, starring Hailee Steinfeld as Bee's new human companion. Both movies are rather different otherwise, what with Bumblebee being live-action and taking place in an '80s setting that's a far cry from Next Gen's world of tomorrow (one that features technology like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-style talking doors that love being opened and closed).

All things considered, the animation in Next Gen is pretty shiny for what was surely a lower-budgeted production than similar CGI offerings from major animation studios like Disney and Pixar. The film itself looks to blend humor and heart with thoughtful subject matter, as evidenced by the trailer's hints at a story that deals with social injustice and warfare, among other things. Similarly, the Next Gen synopsis describes the movie as being about "the bittersweet power of memories" - something that suggests the actual film may yet prove to be more poignant than its preview lets on (in a good way, mind you).

Next Gen begins streaming through Netflix next month on Friday, September 7.