The film premiered at the Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia on August 8, 2022, and was released in the United States on August 12, 2022, on Paramount+. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics.
Jack Kincaid is The Guard, a superhero chosen by an alien artifact to inherit its powers and save the world, but his hero duties cause him to neglect his parental duties to his son Charlie, driving a wedge between them. When Charlie stays at Jack's house for his birthday, he invites his friends Berger, Lizzie, and Maya over, where they find Jack's underground lair and find out his secret identity. Meanwhile, weapons CEO Ansel Argon wants to use The Guard's power source for his sinister schemes.
After the kids use Jack's gadgets, Argon's head mercenary, Sean Irons, brings his team to track down the power source. The kids fight back against them, and Jack manages to arrive just in time, but when Berger sends the source through a portal connected to his locker at school, Argon uses one of Jack's gadgets to get his suit and kidnaps Berger to find the source. Charlie leads his friends, plus Irons, to get their gadgets to fight back. The showdown takes place during the school dance, ending with Charlie sending Argon through a portal to another dimension with a grenade. He ends up dancing with Maya and kissing her. Charlie ends up joining Jack so they can fight crime together.
Secret Headquarters was released on Paramount+ on August 12, 2022.[9] It was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on August 5, 2022 before moving to streaming on the same date.[10][11][12] The film's red carpet premiere took place at the Signature Theater in New York City on August 8, 2022.[13]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 38 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "There are far worse family viewing options, but given the talent assembled, Secret Headquarters is a disappointingly bland and muddled action movie."[15]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16]
