A young boy learns that a superhero who was thought to have died after an epic battle twenty-five years ago may in fact still be alive.
Thirteen-year-old Sam Cleary (Javon "Wanna" Walton) suspects that his mysterious and reclusive neighbor Mr. Smith (Sylvester Stallone) is actually a legend hiding in plain sight. Twenty Five years ago, Granite City's super-powered vigilante, Samaritan, was reported dead after a fiery warehouse battle with his rival, Nemesis. Most believe Samaritan perished in the fire, but some in the city, like Sam, have hope that he is still alive. With crime on the rise and the city on the brink of chaos, Sam makes it his mission to coax his neighbor out of hiding to save the city from ruin.—MGM
20 years after the epic battle in which the superhero Samaritan destroyed the supervillain and went missing. Two decades later, a kid from the outskirts meets an old man who lives in the house opposite. Soon the boy realizes that the elderly man is the missing superhero, and the reason for his disappearance is truly shocking.—Bazza the Beast
After surviving a life-altering tragedy, twin brothers became sworn enemies: Samaritan became the valiant protector of the innocent, and Nemesis evolved into a fierce antagonist with a mind aflame with revenge. Then, the benevolent defender vanished into thin air during the ultimate battle between good and evil, leaving the citizens of crime-ridden Granite City unprotected. But now, nearly three decades later, Samaritan's number one fan, Sam Cleary, is convinced he's found the missing superhero in the shape of Joe, a taciturn hermit and cryptic garbage collector. However, if Sam is right, the Samaritan's unforgiving arch-enemy just might be alive too.—Nick Riganas
Superhumans Samaritan (Sylvester Stallone) and Nemesis (Sylvester Stallone) were antagonistic twin brothers who lived in Granite City, where the residents at the time burned down their home in an effort to kill them, only for the twins to escape, while their parents died in the fire.
Samaritan grew up to become a superhero as a way to show the world that he is nothing like how they originally viewed him in the past, whereas Nemesis, consumed by revenge, became a super-villain that wanted the world to suffer the same fate as their parents. Evenly matched, the villainous Nemesis crafts a mystical sledgehammer that gave him an edge over the heroic Samaritan. However, the hammer could hurt both brothers.During a confrontation (Nemesis lured Samaritan to the power plant to force the confrontation) at the city's power plant, both were apparently killed as the plant exploded, blacking out the city. Many people remain fans of Samaritan, and there are constant rumors that he is still alive.
Twenty five years later, thirteen-year-old Sam Cleary (Javon 'Wanna' Walton) tries his best to help his mother Tiffany (Dascha Polanco) with their financial crisis, and, after being threatened with eviction, he accepts a job from a gang headed by Reza (Moisés Arias). Reza wants Sam to help distract a convenience store owner, so they can rob him of boxes of lotto tickets.The plan goes awry (as they steal the boxes, but they contain packets of chips) and Reza tries to blame Sam, but the real gang leader, Cyrus (Pilou Asbaek), is impressed and personally gives Sam $110.Cyrus finds cartoon books in Sam's bag and figures that he is a fan of Samaritan. Cyrus says that Samaritan only protected the rich, while Nemesis punched above his weight and fought for the defenseless.Cyrus is collecting heavy ammunition for a purpose, along with colleagues Sil (Sophia Tatum), Farshad (Jared Odrick) and Tuna (Michael Aaron Milligan).
Reza and his friends later attack Sam as payback but are stopped by Joe Smith (Sylvester Stallone), a garbage collector who lives in an apartment across from Sam's. Joe displays super-strength in fighting off the gang members, and Sam suspects that he is Samaritan.Sam reports his suspicion to journalist Albert Casler (Martin Starr). Albert has done 20 years of research on Samaritan. Alvert says that Nemesis hated Samaritan and wanted to set fire to the power station to plunge the city into chaos and anarchy. Albert says that Nemesis's own hatred destroyed him.Albert refuses to believe Sam that Joe could be the Samaritan, despite his strength and the fact that Joe has scars on his back that could only come from the hammer of Nemesis.
Meanwhile, Cyrus locates Nemesis' hammer at a police station and sets himself up as the new Nemesis, sparking riots and chaos throughout the city, using EMP grenades to black out and disrupt the city infrastructure.
After Sam confronts him, Joe denies that he is Samaritan, but Reza - still looking for revenge - hits him with his car. Joe is badly injured but heals before Sam's eyes, overheating so much he has to be cooled down in a cold shower and by eating ice cream. Joe's body heat is due to binary fission cellular thermodynamics. Joe says that if he does not cool down his body, his heart explodes.Joe and Sam build a friendship, while at the same time Cyrus invites Sam to work with his gang. However, Sam is disturbed when he witnesses their violent activities.
When Joe saves a young girl from an explosion caused by the gang, the media claims that Samaritan is back threatening Cyrus' plans. Reza recognizes Joe as being the same person he "killed" with his car and thus his identity and connection to Sam.Farshad goes after Joe, but Joe easily defeats Farshad and his men. Joe's fight with Farshad is captured on camera by onlookers and the media plays the tape saying that Samaritan is back. Joe decides to leave the city.Sam tells Joe that Cyrus is planning something with the city's power stations, perhaps the same thing that Nemesis wanted to do. Joe refuses to get involved and decides to leave.
Finding Joe's apartment empty, they kidnap Sam and his mother to lure Joe to their headquarters as a trap. Tiffany delivers the message to Joe, who comes back to see if Sam is OK.Joe breaks into the headquarters, and decimates the gang before being confronted by Cyrus, now dressed as Nemesis and wielding the hammer.Despite his strength, Joe is weakened from the gang fight, and at a disadvantage against the hammer giving Cyrus the upper hand. As they fight, with Cyrus calling himself Nemesis, and Joe "the good guy", Joe reveals that Samaritan did die during the power plant fire, and Joe is actually Nemesis, who survived but left his villainous life behind, having been freed from his need of revenge.
It is shown in flashback that Samaritan had effectively won the fight, but refused to kill Nemesis, instead tossing the hammer away, still viewing him as his brother. The roof subsequently gave way, leaving Samaritan hanging precariously above the flames. Despite his best efforts and a change of heart, Nemesis was unable to save his brother, instead tossing both of their masks into the same fire that Samaritan fell into.Destroying the hammer, Joe kills Cyrus by knocking him into a burning abyss - the same way Samaritan died - but almost overheats from his healing abilities and the spreading fire. Sam breaks open a pipe to shower him with water, allowing Joe to recover enough to escape with Sam by jumping out a window.
When Sam questions Joe about being Nemesis, he says that he is. He tried to save his brother and has been wracked with guilt for his atrocities, that the death of Samaritan was his fault, and he couldn't move past it. He tells Sam that there is good and evil in all people, and that Sam has to make the right decisions. As the police arrest Reza and the remaining members of Cyrus' gang, Joe leaves, overhearing Sam tell the press that "Samaritan" survived and saved him, leaving his future unknown.
