Now Showing: Man-Thing

 

Man-Thing

Genre: Horror/Supernatural/Superhero

Director: Jordan Peele

Writers: Jimmy Ellis & Mark Newton

Based on Marvel Comics characters

Cast: Allison Williams, Max Minghella, Lil Rel Howery, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Daryl McCormack, Nick Kroll, Don Omar, Miguel Gomez

Plot: A storm rages over the Everglades as Dr. Ted Sallis (Max Minghella) works in a top secret facility run by Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM). He hunches over his workstation, tubes of bio-engineered fluids lined up beside stacks of handwritten notes. He pores over the vaccine compound he is working on. His notes are precise. Screens show virus cultures, accelerated decay patterns, DNA sequencing. His project - a synthetic immuno-serum - targets mutating viral strains by grafting defense mechanisms directly into cell structure. Adaptable immunity, designed to thrive even under heat, radiation, and toxic conditions. In theory, it could save millions. In practice, it’s too unstable. Ted knows this. He’s trying to fix it before someone forces him to deploy it. The door opens. Paul Allen (Casting Ideas: Mark Proksch, Nick Kroll, Haley Joel Osment, David Cross), AIM's smug lab director, enters like he owns the place even though he's no scientist - he’s the man who approves the budgets, handles the reporting, and gets impatient when deadlines aren’t met. He pesters Ted, asking how much longer the project is going to take. ed says the compound’s still reactive under field conditions - it needs more time. Allen shrugs, obviously not caring about the science. He tells Ted to skip to the finish line as the company wants deliverables, not excuses. He informs Ted that if he can't deliver the results, they'll find someone else who can. Allen then leaves the lab, leaving his phone behind. Curious, Ted accesses a secure file on the phone which suggests that the serum Ted has been tasked with developing isn't actually meant to prevent outbreaks - it's a bioweapon platform and the company has global buyers lined up.

Ted moves quickly, wiping his research files from the servers, smashing vials of the formula until there is just one last sample left - the cleanest, the only one that might actually help someone. He injects it into his arm to keep it from AIM. Ted then leaves the lab and heads out into the storm to his car. He is jumped by two men - Delgado (Don Omar) and Raul (Miguel Gomez) - who knock him to the ground and drag him off to a small metal boat in the swamps. Delgado pilots the boat as Raul opens a steel drum sitting at the stern. It’s half full of chemical runoff, tar-black and steaming. Once the boat stops at a remote stretch of swamp, Ted begins to fight back against his captors. Raul and Delgado overpower him and shove him into the drum, sealing the lid. Ted's screams are muffled by the steel as they shove it over the edge of the boat and into the dark waters of the swamp. The drum slowly vanishes into the water.

Six weeks later...

A floatplane skims to a stop at the edge of the swamps of the Everglades. Ellen Brandt (Allison Williams) steps out. George Tarleton (Lil Rel Howery) is waiting at the end of the dock. He smiles and tells her she finally gets to see the real Florida. Ellen doesn't return the smile. He hands her a folder as they walk, explaining the assignment: Ted Sallis went missing weeks ago with his research incomplete. her job is to retrieve any intellectual property from his research and lab that might still be viable. They get into an idling SUV waiting that takes her to Ted's old lab. The place is still a mess, but the only thing she finds suspicious is a broken syringe on the floor. Ellen asks for someone to take her out into the swamps around the lab.

Flashback: Ted leans over a shared console as Ellen watches. Ted, animated, describes the protein chain forming on the screen in front of them. Ellen makes a joke about Ted's excessive caffeine intake and corrects his math on a sticky note and slaps it on the screen. 

On a narrow boat, Ellen is guided by Joseph Timms (Daryl McCormack). Ellen checks the coordinates on a tablet, confirming that they have reached the area that Ted's smart watch last pinged. She comments that she bets the folks only looked for his phone - not his watch. Timms finally talks, claiming to know these swamps better than anyone AIM has on payroll. When Ellen doesn't respond, he quickly changes the subject, mentioning that the animals around the swamps have been quieter than usual lately - no birds chirping, no frogs croaking, he hasn't even seen gators out and about. They spot something tangled in vines ahead - an small boat. Ellen steps onto it, slipping slightly. She immediately notices blood smears on the seats. Timms suggests they head back - no sign of Dr. Sallis. Ellen insists they continue deeper into the swamp. They soon reach a clearing where cypress trees rise about of the almost black water. They look up see Delgado's body - or what's left of it - dangles ten feet up, hanging from vines wrapped around his limbs. The torso is torn open, spine visible. Timms curses under his breath. Ellen takes the pistol from Timms' belt and raises it, stepping off the boat onto a patch of earth to take water and soil samples. The vines tighten. Something massive shifts in the tree line up ahead. A silhouette - broad, tall, camouflaged by muck and moss. Two red eyes gleam from beneath the vines. The creature doesn't rush - it simply watches as if it recognizes her. Ellen doesn't fire the pistol. Timms yells, grabs her arm and drags her back to the boat. Timms pilots the boat at full-speed, tearing through the swamp back towards AIM territory.

Back at the dock, Ellen and Timms haul themselves out, still shaken. Miriam Travis meets them, barefoot, holding a clipboard. She sees their condition and starts asking questions. Ellen says that something is out in the swamp - and she thinks that maybe it killed Ted. Inside they spread out maps of the area. Ellen marks the location where they found Delgado's body and where she saw the thing in the trees. Miriam asks if they're sure it wasn't just an animal of some sort. Timms cuts her off - pointing out that gators don't stand upright or having glowing red eyes. Miriam takes one of the samples Ellen collected - the swamp water near where Ellen had seen the creature - to her microscope station. The sample is mutating rapidly with bizarre growth patterns that shouldn't be possible. Ellen looks over her shoulder at the monitor in disbelief.

That night, Timms sits alone on the dock, smoking. He mutters to himself about the silence, uneasy. Something splashes in the reeds. He shines his flashlight, sees nothing. Ellen is poring over old research recovered from one of Ted's hard drives. She is interrupted by the arrival of Paul Allen and George Tarleton who ask if she's found any of Ted's missing research yet or have any clue how to best continue his work - in his honor of course. Ellen says that she needs more time and asks if they have anything else they haven't shown her yet - any other clues or research. Paul insists that Ted took or destroyed anything of importance. After Paul walks away, Tarleton jovially hints to keep anything she does find discreet. Timms watches Paul and Tarleton walk away and get into an SUV as he sips on a warm beer. 

Ellen looks at her watch and wonders where Timms is. She steps outside with a flashlight, finding his beer bottle on the ground, upright, half-full. No sign of Timms though. She calls his name into the trees - no response. She waves Miriam over. Together, they follow faint boot prints and a broken trail through the cattails. They reach a clearing by water's edge. There's blood on the grass. The water begins to bubble - slowly and quietly. Vines in the trees above begin to sway despite no wind. Then something moves in the shallows. A silhouette rises from the water. Mud and moss peel back as the form stands. Shoulders broad, limbs like massive roots, steam leaking from its chest. Two red eyes blink open, glowing faintly beneath the thick canopy of rotten foliage. The Man-Thing watches them. Ellen stands frozen, Miriam hides behind her. The swamp pulses around them. Man-Thing doesn't approach. Instead, a vine from the tree above lowers gently, brushing Ellen's wrist. Tarleton's voice calls out for Ellen and Miriam. Man-Thing disappears from sight into the swamp water.

As the sun rises, Miriam is back in the lab reviewing slide after slide. Ellen rifles through Ted’s old data logs again. She finds a private folder she hadn’t noticed before—encrypted and marked with only a single word: “ELLEN.” She hesitates. Then plugs in a passcode: her birthdate. It opens. The file opens on a stream of raw text—Ted’s personal notes. There’s no lab jargon here, just paranoia and heartbreak. He writes about Paul Allen’s interference. about AIM’s shifting interest in “field-deployable outcomes.” He writes that he has discovered that AIM never wanted to save anyone - they always meant to weaponize his work. In the final entry, Ted writes that he’s out of time. He doesn’t trust anyone. AIM will come for the serum, and if they find it, they’ll use it to burn cities. So I took it into myself, he writes. I made sure they can’t have it. If it works, it dies with me. Ellen closes the file slowly.

Flashback: Ted is mid-rant about synthesis protocols and threshold tolerances. Ellen is on her way out the door. She reminds him what day of the week it is. He apologizes for getting caught up in his work. 

Outside, Tarleton has found Raul's mutilated body, half-buried in the mud. His ribs are peeled open. Flies gather in clouds around it. He calls out for help. Tarleton acts like he has no clue who that man is. Paul is relieved that Raul's body has been found and that Timms may still be alive. Miriam vomits behind a tree as what's left of Raul's body is zipped into a body bag.

Ellen avoids the commotion and goes toward a secluded clearing near the water. Man-Thing once again emerges. This time he steps forward. He reaches out an arm toward her, gently. The creature groans something softly. She doesn't flinch. Suddenly gunfire rings out. Man-Thin recoils into the swamp. Ellen turns. Tarleton stands thirty feet back with a pistol raised, claiming he thought she was in danger. 

Back at the research station, Ellen confronts Tarleton about the lies. She tells him that she knows Ted injected himself with the compound. She knows AIM sent Delgado and Raul to eliminate him so they could use his research for whatever they wanted. Tarleton drops the friendly act. He tells her almost everything she just said is true. He tells her that AIM doesn't want "miracles" unless they are profitable. He adds the one part that isn't true is that they never knew Ted injected himself with the formula. Tarleton then cruelly thanks Ellen for the information. 

Ellen flees the lab, toward the swamp. When she reaches a secluded area, she opens Ted's final voice memo - recorded several weeks ago. Ted speaks of regrets - of how the serum might  be his only shot at doing good before AIM turns it into a weapon. He says goodbye to Ellen, assuming she's who AIM will call to figure out his research and that she'd be able to locate the hidden file. He tells her that he always loved her, even if he constantly let ego and work get in the way. Ellen, tears in her eyes, doesn't flinch when the trees part behind her. Man-Thing emerges, slow and solemn. Elle turns toward him. Her hand rises, brushing against the moss and muck covering his chest. His glowing red eyes fix on her. She whispers the name "Ted." Man-Thing lets out a soft groan of recognition as he lowers his head toward her. Behind them, Paul Allen stumbles into he clearing. He freezes at the sight of the creature. He raises his phone to take a picture. A boiling hiss sounds. Paul's eyes go wide, his skin erupts in blisters. He tries to scream. Steam rises off his bones as he collapses in a pile of scorched flesh. Ellen turns away from Paul's body. Tarleton watches from a safe distance through binoculars. He makes a call, telling them other line to send the package. The voice confirms. Tarleton smiles. He turns to Miriam and tells her to pack up any samples she wants to keep - because in an hour, none of this swamp will exist.

A distant rumble begins to echo through the trees - not thunder, but engines. Black AIM helicopters deploy strike teams in full HAZMAT armor, flamethrowers strapped to their backs. Man-Thing retreats into the swamp water. Miriam backs away from Tarleton. As the AIM strike force pushes into the wetlands, Ellen runs through a clearing, trying to find Man-Thing again before AIM does. She stumbles upon something in the brush - it's Timms, half-conscious. He mumbles about the vines pulling him under, but not killing, like the swamp itself spared him. Ellen helps him sit up. Back at the station, Miriam demands Tarleton to tell her what will happen if the fire he is starting spreads to nearby towns. Tarleton shrugs. She accuses him of murder. He corrects her, calling it containment, not murder. 

An AIM scout shouts out that he's found something moving through the smoke around the fires. The Man-Thing emerges, towering, his body covered in burns from proximity to the heat. One soldier fires a canister - it bounces off Man-Thing's shoulder. Another aims a flamethrower. Before the trigger clicks, Man-Thing lunges. The man ignites mid-scream, engulfed in fire from his own flamethrower. The rest scatter, but more units begin to flank the creature. Ellen and Timms reach a high ridge. From there, they can see the burning perimeter and the soldiers moving in. Ellen tells Timms to get back to the station and get Miriam out. Timms nods and starts moving through the brush. 

Ellen stumbles through the smoke-filled swamp, coughing, eyes stinging. The AIM strike team's fires are spreading too fast, consuming the edges of the wetlands. Suddenly, from the haze, Man-Thing emerges. They are entirely surrounded by the fire now. From he distance, another AIM team readies incendiary charges. Tarleton makes it clear: he doesn't want the creature preserved - they can study his corpse. Man-Thing turns to Ellen before stepping toward the burning wall of trees and vines. He raises both arms. The swamp seems to answer. Roots churn beneath the ground. From the murk below, vines, reeds, and waterlogged branches rise up, forming a tunnel of tangled biomass that shields Ellen. Man-Thing’s body is engulfed in green, dragging water with it. The plant matter pulls her underground — not into mud, but a submerged cavern — like the true heart of the swamp.

Meanwhile, Timms returns to the station and finds Miriam in standoff with Tarleton. Miriam is threatening to expose AIM, but Tarleton smugly tells her that she has no platform - not to mention the numerous non-disclosure agreements she signed upon her employment. Timms warns Miriam that the fire is almost at the station. Timms and Miriam flee. Tarleton calmly calls for one of the AIM helicopters to pick him up. Once in the helicopter, he announces that they'll have a team comb through the swamp once the flames die down.

In the root-cave deep beneath the swamp, Ellen pulls out her phone and shows Man-Thing a picture of she and Ted from happier times. 

Flashback: Ted and Ellen sit shoulder to shoulder, staring into a containment tank where a test subject -  a mouse, glowing faintly with stable markers - stretches out on soft bedding. No anomalies. No collapse. It’s their first clean success in weeks. Ted rests his chin on his fist, studying the readout. Ellen tells him it’s okay to be proud. He shrugs - says it’s just a test. She watches him a moment longer than she should. Says she misses when they used to be people, not just data. He says this is how he loves - by fixing what others ruin. She says that’s not the same thing.

The fires in the swamp have finally died down. Man-Thing moves through the ash-filled waters. As he moves, the swamp begins to regenerate around him.