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Marvel
Joe Marvel is a night janitor at a corporate building in downtown Minneapolis/St. Paul. Joe's life is a lousy life. He wakes up, goes to work, eats, goes to bed, and so on. He lives with his three nephews, all classified as juvenile delinquents forced to live with their supposedly well-off, tough uncle. The kids respect him, but they can't stay out of trouble. He lives in suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul. The building Joe works at is Technology Empire on the brink of discovering the key to enhance human performance, but the project is under raps. Joe is only the janitor, but one unlucky night, he is attacked, and after an attempted struggle, rendered unconscious.

The next morning he wakes up in his own bed, his window open and with a hand over (or at least he thinks so). His nephews seem to think he buffer and looks as good as ever, yet he feels horrible. As the day goes on, Joe lies around the house, mopping, hoping for something to do. Finally, he decides to go for a bike ride. As he rides he begins to go down a hill at too fast a speed, so he applies the brakes, only to fly off the bike and skid head first down the hill. As he gets up, his face all bloody yet not bruised, he notices that he has overturned the asphalt on the hill, as if he dug his own dredge in the road.

He returns home pondering what just happened to him. He tells his nephews; they check out the hill, and come up with this wild idea that their uncle has superhuman strength. They go through several tests, such a breaking stuff, flight, lifting heavy objects, and even telekinesis, and of which he succeeds. One test also involves lifting a sunken ship of the Lake Michigan. The next day a bank is being robbed, yet Joe refuses to intervene, much to his nephews' chagrin. Eventually they make a deal that the nephews must wash the dishes and laundry for an entire month, and Joe jumps his way to downtown Minneapolis to kick ass.

During this scene, Joe also meets the antagonist: an invisible antagonist. (Later on, Joe discovers the invisible villain is the president of the company he cleans for; a CEO, and a jerk. Joe also discovers he was chosen at random from the company staff to be a counterbalance in the equation of human strength enhancement. The CEO was the other end of the equation.) They both have unique powers, none of which are the same, and they must get rid of each other; mostly by battling throughout the Twin Cities. Joe even finds a love interest in a sassy journalist, though he isn't as warm to her as she is to him.

The ending: Obviously, Joe will prevail, but does he kill the villain? Does he lose all his powers? Or does he keep them and finally accept them as gift and not a curse? And does he fall in love?

Cast:
Joe: a funny, yet off-beat type (Johnny Depp, Hugh Grant)
British CEO: Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken
Journalist: love interest - Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock
Nephews: maybe one of those boys from "Cheaper By the Dozen".

This idea is an homage/throwback to the comic book genre using all the usual clichιs, yet keeping the feeling of original and innovative. Much like Kill Bill is to spaghetti westerns and kung-fu films. It would be in the comedy/superhero genre, though the themes would be dark and not for all ages. Rating: PG-13. It would have more of an independent feel to it.

-- Script Pitch III Co-Host Commentary --
by Stephen Lucas

Stephen's Analysis:

While I admire the name of this film, because of the film it captures, I think that the pitch may need to be reworked a bit. While reading it I was compelled to remember films "Unbreakable" and "Spiderman 2," two different movies for almost the same reason. Both are about men with superhuman strength and whom are coming to terms with that power.

"Marvel" seems to carry those themes. I think that this would make a good film for families or even pre-teens, but in terms of adult appeal, it’s limited. If that demographic would like to be reached, I would suggest a more mellow approach, like the one taken in "Unbreakable." As of now, "Marvel" seems very straightforward and "big."

Rating: C

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