'The Adam Project' & Ryan Reynolds mock the multiverse in new trailer for Netflix's sci-fi flick

The multiverse is a relatively new concept in blockbuster cinema, but that didn't stop Netflix from making fun of its growing popularity with the official, action-packed trailer for The Adam Project. Right off the bat, young Adam Reed (Walker Scobell) brings a major paradox of time travel to the forefront of the conversation.

"Do you remember this?" he asks his older self (played by Ryan Reynolds). "I mean, if this is happening to me, it already happened to you, right? Unless it works more like a multiverse where each ripple creates an alternate timeline..."

"It's not a multiverse," Reynolds' exasperated character fires back. "God, we watched too many movies."

Teaming back up with Free Guy director Shawn Levy, the Deadpool alum steps into the role of a hotshot fighter pilot from the future who must join forces with his childhood self in order to prevent time travel from ever being invented. To do that, however, they need to seek out the progenitor of quantum displacement: their father (Mark Ruffalo). Jennifer Garner and Zoe Saldana round out the main cast.

The trailer, which makes excellent use of Boston's "Long Time," features early reactions from a number of critics who have compared the film to the early work of Steven Spielberg, describing it as instant classic in the vein of E.T. and Back to the Future. "The kid in me loves every second of this one," Reynolds tweeted Tuesday. "The adult does too, just needs glasses now to see it."

Watch below:

"What hooked me in was the idea of: What if you could make your peace with your own history?" Levy states in the official production notes. "What if you could, as an adult, go back and make peace with your younger self, and make your peace with the parents we failed to understand when we were growing up? What if you could go back and reconnect with your parents with the benefit of a lifetime of wisdom and perspective? Because more often than not, when we think back to our parents, there are stories we tell ourselves. Either they were perfect or they were the villain in my backstory. But generally, neither is true."

Reynolds adds that "the movie ended up being very personal for me. My father passed away years ago and for a long time I told myself these stories about him that helped me make sense of my own deficiencies or shortcomings. But when I came to terms with the fact that those were just stories, I realized that the reason I was really mad at my father wasn’t because he was a bad guy or because had screwed up as a dad — it was because he died. I was actually mad at my father because he died. And I thought it was really interesting that my character, Adam, gets to go back and see his dad, not only when he’s alive, but when they’re at the same age. They get to look at each other as peers for a moment, not father-son."

Levy and Reynolds produced the feature alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger. Mary McLaglen, Josh McLaglen, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen, George Dewey, Patrick Gooing, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin are executive producers.

The movie's screenplay was penned by Jonathan Tropper, T.S. Nowlin, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin.

The Adam Project arrives on Netflix next Friday — March 11.