INT. PRODUCTION OFFICE - DAY
A group of PRODUCERS and WRITERS gather together for a Very Important Meeting.
HEAD PRODUCER
Ok, so the studio were more than happy to greenlight this baby. The public still love comic book movies, so SuperGuy 12 is happening! How's the script coming?
WRITER 1
Great. We still need to figure out a few details, but here's what we've got so far: SuperGuy meets a new bad guy. One that's even more powerful and dangerous than the one in SuperGuy 11. This bad guy wants revenge and/or to rule the world for some reason. And they have a massive fight.
WRITER 2
And we've talked to the guys at special effects. With the advances in CGI technology that have been made since SuperGuy 11, we can make this massive fight even more confusing and hard to follow than the last one!
PRODUCER 2
Hmm. Actually, the focus groups have been telling us that people are starting to get a bit bored with that sort of plot. They think it's getting a bit repetitive.
HEAD PRODUCER
You got anything else?
WRITER 2
Um, well, a couple of films ago, we were kicking around the idea of a new direction. Basically we thought of trying more of a tense thriller-type situation. Heroes become villains, villains become heroes, all those shades of grey. And a complex plot that keeps the audience guessing what might happen next.
PRODUCER 2
Yes! That sounds perfect!
WRITER 2
And then, at the end, there's a massive fight.
HEAD PRODUCER
Why would--? Ok, whatever. Any more?
WRITER 3
Well, I'm getting the feeling you're not sold on this massive fight ending.
HEAD PRODUCER
Very perceptive.
WRITER 3
Ok, so we've had this plot in our lockers for a while. We take away SuperGuy's powers. He loses them, somehow. And then he can't have a massive fight, because he's just a normal guy. He's got to use cunning, reason and intelligence instead. So we get to see brains save the day, rather than brute strength.
HEAD PRODUCER
Ok, yes! That sounds great! How does it end?
WRITER 3
Well, he gets his powers back somehow, and then he--
HEAD PRODUCER
Has a massive fight?
WRITER 3
Exactly!
HEAD PRODUCER
Pass. Anything else?
WRITER 1
Right, fine. How about some real Oscar-bait? SuperGuy takes one the one enemy he can't fight. Disease!
PRODUCER 2
We're listening...
WRITER 1
So, he gets some sort of deadly virus. He's sick, there's proper tear-jerking stuff with his girlfriend at his bedside, tending to him. It looks like he might not make it...
HEAD PRODUCER
I like it!
WRITER 1
And then, to really get the audience engaged, his arch-nemesis gets hold of a sample of the virus and makes it enormous.
WRITER 2
Yeah, like viral cells that are as bit as a building!
WRITER 3
It'll be like a visual allegory for the way disease consumes us all!
WRITER 1
And then...they have a massive fight!
HEAD PRODUCER
Agh! Do you have any ideas that don't just end up with a massive fight?
WRITER 2
Um, well, we've got one where the massive fight happens halfway through.
PRODUCER 2
So what happens at the end instead?
WRITER 1
An even more massive fight.
WRITER 3
Yeah. Makes the previous massive fight seem like a fairly normal-sized fight.
HEAD PRODUCER
No! Come on, you're writers! Let's really push the boat out here!
WRITER 1
Look, we just think that this is what audiences want! They keep coming back, spending even more money on cinema tickets, and Blu Ray Special Editions, and action figures and everything, even though we're basically just making the same film over and over again.
WRITER 2
Audiences don't like to be challenged. They find familiarity comforting. They want to know exactly what's going to happen before the opening credits have started.
PRODUCER 2
Well, I disagree. I think you're insulting their intelligence, and they'd find a genuinely fresh take on the genre to be just what they wanted.
WRITER 3
You're wrong!
HEAD PRODUCER
(darkly)
Well, I guess there's only one way to settle this.
A massive fight breaks out, the writers versus the producers, supplemented with elaborate CGI explosions. It's not clear who wins, but enough loose ends are left behind for a sequel.
THE END