I have a sinking feeling that many people will see the word "Inhumans" in the title of this post and give it a hard pass. Which is understandable considering how much of a let-down the series has been. I really had high hopes for the series and the whole "theatrical release pair with a series" concept, but the whole thing was poorly executed ...in my opinion. But I'm not one of the many people pushing for
Marvel to just scrap the whole thing. Giving the background and history of
The Inhumans comics, there are tons of different ways that they can move past this initial misstep and refocus on giving fans a good project. In that spirit, I submit the following fancast to ...honestly, I just want to get it off my chest.
While this is a fancast/fan-fic primarily focused on
The Inhumans, it also includes characters from the broader
Marvel Comics Universe) as well as the
MarvelABC universe. However, I think it should avoid tying itself to the main
Marvel Studios/Marvel Cinematic Universe in any detailed way. Not that I'm against it, I just don't think it's as big of a deal as I use to make it. To me, this is just a way to help
Marvel Studios get more high-quality
Marvel movies out there for fans to enjoy.
As always, this is a detailed (a.k.a loooooong) read, but I think some of you will enjoy it. So please check it out and please feel free to let me know what you think - good, bad, or otherwise.
Red Text = hyperlinks
INDEX
Part 1: Fancast
1.1 The Royal Family
1.2 Key Players
1.3 Small Part Players
Part 2: Fan-fiction
2.1 Prologue,
2.2 Sample of "Inhumans:Imperium (LINK)
Part 3: Production Details
3.1 Production Company
3.2 Budget
3.3 Director
PART 1
THE ROYAL FAMILY
Blackagar Boltagon (Black Bolt)
Actor Anson Mount (age 44)
Personality - Quiet. Responsible. Rigid. Observant. Farsighted. Focused. Restrained to the point of appearing uncaring. Stoic. Intensely private.
Enhanced Abilities - Black Bolt's primary superhuman/inhuman ability is the power to absorb, harness, and manipulate atomic and subatomic particle energy and channel it into various offensive and defensive phenomena. When the energy is channeled through the speech centers of his brain, it turns his voice into a massively destructive wave of sound and concussive energy. When channeled through other areas of his central nervous system, this energy grants him abilities such as anti-gravitational flight, exponentially increased physical strength, near invulnerability, enhanced senses and cognitive abilities, and the power to emit a large wave of electrical and concussive energy from an area directly anterior to his prefrontal cortex. However, this energy is typically narrowed into a tightly focused energy beam via a conduit situated on either his royal crown or the helmet of a specially built exosuit. Unaided by this harnessed particle energy, Black Bolt's inhuman physiology gives him enhanced strength compared to the average human, allowing him to lift anywhere between 800 to 1000 lbs with maximum effort.
Why I chose to stick with Anson Mount - I decided to keep Anson Mount in the role of Black Bolt for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I think that he is a very talented actor. I believe that he has given a pretty good performance in the role so far ...considering what he had to work with. His presence as Black Bolt would add a level of familiarity for some fans, despite the fact that what I'm proposing would be something of a pseudo reboot. Also, I think that he and Serinda Swan display a lot of chemistry together onscreen and that the negative reaction to the show from fans and critics alike would only motivate him to redeem the character and project. Ideally, Black Bolt would be written as a strong & silent (no pun intended) leader steering his family and his nation through the turbulent times that come with sweeping social changes and the rise of an old threat.
Medusalith Amaquelin-Boltagon (Medusa)
Actress Serinda Swan (age 33)
Personality - Protective. Courageous. Strong. Decisive. Intelligent. Loyal. Intuitive. Determined. Competitive. Can be overly critical of herself and others. Confrontational. Intimidating. Blunt.
Enhanced Abilities - Medusa's primary superhuman/inhuman ability is her prehensile hair which she can wield psycho-kinetically in a number of offensive and defensive ways. A psionic field permeates each mutagenically altered hair-cells of her scalp and allows her the ability to lift objects exceedingly heavier than what she would be able to lift through traditional means while dispersing physical elements like weight, force, speed and resistance away from the rest of her body. Each strand of her hair has a level of durability and tensile strength equivalent to steel wire of the same thickness and length. In the past Medusa's has used her hair to protect herself and others from things like the impact of an exploding landmine, a wave of high-speed shrapnel, and the crushing weight of a falling stone pillar. Unaided by her hair, Medusa's inhuman physiology gives her enhanced strength compared to the average human, allowing her to lift anywhere between 800 to 1000 lbs with maximum effort.
Why I chose to stick with Serinda Swan - As with Anson Mount I decided to keep Ms Swan in the role of Medusa because I think she is a talented actress, I enjoyed her performance in the role (despite disliking many other aspects of the show), and I think that she too would be especially motivated to salvage the damage done to the character by the series. I honestly believe that, given a good script, a good director, a sufficient budget, and a more amenable filming schedule, Serinda could turn Medusa into a fan-favorite for Marvel. Medusa has typically been portrayed as a strong protector and leader who is unafraid to let her enemies (and occasionally allies) know that she is a queen and will always be treated accordingly. Judging from the little bit of the show that I was able to sit through, I felt Swan conveyed all of those qualities - as well as creativity and fearlessness - in spades.
Actor Christian Kane (age 45)
Personality - Strong-willed. Direct. Dedicated. Quick and effective. Practical. Action-oriented. Confident. Great in a crisis. Courageous. Reactionary. Somewhat impulsive. Uncomplicated. Can be dogmatic about his "personal code" but isn't afraid to bend or break "other people's" rules. Can be stubborn. Prone to outbursts of anger.
Enhanced Abilities - Gorgon possesses a variety of superhuman abilities including enhanced senses that allow him to track a target in almost complete darkness as well as adequately defend himself while blindfolded. His strength level is greater than the average Inhuman's as he can lift between 3000 to 4000 lbs with maximum exertion. He can reach a maximum running speed of approximately 50 mph. He possesses an enhanced level of resistance to injury due to the increased density of his skin and muscle tissue. And last, but not least, Gorgon possesses the ability to create immense seismic shocks by stomping the ground with his massive, Minotaur-like legs.
Why I chose Christian Kane - While I think Eme Ikwuakor is a good actor and could probably redeem the character if given the chance, I would still recast the role of Gorgon with Christian Kane. Honestly, this is probably who I would have went with from the start if I worked for Marvel, but... c'est la vie. Christian's work on shows like "Leverage" and most recently "The Librarians" show how good he is in roles that call for a skilled and very capable tough guy that is also darkly funny and likeable. Ideally, Gorgon would be portrayed as a gruff, practical, and highly skilled war-dog who deeply cares for the people he's working with... even if he has a hard time showing it. He should seem tightly wound and likely to explode at any moment, but also avoid coming across like a one-dimensional meathead. So, while Karnak is the guy to call for uncovering plans inside of plans and wrestling with big picture issues, Gorgon is the one to call when things call for a more fast and furious, "no guts, no glory" approach. I can almost hear people mumbling "..nah, that guy's too short for the role". But I'm guessing that he would have to wear some sort of digitigrade stilts to get the look and walk or Gorgon down just right - which would add at least 6 to 7 inches to his height. And before I wrap this up, let me just address the elephant in the room. I know that "white washing" a "race swapped" character pretty much guarantees that this movie would never get made, but I think casting the right actor for the role is always the best decision and I know that this is all just wishful thinking anyway. So yeah...Christian Kane for Gorgon.
Karnak Mander-Azur (Karnak)
Actor Brian Tee (age 40)
Personality - Independent. Extremely Intelligent. Analytical. Strategic. Self-confident. Decisive. Disciplined. Dutiful. Meticulous. Judgmental. Fatalistic. Arrogant. Intense. Quietly critical of the world around him. Can be insensitive to the needs of others. Uneasy with personal relationships.
Enhanced Abilities - Through a series of tightly held mental practices and studies, Karnak has gained an extrasensory ability to perceive stress points, fracture planes, and other flaws in all things - be it a physical object, a psychological concept, a strategy of attack, or otherwise. As a result of all these factors, Karnak has become an unsurpassed martial artist and strategist. In addition, Karnak's inhuman physiology gives him enhanced strength compared to the average human, allowing him to lift anywhere between 800 to 1000 lbs with maximum effort.
Why I chose Brian Tee - Karnak is an intense and relatively menacing character, or at least he should be. Ken Leung (the actor that currently portrays Karnak) hasn't really brought either of those qualities to the role. Watching Brian Tee on the hospital drama Chicago Med has shown me that he knows how to deliver nuanced performances that feel real and unscripted. While that show's writing can be a little heavy handed at times, Tee has delivered some solid performances that show a man who is quietly intense, analytical, and disciplined without being totally devoid of emotion. In the end, I chose Brian Tee to play Karnak because I believe that he could give viewers a character that comes across as self-assured and slightly arrogant - but never pretentious, extremely intelligent, highly logical - but not wooden or robotic, and seems to be playing 3-dimensional chess while everyone else is just playing checkers.
Triton Mander-Azur (Triton)
Actor Steven Yeun (age 33)
Personality - Energetic. Adventurous. Charming. Smart. Spontaneous. Outgoing. Flexible. Easily bored. Tends to be short-sighted. Impulsive. Feels confined when he is required to stick to a structured routine. A risk taker. An excellent improviser. Thinks quick on his feet.
Enhanced Abilities - As a result of the aquatic and amphibious adaptations that the terrigenesis process endowed him with, Triton possesses a variety of superhuman enhancements, including: being able to survive and adapt to underwater environments, being able to breathe water as well as air, the ability to endure the high water pressure changes that occur beneath the sea, the ability to withstand extremely cold temperatures in any environment, an enhanced lung capacity and stamina in and out of water, enhanced senses in and out of water, and the power to swim at incredible speeds. Triton also appears to be aging at a much slower rate than other Inhumans (pre- or post- terrigenesis) as he physically appears much younger than his younger brother Karnak. This may be the result of some form of mildly accelerated cellular regeneration related to transformed physiology. Triton's strength level is greater than the average Inhumans as he can lift between 2000 to 2500 lbs with maximum exertion.
Why I chose Steven Yeun - While Triton has been a main character of the Inhumans from it earliest beginnings, his personality has never been all that fleshed out. So I consider Triton to be something of a blank slate and opted to make him the "live in the moment", adventurous member of the group. Ideally, Triton would be the polar opposite of his younger brother in that he is generally optimistic, routinely repels against the grind and repetition of sticking to routines - opting to dive fully into new experiences and the unknown at every opportunity. There should be something of a friendly rivalry between the brothers as so many aspects of their lives are so different but still remind them of how their lives could have turned out if only one or two things had gone differently in their shared past. In the end, I chose Steven Yeun for Triton because I think he did great work on "The Walking Dead" fleshing out an adventurous, youthful, smart and charming character in Glenn (at least for those first few seasons, I didn't really stick around) and he is very likeable and funny in interviews and in his other work.
Crystal Amaquelin (Crystal)
Actress Elizabeth Lail (age 25)
Personality - Warm. Affectionate. Energetic. Optimistic. Supportive. Likes to stay active. Tends to bring out the best in others. Expressive. Artistic. Trustworthy. Personable. Can be overly protective. Often puts others needs before her own. Eager to please. Prone to being overly sensitive, especially to criticism. Dislikes being alone.
Enhanced Abilities - Crystal possesses the ability to mentally manipulate the four classical elements of fire, water, earth, and air. As a result of this ability, the young princess can perform a number of superhuman acts, such as summon wind currents that allow her to levitate or take flight, create seismic tremors of up to a 6.8 on the Richter scale, control the temperature of water to create sheets of ice or scalding hot pools, as well as psionically manipulate the size and movement of flames with her thoughts. Due to her youth and inexperience however, the full extent of her powers has not yet been fully realized. Unaided by here elemental powers, Crystal's inhuman physiology gives her moderately enhanced strength compared to normal humans, allowing her lift anywhere between 800 to 1000 lbs with maximum effort.
Why I chose Elizabeth Lail - To be completely blunt, I HATE the actress that is currently portraying Crystal in the series. Okay, "hate" is a strong word, so I'll say that I strongly dislike her work up to this point. She is, in my opinion, one of the worst parts of the series. And while I would gladly take anyone over what we have now, I think Elizabeth Lail would give us a Crystal that's more than a cardboard cutout meant to draw in those folks who want a little bit of soapy romance with their CBM's. While I'm not too familiar with Lail's work, I've seen a few clips of her doing auditions for movies and shows, as well as some clips of her playing Anna on the show "Once Upon A Time" and she really pulls off that whole optimistic and energetic, fish out of water vibe really well. And while I would hope that optimism wouldn't be dialed up to "bubbly Disney Princess" in the Inhumans movie, Crystal would need to be a supportive voice in the group. Ideally, Crystal would also be portrayed as a fighter and firm believer in her family and her people - but still be willing to call out a loved one whenever he or she is in the wrong. She would be someone who is warm and selfless - but not a pushover. And most of all, she would act as a reminder to the rest of the royal family of the future that they are fighting to protect.
KEY PLAYERS
Tar-Vash (Fleet Commander Tar-Vash)
Actor Demetrius Grosse (age 36)
Personality - Meticulous. Demanding. Singularly focused. Idealistic. Intimidating. A good judge of other intentions. Ambitious. Passionate about his beliefs. A brilliant military strategist. Extremely intelligent. Arrogant. Rigid. Has a barely controlled cruelty streak. Disdainful of those he perceives to be weak or beneath him.
Enhanced Abilities - Due to his Kree physiology, Tar-Vash possesses all of the various superhuman attributes common among his race, including superhuman strength and incredible durability and resistance to injury. In addition, Tar-Vash has had genetic and cybernetic enhancements that allow him to almost instantaneously adapt to new and/or hostile alien environments.
Who is he? Tar-Vash is a Kree commander who expands the empires frontiers to the solar system containing the planet Contraxia. For a few years he and his forces have been engaged in a bitter war against the planet's native inhabitants, but agreed to a ceasefire with the planet's leaders after receiving orders to do so from Kree Imperial Command. Tar-Vash and his co-conspirator, Chief Medical Officer, Minn-Erva have also used their autonomy and distance from the Kree home world of Hala to revive the abandoned biological weapons program that created earth's Inhumans -using Contraxian natives as their test subjects.
Arminius Carraz (Arminius)
Actor Odeh Fehr (age 46)
Personality - Intelligent. Inspiring. Extremely intuitive. Dedicated. Compassionate to a fault. A gifted strategist. Analytical. Committed. Firm but fair. Hard to get close to. Highly protective. A quick and creative thinker. Rises to the occasion when leadership is called for. Tends to doubt himself in private moments. Rarely at peace with himself.
Enhanced Abilities - Due to his Contraxian physiology, Arminius Carraz possesses all of the various superhuman attributes common among his race, including the ability to supercharge the cells of his body with an unknown form of radiant energy that temporarily gives him superhuman strength and incredible durability and resistance to injury.
Who is he? Before the invasion Arminius, worked as a chemical engineer in the region of Harteles. During the Kree invasion of his home world, he became a widely respected resistance fighter and tactician that helped to keep his people together and motivated during one of the most devastating times in their history. Now in the ceasefire period, he is helping to lead peace talks and negotiations between Contraxia and the Kree Empire as well as trying to find a way to reignite the dimming sun that his planet orbits.
Arminius Carraz is a very loosely based on the character Philip Hart from the Marvel comic Jack of Hearts
Chief Medical Officer Minn-Erva (Doctor Minerva)
Actress Gina Torres (age 48)
Personality - Single minded. Extremely intelligent. Self-assured. Driven. Arrogant. Organized. A long-range planner. Adaptable. Values structure and efficiency. Amoral. Ambitious to a fault. Dismissive. Sadistic. Ruthless. Manipulative. Sociopathic.
Enhanced Abilities - Due to her Kree physiology, Minn-Erva possesses all of the various superhuman attributes common among her race, including superhuman strength and incredible durability and resistance to injury. Similar to Tar-Vash , Minn-Erva has had genetic and cybernetic enhancements that allow her to almost instantaneously adapt to new and/or hostile alien environments. In addition, although it is not an enhanced ability, Minn-Erva possesses a genius-level intellect, even by Kree standards.
Who is she? Before the invasion of Contraxia, Minn-Erva served as a master geneticist on the Kree home world of Hala. When she was tasked with leading a team of scientists performing pre-invasion, first-contact experiments on a small group of abducted Contraxians, she made great strides in gaining a better understanding of the subjects and the uniqueness of their genetic code. However, the subjects did not live for very long after the studies began as Minn-Evra procedures were often too much for their bodies to withstand. Before more subjects could be sent to her and her team, orders to invade the planet and establish outposts in Contraxia's solar system as a preemptive measure against a larger foe prevented her from gaining further knowledge about the alien lifeforms. Obsessed with the thought of how much potential lied in the Contraxian physiology, Minn-Erva requested to become a chief medical officer with the invading forces and convinced Commander Tar-Vash to allow her to continue her experiments.
Chancellor Carthus (Carthus)
Actor Callum Keith Rennie (age 57)
Personality - Inspirational. Wise. Observant. Articulate. Warm. Patient. Intuitive. Accessible. Intelligent. A "jack of all trades". Humble. Resourceful. Funny. Always seeking a higher understanding of things. Non-confrontational but does enjoy debating. Generous to a fault.
Enhanced Abilities - Carthus' primary superhuman/inhuman ability is the power to psychometrically read "imprints" of a person's or an object's past by simply touching it. Fortunately, this power takes concentration to enact, and does not prevent him from having physical contact with the world around him. He also displays extremely heightened mental abilities that allow for enhanced cognition, accelerated thought processes, and an encyclopedic knowledge of vast amount of facts and data. In addition, his inhuman physiology gives him moderately enhanced strength compared to normal humans, allowing him to lift anywhere between 800 to 1000 lbs with maximum effort.
Who is he? Prior to his terrigenesis, Carthus was an associate engineer in one of Attilan's main power plants who spent most of his off-time chasing women, drinking, getting into fights, and barrelling headlong into life's next thrill. After reluctantly agreeing to undergo the terrigenesis process, Carthus became a new man - inside and out. His physical appearance changed from an attractive young man to a blue skinned, demon looking form - complete with large red spiked horns that protruded from his head. His mind and personality changed as well, as he quickly became more and more introspective and discerning in his day to day pursuits and dedicated his life to internalizing large volumes of knowledge about a wide range of subjects. He was quickly given a position in the learning center of Attilan, and became a renowned educator, historian, chancellor, and tutor for the royal court. As a result, Carthus as been a lifelong fixture in royal palace, and became something of a father figure to Blackagar and Maximus after their parents died.
Science Officer Sirah-Rehz (Sirah)
Actress Chyler Leigh (age 35)
Personality - Extremely intuitive, Perceptive, Complex. Secretive. Altruistic. Fights tirelessly for an idea that she believes in. Sensitive but also very good at hiding her feelings. Has trouble with blindly following orders. Often has trouble with feelings of guilt. Cautious.
Enhanced Abilities - As a second generation (or "pink") Kree, Sirah-Rehz only possesses a few of the enhanced abilities associated with first-generation (or "blue") Kree. So while her strength level is greater than that of a normal human of her height, weight, and age - allowing her the ability to lift anywhere between 600 to 800 lbs with maximum effort - it is far lesser than that of a first-gen Kree of comparable dimensions. However, she does have the ability to reproduce with certain non-Kree humanoid races.
Who is she? Sirah-Rez is a second-generation (or "pink") Kree, meaning that her human-like phenotype and physical appearance is the result of her race breeding with other species of alien life centuries ago in a bid to correct their stagnant genetic evolution. Sirah was a part of the initial invasion of Contraxia and found herself deeply and irreversibly affected by the horrendous acts that the Kree Empire did to the natives of the planet - on the battlefield and in the labs of her Science Outpost. Feeling like an anomaly among her people for all of her life, those feelings only grew when she was tortured by feelings of guilt, concern, and empathy while none of her fellow officers seemed to be bothered in the least by their military campaign. At some point in her past she began to feed information and supplies to the Contraxian Resistance right up until Imperial Command agreed to a cease fire with Contraxia. During the period of relative peace, Sirah struck up an emotional and physical relationship with the resistance leader Arminius Carraz - who she once referred to as "the only being in the entire galaxy that seemed to understand me".
Sirah-Rez is a very loose, role-reversed interpretation of the character Marie Hart (the mother of the Marvel character Jack of Hearts).
SMALL PART PLAYERS
Actress Ruby Modine (age 27)
Nafia is one of Arminius' closest and most trusted fighters and has a history with Minn-Erva. She is a skilled hand-to-hand fighter and is very familiar with several forms of firearms - both Contraxian and Kree.
Actor Kendrick Sampson (age 29)
Kwame is a loyal resistance fighter who was rescued by Arminius and his militia regiment when an unforseen polar vortex from the northern artic region pole killed almost everyone in his settlement within minutes. Since joining Arminius' group, Kwame has become a more than capable pilot that is familiar with both Contraxian and Kree shuttles.
Lieutenant Kona-Lor (Kona-Lor)
Actress Ronda Rousey (age 30)
Lieutenant Kona Lor serves under Tar-Vash as something of a personal bodyguard, an internal spy, and the head of a little known black op's unit that Tar-Vash uses outside of the Kree Empire's official command. Even among her fellow Kree soldiers she is feared for her fighting abilities, stealth, speed, and general cold-heartedness.
Drav Andvari (Hard Drive)
Actor Graham Phillips (age 24)
Drav is one of the new generation of Inhumans who helped to establish relations and lines of communication between Inhumans and humans once the King and Queen decided to start moving Attilan from an isolation nation based on a strict caste system. After spending a month working with SHIELD agent Daisy Johnson, Drav returned to Attilan and became a technology advisor for the royal court.
PART2
PROLOGUE
EXTERIOR: ORBITING THE PLANET OF CONTRAXIA – 60 EARTH YEARS AGO
The alien planet Contraxia rotates slowly and silently. In the distance lies a violet interstellar cloud - an accumulation of dust and gas against the darkness of space. The planet ahead is large with areas of land and blue oceans visible in some areas. Unlike Earth, however, it has overly large frozen poles to its north and south.
An array of alien-looking technology can be seen orbiting the planet. Satellites, warships, freighters, and more - all belonging to the Kree Empire and quietly hovering around the planet.
INTERIOR: THE KREE IMPERIAL WARSHIP DEIMOS – MAIN BRIDGE
Kree Fleet Commander Tar-Vash stands next to a table with a holographic display of Contraxia rotating inches above it in midair. White dots representing the various Kree vessels orbiting the planet can be seen floating around the light-based image. Miniscule text readouts appear then disappear at varying intervals – listing data about each of the vessels. The commander is an imposing figure even against the dimly lit and stark militaristic imagery of the warship’s bridge.
Several feet behind the commander, an armed Kree soldier brings a trio of human looking individuals to a waiting point at the edge of the command center. All three members of the group would pass for normal Earthlings/Terrans if it wasn’t for the fact that their eyes constantly emitted a faint white light. The group is a delegation from Contraxia. The older man at the head of the envoy is named Arminius – a Contraxian resistance fighter and reluctant leader that Tar has dealt with on a few occasions since the Kree and Contraxians agreed to a cease fire. The younger looking man and woman behind him act as his guards. While the three Contraxians look battle hardened, they are not as physically imposing as the Kree surrounding them. Still, they do not show any outwards signs of being intimidated by their hosts.
Ever so slightly, the stony glare cemented on Tar-Vash’s face begins to give way to a look of disgust as he sniffs the air. Without turning to acknowledge Arminius or waiting for the delegation to be announced, Tar-Vash asks…
Tar-Vash: “And what, may I ask, troubles you today dear regent?”
The voice is deep and resounding – as if being amplified by the walls of a tunnel. Many of the Kree soldiers stop what they are doing to observe the meeting.
Arminius: “We have lost a lot since you creatures…”
The Contraxian absent-mindedly lets the degrading term escape from his mouth, showing just how new the role of diplomat is to him. After taking a moment to remind himself of just how much is at stake for himself, his party and his entire planet, he begins again.
Arminius: “That is to say... we have lost a lot since you KREE invaded our planet. Our civilization has been set back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Entire blood lines have been lost to this conflict between our races. We have all seen and done things in the name of war, and in the name of survival, that have permanently diminished our inner lights...”
The young male Contraxian, whose name is Kwame, begins to lower his head a little as Arminius’ words strike a deeply personal chord within him. The young woman standing beside him lays a steadying palm on his shoulder while keeping her eyes squarely trained on Tar-Vash. Almost immediately, the young man raises his head, stiffens his resolve, and rejoins his comrade in the act of staring daggers at the enemy forces surrounding them.
Arminius: “But since the start of this truce between our two worlds, my people have not asked for much from the Empire – even as we claw our way back up from the dirt. And as best as we can, we have made every effort to honor the terms of the cease fire…”
Arminius looks around the bridge at the faces of the soldiers, then at a monitor showing a display of Contraxia similar to the hologram that Tar-Vash refuses to turn away from. The white dots surrounding Contraxia on this display are far more numerous than those shown on Tar-Vash’s hologram – making it unclear as to which display is correct.
Arminius: “…no matter how often your men have tried to provoke us into doing otherwise.”
With this last comment, Tar-Vash begins to turn his head slightly towards his right shoulder. After a few moments, he returns his gaze to the rotating hologram. Shortly afterwards, the booming voice returns.
Tar-Vash: “Please continue, regent…as I am sure that there is more to this visit than simply recounting our shared history.”
Feeling that he is running the risk of being prematurely dismissed by the Fleet Commander, Arminius decides to cut directly to the chase and make his request plainly and quickly.
Arminius: “Is it true that you have the means to reignite our sun?”
This simple and direct question finally gains the commander’s attention. As he finally turns around to face Arminius, the click of his boots against the floor of the ship’s bridge breaks the deafening silence left in the wake of the Contraxian’s question. The large, blue skinned commander begins to make his way towards his visitors – his eyes now locked on Arminius and with his hands clasped behind his back. Once the two leaders are face to face, everyone around them becomes noticeably anxious. And after a few tense moments of staring each other down, Tar-Vash coldly answers...
Both the significance of the confession and the indifference that Tar-Vash displayed while giving it, strike Arminius like a blow to the chest. Yet, instead of weakening his spirit, it ignites a near uncontrollable anger in the former physics professor turned resistance leader. Images of his people freezing and starving as their planet grows colder bombard his mind like shrapnel. His breathing accelerates as his open hands quickly become fists. His jaw clinches. His eyes grow brighter as the light within each seems to intensify. Following Arminius’ lead, the two guards accompanying him aboard the warship take defensive positions at his side. As if on cue, the skin of all three Contraxians takes on a dark purplish-black hue. Their facial features become harder to make out in this form, except for the brightly glowing – and now crimson - light being emitted from their eyes.
At once, each armed sentry in the room draws his or her gun on the three members of the envoy, as the Kree officer Kona-Lor attempts to step between Tar-Vash and Arminius. She stops, however, when the commander makes a slight hand gesture ordering her to hold.
During all the posturing, however, Tar-Vash still appears relatively unmoved – simply watching the display of power before him with only mild curiosity.
Arminius: “And you choose to watch from up here in your war machine as thousands of innocent lights succumb needlessly to The Great Winter?!? Knowing that you could save what is left of this planet with one simple act?!?!
Tar-Vash: “Well…we are simple ‘creatures’ Arminius. And to a simple creature, the enemy of his enemy is his friend...is it not?”
Anger steadily swells in Arminius. The fact that, in his fully energized form, he could strike Tar-Vash with a lethal blow before a single shot was fired by any of the armed Kree soldiers seems to be the only thought filling his mind. But the truth is, there is another thought that keeps him from striking out at this symbol of so much misery in his life.
The thought of his unborn child.
What would happen to his child if he were to die on this vessel? And as the recent memory of placing his hand on the belly of the child’s mother and feeling of life within suddenly floods his mind, Arminius’ anger slowly gives way to tactical reasoning. Within a few moments, both he and his guards “power down” to their normal state.
Realizing that Arminius won’t be easily baited into breaking the cease-fire, Tar-Vash orders his men to lower their weapons before starting to make his way back to the holographic display.
Tar-Vash: “You claim that saving your dying sun and thereby saving your planet is…how did you put it…a ‘simple act’?”
Instead of returning to his previous spot beside the holo-display, Tar-Vash moves past the device and towards his command chair. As he passes the display, however, he swipes his hand through the hologram, which seems to disintegrate like sand being blown away by a strong wind. Once seated, he presses a few buttons on his armrest, lightly straightens his uniform, then motions for the delegation to stand before him before continuing.
Tar-Vash: “Then by all means, tell me all about your plans.”
Arminius takes a moment to think about his next move. Given his scientific background, he knew and understood some of the most complex parts of what he was about to propose and felt confident in his ability to make his case. He also knew that the Kree commander sitting before him was well acquainted with many fields of study beyond military strategy – including particle physics and engineering. The thing that gives him pause, however, is the fact that Tar-Vash’s normally cold and indifferent eyes have narrowed ever so slightly into a look that feels more predatory.
Arminius: “As you are aware, when the Kree empire establishes outposts this far away from the home world Hala, the ships and ground vehicles of its armada must rely – in part - on an extremely efficient liquid fuel called ‘zero-fluid’ in order keep you soldiers from becoming overly reliant on the resources of alien worlds. It is our belief that, if a large enough store of this fuel source were introduced into the radiative zone of our Sun, it would begin a process that would restore the levels of hydrogen ions needed to sustain the nuclear reactions at its core and reenergize it to life-sustaining levels.
“So, we humbly ask, Commander, that you retrofit one of your exploratory star-probes so that it can carry a payload of Zero-Fluid into …”
Arminius unintentionally pauses as the Kree Science Officer Sirah-Rehz enters the command center. As a second-generation Kree, Sirah-Rehz looks more like a regular human than anyone else on-board. The two break their eye contact quickly for fear of drawing any attention to themselves.
Trying to gloss over the momentary pause, Arminius continues.
Arminius: “...into our Sun and reignite its light. Our reports show that the Dreadnought-class warship Basilisk currently has enough zero-fluid in storage to allow for this mission.”
The inexperienced diplomat pauses again before continuing.
Arminius: “I know that it would be a waste of both our time if I tried to make a plea for compassion from you, Tar-Vash. So instead, I’ll appeal to your self-interests. Your empire, your people, your technology…it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen. We both know that you could simply wait us out and claim the frozen planet left behind when the last of us has fallen in battle. But I don’t believe that’s what YOU want. While the empire see’s our world as just another foothold in its bid to rule the known universe, you and your doctor clearly have other plans for our world and its people.”
The young female Contraxian, whose name is Nafia, turns her head to lock her eyes on the Kree geneticist, Dr. Minn-Erva, who has overseen many cruel and inhuman experiments on the population of Contraxia.
INTERIOR: KREE HOLDING AREA – UNDISCLOSED LOCATION ON CONTRAXIA
The young Nafia, seen now as a preteen girl, stands in formation with other young girls as Doctor Minn-Erva picks out suitable candidates for one of her early experiments. The scientist forcefully grabs the young girl by the jaw – examining her face and eyes.
Minn-Erva: “Hmmm…such brilliance for one so young. ...Keep.”
The doctor carelessly tosses the young girl away before moving on to the next girl.
EXTERIOR: THE HALLWAY LEADING TO THE KREE HOLDING AREA
As the group of chosen girls are being led from the holding area down a brightly lit hall, we hear the unchosen girls muffled screams for help. The young Nafia covers her ears and continues walking.
END FLASHBACK:
INTERIOR: KREE IMPERIAL WARSHIP DEIMOS – MAIN BRIDGE
Arminius: “So while we have no idea what you and that…creature... "
Minn-Erva only offers up a small, sinister smile in response to Arminius’ verbal jab, before turning her gaze to Nafia. Although she doesn’t show it, a small shiver runs down the young Contraxian’s spine.
Arminius: “… truly have planned for our world, I’m betting that this endless winter is as much an enemy to you as it is to us.”
Tar-Vash takes a moment to appear pensive before rising from his chair and pacing back and forth in front of it.
Tar-Vash: “You are correct, regent. The Basilisk does indeed have large stores of zero-fluid within its hull. But those stores act as a buffer to allow our generators time to cool, reset, and recalibrate. They are not a backup. Even before that fuel can settle in its vats, legions of supply ships start making claims to siphon barrels of it away. So, if I were to allow you to take those vats and jettison them into your Sun for this experiment, I would have to beachhead about a third of my armada on your planet. Placing many of my soldiers in harm’s way.
Now, I could order the engineers to ration small amounts of fluid and have it stored separately until you have as much as you need. But I’m guessing something of this scale would need at least 10 to 15 thousand tons of zero-fluid if it had any hopes of succeeding. That would take at least a full cycle to collect. You wouldn’t know this because you have no experience with the substance, but it grows more and more unstable the longer it remains stagnant. I would guess that about half way through the rationing process there would be a massive explosion at the containment area – which would cause an unbelievable amount of destruction on your planet and leave an untold amount of dead and dying ‘lights’ on both sides.
While pacing and appearing to be deep in thought, Arminius notices that Tar-Vash seems to be making his way to Sirah-Rehz.
Tar-Vash: “Ah…there you are Officer. Maybe you can help me with this problem that I now find clawing at the base of my skull...”
Without trying to appear suspicious, Arminius begins to speak in an attempt to draw Tar-Vash’s attention back to himself.”
Arminius: “Commander I believe that we have a means of addressing issues of instability…”
With unbelievable speed and strength, Tar-Vash grabs Officer Sirah-Rehz by the throat, lifts the small Kree woman into the air, and draws a short-serrated blade from his uniform with his free hand.
Tar-Vash: “Maybe you can tell me how a weak, ignorant little creature like our Arminius here knows so much about our precious zero-fluid. And how his request nearly matches the coded message that you sent to Joras-Kyl back on Hala!!”
To Arminius, everything begins to move in slow motion as he watches his partner and the mother of his unborn child fight defiantly to free herself from Tar-Vash’s grip. He and his guards instinctively power up, but a mass of Kree guards begin attacking them with heavy fists and charged staff weapons before they can take a single step towards the commander. Lying on the floor and moments away from being beaten unconscious, Arminius watches as the world grows darker and quieter – focusing on the Kree woman he has grown to love and imagining that he can hear the heartbeat of his unborn child
FADE OUT
SAMPLE OF "INHUMANS:IMPERIUM" (LINK)
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PART 3
DETAILS
INHUMANS:IMPERIUM (A MARVEL/WALT DISNEY PICTURES)
Production Companies
Marvel Entertainment (taking a position that Marvel Studios once held under the "Marvel" umbrella)
Walt Disney Pictures
IMAX
Distributors
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Walt Disney Streaming
Budget
$140 to 145 million
Producer
Bryan Fuller
Director
Jose Padilha