Fantasy Football has arrived just in time to celebrate the holidays with family. The film stars EBONY's March 2022 cover star Marsai Martin ,who’s also an executive producer of the film. Rounding out the star-studded cast is Omari Hardwick, Kelly Rowland, Rome Flynn.

When it comes to checking all the boxes of a great comedy, Fantasy Football definitely meets the criteria. The film is an adventure involving family, football, gaming, STEM and a bunch of laughs.

Directed by Anton Cropper, Martin plays Callie Coleman, an avid gamer, football fanatic, and robotic phenom who gains the ability to magically control the performance of her father (Hardwick), a veteran running back with the Atlanta Falcons, by using his avatar on EA SPORTS Madden NFL 23. She turns him from a running back on the bench into a touchdown-scoring machine who takes the spot of a young, brash running back (Flynn).

With the support of her mother (Rowland) and her ongoing commitment to her friends on her robotics team, Callie must do all she can to keep her powers a secret as she discovers that family is the greatest game you can ever play.

Martin spoke with EBONY about the importance of highlighting Black girls in the gaming and STEM industries. “I didn't realize the true importance of it until I watched it for the first time,” said Martin. “I was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is like a big deal,’ I do this all for the people coming from behind me and the young Black girls that are watching. I think it's all very, very important to tell great stories in front of and behind the camera. I feel like when you watch the film, you not only see Black girls in STEM and in love with gaming but also the heartfeltness of the movie. The fact that even a young Black girl was a part of this film and was able to create and control the narrative is very inspiring in itself.”

“Looking at what we built, what we made as a team, as a cast, and as a crew, all the ups and downs, and the fact that we made a film is pretty dope. Anybody can watch it from the range of eight to 80,” continued Martin.

Known for his work on television on shows such as Monk, Everybody Hates Chris, Black-ish, House of Lies, and Mixed-ish, Fantasy Football is Cropper’s feature film debut. He shared his excitement about making his first film and what he hopes viewers will take away from the movie. “I really wanted to do a project that could bring people together. You can watch it with your little ones, your grandparents and everybody else,” shared Cropper. “I think second chances are a major theme of the film. Life sometimes doesn't go the way you think it's gonna go but that doesn't mean that you have to give up. I also wanted to make something that represented what families actually looked like. We're fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. So that was important to me.”

Hardwick's co-star Flynn expressed that he was proud to be a part of a film depicting another facet of family life. “I wanted to be a part of a movie that was telling the experience of a Black family from a positive perspective,” he said. “You don't see that much. You feel like this movie is going to honor this moment and hopefully, it will have an impact like the Freaky Friday movie did because it has similar components."

For Hardwick, the film allowed him to portray his comedic side. “The transition was not hard for me because as an actor, you sign up to play everything and all that is within me,” noted Hardwick. "I think as an actor, you have to play big, you have to play small but even playing small, you have to be big.”

Fantasy Football is currently streaming on Paramount +.