Chapter 42: What? Making Our Own Superhero Universe?

"What the hell is this 'Superman 2'?"

"Damn it, where's the Hollywood blockbuster we were promised? I turn on the TV, and suddenly some Chinese idiot is fighting a masked Sun Wukong on a battlefield?"

"I freaking..."

"Is this really the 'Superman 2' everyone hyped up? I'm furious! I paid 30 yuan for the high-definition version, and what came out was just a pile of shit!"

"Damn it, this is terrible! How could 'Superman 2' be so utterly insane? It's just a money grab! What the hell, I'm stunned after watching it!"

"Wait, that's not right. Why is the 'Superman 2' I watched different from the one you all watched? Where did Sun Wukong come from!"

"You're joking, right?"

"..."

"..."

2003.

It was the year the Chinese internet flourished most vigorously.

In the first half of the year, amidst the shocked gazes of countless people, Chinese internet users surged to 79.5 million, officially claiming the second spot globally, second only to the Americans.

In the first half of the year, although there was no movie rating website in the true sense, social forums gathered a group of movie enthusiasts who spontaneously formed a small community. Every so often, they would write film reviews to recommend movies to the forum's netizens.

Three months ago, Yang Bo, who had just graduated from Huaqing University, saw more and like-minded netizens on the internet, and after witnessing the rampant fake DVDs selling sheep's heads but selling dog meat everywhere in the market, he gradually conceived the idea of building a website to help more netizens avoid pitfalls.

Two months ago, he and several friends established a movie recommendation website named 【Movie Home】. This website quickly attracted a large number of movie enthusiasts. In just about two months, the user count had already accumulated to over four thousand, growing at an average rate of dozens of people per day.

But starting from July 11th, the users of 【Movie Home】 suddenly surged!

After 'Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2' leaked into the DVD market, various pirated movies began to run rampant!

In just a few days, all sorts of fake versions of 'Sun Wukong vs. Superman 2' were everywhere in the market.

These movies all shamelessly rode the hype of 'Superman 2', frantically spreading to second and third-tier counties and small towns, shocking countless users to the core.

On the internet, users who had been deceived and had nowhere to vent their anger all rushed into the 【Movie Home】 website to curse at this movie, causing the site's daily traffic to double at one point!

Early morning, July 19th.

After a busy day, Yang Bo logged onto 【Movie Home】.

He found 【Movie Home】 today was so lively; almost everyone was discussing the movie named 'Superman 2'. The total registered users were already approaching 8,000!

Almost all of them were cursing.

After reading these comments, he felt somewhat confused.

Why did the 'Superman 2' netizens talked about seem to have two versions?

Just as he was feeling somewhat confused...

The sound of knocking on the door rang out in the house.

A figure walked over excitedly, holding a disc named 'Beast Superman', wearing a lecherous smile.

"Let me show you an exciting movie!"

He was slightly stunned.

Afterwards, he inserted the disc into the computer.

Immediately...

His eyes widened!

He suddenly understood why it was so terrible!

…………………………

Morning.

Deng Hairong hurriedly brought a lawyer into the crowded 【Dingjin Electronics City】, heading straight for the various audio-visual stalls.

In just a few days, the sales of nearly 10,000 pirated discs in China were already astonishing.

When he arrived at the audio-visual city, he was immediately shocked!

Almost every audio-visual product store had a movie poster for 'Superman 2'!

No!

It was the fake 'Zhengban Tiao Ren 2' selling sheep's heads but selling dog meat!

What made people even angrier was that these advertisements were so rampant; right at the store entrance, they boldly wrote the words 【Authorized Zhengban Film and Television Authorization】!

The lawyer led people forward to argue...

But these shop owners looked completely unconcerned.

"Illegal? What's illegal? We all have Authorized Zhengban licenses. When did we break the law?"

"Yeah, the one released is 'Superman 2', ours is 'Zhengban Tiao Ren 2'. Is there a problem? Oh, I'm just wondering, which law or regulation says our movie can't be called 'Zhengban Tiao Ren 2'?"

"What infringement? How did we infringe?"

"The promotional poster? That's strange. Oh, Americans can wear red clothes and underwear on the outside, but we can't wear underwear on the outside?"

"Also, look at the underwear brands. All the brands are Chinese brands. Even the clothes don't infringe!"

"Deceiving consumers?"

"How did we deceive? At most, our discs are non-H discs. How is that deception? We are just letting more people watch healthy movies!"

"Go ahead and sue us!"

"Besides, what does it have to do with us 【Zhengban Tiao Ren 2】 that your 【Superman 2】 is being cursed? Our discs are only 2 yuan each..."

"..."

Looking at these shop owners with their 'dead pig doesn't fear boiling water' attitude.

Deng Hairong was so angry his face turned iron-green.

Looking at the people coming and going in 【Dingjin Electronics City】, he frowned darkly: "Is there really no way to deal with these people?"

The lawyer hesitated for a long time, repeatedly comparing the poster, and finally fell silent for a long while before saying with complex emotions: "From a legal standpoint, they are actually legal?"

"So we should just let them ruin the reputation of our 'Superman 2'?"

"I actually think they are just making money for a short time, at most deceiving some gullible users; it will only be temporary. Our top priority is still to crack down on piracy and prevent pirated copies of 'Superman 2' from flooding China... but..."

"But what?"

"Damn it, this terrible film is everywhere, selling dog meat under the guise of mutton; unconsciously, it has increased our costs for fighting piracy!"

"..."

The lawyer took a deep breath, stared at the 'Beast Superman 2' disc he had bought for two yuan, and finally took a deep breath again: "Damn it, when collecting evidence, we simply don't know which ones are riding the coattails and which ones are pirated copies!"

A young man nearby frowned while watching the movie, hesitated for a moment, then looked at Deng Hairong: "General Manager Deng, about that Zhou Yang, should we..."

"Tell all film crews associated with us that anyone involved in this movie is banned from working with us, everyone!"

"Understood!"

…………………………

Morning of July 21.

The early morning sunlight shone into the rental room.

Shen Long looked at the cash in his hand with complex emotions.

Zhou Yang sent him another "huge red envelope" again.

As of this morning, their total input and output of discs across the national market had approached 12,000; deducting the 0.5 yuan recording cost and the discs themselves, plus the cinema's share, their total profit was around 76,000 yuan, and he, in total, had received nearly 12,000 RMB...

12,000 RMB was already enough to improve his life.

But...

"General Manager Zhou, can we stop making this kind of terrible film?" Shen Long silently looked at Zhou Yang beside him; Zhou Yang, who was reading a magazine, sighed slightly.

The scolding of these past few days had caused Shen Long, whose psychological resilience was not that strong, to suffer from insomnia night after night.

Thinking about the upcoming 'Lin Daiyu Battles Lu Zhishen', he instantly felt a sense of powerlessness fill his entire body.

Most likely, this film would also become a terrible movie.

Zhou Yang did not respond, but instead looked at the 'Movie World' magazine while seemingly pondering something.

Seeing this, Shen Long said nothing more.

About ten-plus minutes later...

Knocking sounds came from inside the rental room.

Chen Jianfeng entered, covered in dust from his journey, holding several movie tickets...

Zhou Yang put down the magazine, glanced at the movie tickets, and stood up.

"We can't keep making terrible films; we need to create our own personal blockbuster IPs!"

"Personal blockbuster IP?" Hearing this, Chen Jianfeng and Shen Long were stunned.

He looked out the window, his expression becoming serious: "Yes, I have pondered it carefully and feel we can film the 'Lin Daiyu Battles Lu Zhishen' project together with a new film; the new film's name will be 'Zhengban Tiao Ren: Reboot'..."

"What! Film both together? We..." Hearing this, Chen Jianfeng and Shen Long were both shocked!

What merit or ability do we have!

One film is already enough to be insane!

Film both together?

Isn't this...

"I have thought it over carefully; before, when we had no money, we could only take unconventional paths, but... now, we have money, we can tackle two projects simultaneously... hmm, isn't there a superhero movie universe over in America? We might as well make an anti-superhero movie; they make a superhero movie universe, so we will make an anti-superhero movie universe! They film it straight, so we will film it backwards!"

"???"

Shen Long was dumbfounded!

Our own anti-superhero universe blockbuster?

What does "straight" mean?

What does "backwards" mean!

Damn it!

What exactly does General Manager Zhou plan to do!

Zhou Yang looked at the two dazed figures, a smile appeared on his face, and he squinted his eyes: "For this film, our investment can be a bit higher; we can use wirework, we can also rent our own venue, and we can appropriately do some of our own special effects; I will figure out the money aspect, and as for the movie plot, let's go to the cinema first to finish watching 'Superman 2'..."

"And after we finish watching?" Chen Jianfeng swallowed, asking subconsciously.

"Slightly borrow from it, and then, make a film better than theirs!" Zhou Yang pushed up his glasses, revealing a strange smile.

"???"

Shen Long's eyes widened.

Wait!

General Manager Zhou, perhaps you should look at what you are saying?

Make a film better than theirs?

We?

Better than them?

We, these misfits?

Are you sure it's us?