Martin’s Assistant Manager came out first and greeted Do Wook and Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung.
After greeting them, Marin’s Assistant Manager handed something over to the two of them.
It was a draft of ‘Heroes 2’.
That is, due to the popularity of the first movie, it was decided that ‘Heroes 2’ would be released at the end of next year. Honestly, in the case of movies like ‘Heroes’, the post processing time such as CGI work is much longer than the filming period. The actual filming only takes one or two months.
It would have been nice if they could have sent the script earlier, but they were working on the script in top secret. There were less than 10 people that had the original file, including Martin, the head film director, and the writers who helped write the scenarios.
Sara asked for their understanding that they had no choice but to be more cautious since, in Do Wook’s case, it wasn’t set in stone that he would be in the film.
“Ah, we understand.”
Since Do Wook seemed like he completely understood, Sara, who was a beautiful blonde, smiled coolly.
“You’re truly handsome, just like I saw in your photo.”
Do Wook made a slightly embarrassed expression at Sara’s compliment. Sara continued,
“And you definitely look young. I’d believe that you’re a high schooler.”
“Thank you. You as well…I thought you were an actress for the film.”
Sara smiled at Do Wook’s compliment saying, ‘I appreciate it, even if they’re empty words’. However, Do Wook wasn’t just saying it. Well over 170 cm tall and a slim figure, glamorous befitting a Westerner. Her clear blue eyes were like transparent jewels.
You could even feel Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who had never acted like this during his entire career, stealing glances at her.
“Over there, the part that’s highlighted is the role that you’ll be playing, Do Wook.”
Do Wook and the Team Leader nodded their heads and opened the manuscript with trembling hearts.
‘David Lee.’
It was the real name of the role Do Wook was offered.
And the name that Do Wook will be called in the show was none other than ‘Real Man’.
‘Real man?!…’
After verifying the name, Do Wook searched his memories.
On his way to America after receiving the offer, Do Wook read the original ‘Heroes’ by General Comics from time to time, even on the plane.
He wasn’t able to read the whole series because he only had a little bit of time, but he had enough time to read all the volumes recommended by Park Tae Hyung, who was a ‘Heroes’ fan. Park Tae Hyung had said that he would have no problem understanding the entire history of the major characters and the context of the movie if he just read those.
However, no matter how much he searched his memories, he couldn’t recall the character called ‘Real Man’.
Looking to his side, it seemed like it was a character that even Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who knew more about ‘Heroes’ than Do Wook, didn’t know at all.
Since they would be using a character that didn’t appear in the original, the two of them couldn’t help but have questions.
Sara, who saw the expressions of the two of them, held out a separate piece of paper that had an organized explanation of the character.
On the paper, there was an illustration of a person wearing a mask and body-hugging suit.
Even after looking at the illustration, it still felt like it was the first time seeing the character. Additionally, they even frowned a little. The shape of the black mask was very bizarre.
“Ah. Real Man is actually a role that appeared only once in a comic from a few years back. When New York’s utilities were destroyed from Billion Man fighting an opponent, he stepped up and rescued citizens. But it didn’t get much popularity, so…he hasn’t appeared since then.”
As he thought, it wasn’t a main hero. Still, Do Wook and Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung weren’t disappointed in the role. Even if they said ‘it’s a hero who appears in Heroes’, they were fully aware that it wouldn’t be a very important hero.
Rather, what they were curious about was the reason they were featuring a character in the movie who wasn’t popular to the point that they only appeared once even in the comic.
“Actually, he’s one of the heroes that Martin really wanted to make popular. He thinks that if Soldier America is the hero who represents the previous generation, Real Man is the hero that the new generation absolutely needs. If someone charming like Do Wook takes on the role of Real Man, the charm that couldn’t be brought to life in the comic may be able to shine in the movie…that’s the effect he’s expecting.”
“I see…”
Do Wook nodded his head.
“Yes. He’s not a main hero in ‘Heroes 2’, but if the reactions are good, he could become a main hero and get his own movie. That’s the big picture he’s envisioning.”
“Ohh…”
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung exclaimed in admiration. Listening to the explanation, he could tell that General Comics really thought highly of Do Wook.
Also, if what Sara said was true, it was a truly big opportunity. It might be a small role now, but it was a character that had endless potential in the future.
“If it’s Do Wook, he has enough charisma to do that and more. The young women in America are already crazy about him, aren’t they?”
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung said, hyping Do Wook up to her. Sara laughed pleasantly.
“Of course. Looking at Do Wook, I feel like I’m getting drawn in by his mysterious black eyes. I understand why Martin wanted Real Man to be Asian with black eyes under the mask.”
“Haha, is that so?”
Do Wook laughed lightly.
However, Do Wook’s expression soon became very heavy after reading the character description.
Do Wook thoroughly read the story of ‘Real Man’ written on the paper. Do Wook’s expression was serious.
Sara saw Do Wook being like that and briefly vacated the room so the two of them could look over the character and script.
In the comic, seconds before a structure collapses from Billion Man hitting it during his fight, David runs quickly to save a child who almost got buried under the rubble, and as soon as someone yells ‘save me’, he runs through musty dust and evacuates dozens of people.
He is so fast that nobody saw his face. Those who have been helped by him even think that they were saved by a ‘black object’ or ‘black wind’.
After David disappears, Billion Man realizes the situation and tries to learn the identity of the ‘black wind’, but all that was left was the ‘bizarre mask’ that couldn’t withstand the high speed and fell off.
That was the extent of the story in the comic.
Martin planned on releasing the story later if people were curious and wanted to find out the identity of the ‘bizarre mask’, but it got buried under other incidents and the identity of the ‘bizarre mask’ was put on the back burner.
David’s story that Martin imagined was expanded in detail in the character explanation and script.
David is a Korean person who came to America to study abroad. His underlying genes manifest after his 20s, making his reaction time much faster than anyone else.
Everything from vision, running ability, even his hearing. Everything was fast. It was a power from a mutation, which made him way too fast.
However, David had a quiet and introverted personality, who hated getting attention more than anything in the world, and he absolutely didn’t want to show the world his abilities.
However, the day the incident occurred, he couldn’t bear to watch the child die, so he picked up a random mask that had fallen to the ground during a performance and stepped up.
Afterwards, David is reluctantly called over by Billion Man, receives a new mask that has all the technology that Billion Man has, and helps out with hero work.
Initially he doesn’t want to help with hero work because of his personality that doesn’t like receiving attention, but when he learns that the final villain of ‘Heroes 2’ partners with North Korea and tries to drop a nuclear bomb, he realizes that it’s in a way his fate as a Korean and helps the heroes.
That was the extent of Real Man’s part in ‘Heroes 2’.
He doesn’t even help fight the final villain, just North Korea, who is working with the final villain.
Around the time Do Wook and Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung were finishing up reading the character explanation and the script, Sara returned to her seat again.
Sara was accompanied by a white-haired elder man behind her.
“Are you done looking it over?”
Sara’s words made the two of them, who were so focused that it looked like they’d hit their heads on the table, raise their heads.
Do Wook, who looked behind Sara, furrowed his brows.
‘Oh? I think I’ve seen him somewhere…’
Having traveled around the world, he had met numerous people. That included foreigners. Do Wook pondered over the familiar face.
“This is Mr. Martin. The owner of this house, and wonder of General Comics.”
“Ah!”
Do Wook and Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung got up from their seats.
At the same time, Do Wook recalled where he had seen Martin. It was at the casino. He was the elderly man who got pickpocketed.
Martin’s face wasn’t well-known so it was almost a given that Do Wook didn’t recognize Martin.
“Haha. Do you remember me?”
“Yes. Back then. I met you in Las Vegas…right?”
“That’s right, that’s right. Thanks to you I didn’t ignorantly get swindled. I was very grateful.”
.
Martin held out his hand and Do Wook politely grasped it. Sara smiled as she watched the two of them shake hands.
Sara had already heard about Do Wook from Martin.
Martin, who had returned from a long vacation in Las Vegas, said he had found a way to revive the ‘Real Man’ character.
That method was none other than Do Wook.
The ‘Real Man’ that Martin envisioned couldn’t be Caucasian. The current society was different from when Martin had first drawn ‘Heroes’.
‘Heroes’ was no longer a project created by Martin alone. Numerous people participated in both the comic and movies, and worked hard to create heroes who would become someone’s idol and dream. That was what made today’s Heroes possible.
They weren’t all Caucasian. There were Asians and Blacks, and men and women.
If ‘Heroes’ wanted to continue being heroes to people all over the world of various age groups, it had to change.
Therefore, they put Real Man, a hero whose identity was intentionally not revealed, in the comic. If they put an Asian hero from the beginning, some readers would definitely reject it. It was a method to reduce that rejection.
However, the comic’s intentions failed, and Real Man’s story was overshadowed by other characters and still wasn’t properly drawn out.
Martin immediately thought of Real Man when he saw how quickly Do Wook noticed the pickpocket’s actions and ran after him.
To Martin it was destiny that Do Wook happened to be a member of KK, a world-wide boy band, and even an actor acknowledged in Cannes.
Martin started working on putting Real Man in the movie, modeling Do Wook into the original character he had created.
That was the part the script had for Real Man in ‘Heroes 2’.
Martin asked Do Wook point-blank as he sat down,
“What do you think?”
Do Wook looked at Martin’s wrinkle-filled face. It felt like there was a story behind every wrinkle.
“I like it very much. Heroes 1 was a really surprising story too…the scale of the second one is jaw-dropping. I want to watch Heroes 2 immediately. All I can say is that I’m honored to read the script of such a movie in advance…”
“Is that so?”
Martin asked back when Do Wook answered. It seemed like Martin wanted Do Wook’s appreciation in a little more detail.
“Yes. Especially a person with the superpower to see the future, in addition to Real Man…Seeing various heroes work together, it’s the definition of not ‘Hero’ but ‘Heroes’. It took my breath away.”
The appearance of ‘diverse’ heroes was also one of the core themes of ‘Heroes 2’. Martin smiled broadly at Do Wook’s accurate thoughts.
To Martin, who was already in love with Do Wook at first sight, he thought Do Wook was the Real Man given to him from heaven.
“Good, good. What do you think? Will you become Real Man?”
Martin asked Do Wook.
“I’m sincerely sorry, but…any answer is no.”
Sara, who was standing next to them and was about to take out the contract documents, was taken aback and froze. It was the same for Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung.
How many actors could there be in the entire world who could decline being a hero in Heroes? There were probably none. Especially since it’s not an opportunity often offered to Asian actors.
That’s the reason people can’t reject Hollywood, even if it has discriminatory content. They’re in the mentality that they have to do whatever it takes to get a role.
From what Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung saw, besides a few jokes mixed into the story, there were no hugely problematic parts.
Martin asked, looking at Do Wook with a sharp gaze,
“And the reason?”
Next chapter: Will Do Wook end up missing out on a great opportunity?