Get the Lowdown on the Hypnotic ‘Incredibles 2’ Villain Known as The Screen Slaver

Even though Incredibles 2 is less than two months away, Disney and Pixar have largely kept the villain of the animated superhero sequel under wraps. It wasn’t until the most recent trailer popped up that we got our first glimpse at the villain right at the end. The character’s ominous debut arrived at the end of the trailer with the villain introducing himself across the airwaves as The Screen Slaver. But just who is this villain and what are their plans?

While on our visit to Pixar Animation for a sneak peek at Incredibles 2 (check out our extensive footage reaction here), not much was said about the villain of the film. However, concept art on display in the Incredibles 2 gallery provided some new details, and there just might be a hint as to who this villain, hiding in plain sight this entire time, could be.

Find out what we know and what we may have figured out about the new Incredibles 2 villain below, but beware of possible spoilers for the story.

What is The Screen Slaver Doing?

As the name suggests, The Screen Slaver is using hypnotism by way of television and other assorted screens as a way of getting people to do their bidding. At the end of the trailer, you can see Screen Slaver’s hypnotism in action as the crew of a television show watches the screens helplessly as a pattern swirls in front of them.

During our sneak peek of footage of Incredibles 2 at Pixar, there’s a thrilling chase sequence involving Elastigirl trying to catch up with a runaway levitating monorail that appears to have malfunctioned during its grand unveiling. However, once she catches up to the monorail, she sees that the reason it’s speeding away at a dangerous rate is that the driver is being hypnotized by way of a screen inside the monorail.

If you look at Screen Slaver’s face, you’ll also notice the goggles and mask keeping their identity secret. The design makes the villain look like some kind of techno skull, but each part seems to serve a purpose. The mouth looks like a vintage radio microphone, likely used to manipulate their voice. Meanwhile, those goggles are hypnotic devices themselves and can be used to control anyone who stares into them for an extended period of time.

Who is The Screen Slaver?

Back when the full cast for Incredibles 2 was announced, we got details on two new characters and their role in the sequel becomes an integral part of The Screen Slaver’s future success.

First, there’s Bob Odenkirk voicing Winston Deavor, the leader of a world-class telecommunications company called Devtech. Described as ultra-wealthy and suave, Winston also has an infatuation with superheroes, inspired by his father’s love for the super-powered citizens who would risk their lives to save the citizens of Municiberg. His plan is to help change the public perception of superheroes so that they will no longer be declared illegal.

Winston Deavor is being painted to be quite an ally for superheroes, but the fact that he’s a billionaire with a plan does raise some suspicions. On top of that, Deavor might have a personal axe to grind against the supers. His father was so supportive of supers and their abilities that he set up a direct connection with a few of them by phone so he could call them into action if they were ever needed, not unlike how Commissioner Gordon used a certain red phone to get in contact with Batman. But once superheroes were declared illegal, they stopped answering the phone, and they didn’t even come when they were called while his house was being robbed…a robbery that ended with his death.

That certainly sounds like the makings of a twist that would turn Winston Deavor into a villain, but not so fast. Let’s not forget about his sister Evelyn Deavor. Her description is a little more brief, as Disney and Pixar only say she’s the brilliant brainchild behind her brother Winston’s telecommunications company. Not only does she know her way around tech, she’s never met a problem she couldn’t solve.

A character who knows a lot about tech wouldn’t have any problem creating a device that hypnotizes people. But she would need to capture people’s attention in order to do it. Well, it’s rather convenient that the plan her brother has to bring supers into a favorable light is to use Elastigirl as a poster child for superheroes by attaching a camera to her suit so people can see her heroics first hand. Using Elastigirl to get people to tune in to a program showing off a superhero saving the day all so they can be hypnotized sounds like a pretty brilliant plan to me.

So the question is: are Winston and Evelyn Deavor working together? Or is one of them doing dastardly things behind the other’s back? If I were a betting man, I’d say Evelyn Deavor is the face behind Screen Slaver. After all, she has yet to be seen in any of the footage from Incredibles 2, she looks a little more villainous than Winston, and did you actually pay attention to her name? Evelyn Deavor. Or, pronounced another way, “Evil Endeavor”? It’s likely that Winston will appear to be double crossing the superheroes, but it will really be Evelyn

Why is The Screen Slave Hypnotizing People?

So let’s say that, at the very least, the Deavors are behind the actions of Screen Slaver. We’re still wondering why this villain is hypnotizing people. What’s their big villainous plan? Sure, plenty of villains just want to take over the world or make endless amounts of money. But that’s probably not good enough for Pixar. After all, when you look at Syndrome, his ultimate goal was to use his profile as a superhero to sell his gadgets in order to give everyone special abilities. As he said in the film, “When everyone’s super, no one will be.” His villainous plan was misguided, but it was driven by an innate desire to be accepted.

So what does Screen Slaver stand to gain from hypnotizing people and creating chaos in Municiberg? Based on what we’ve seen from trailers alone, it’s hard to discern what Screen Slaver’s ultimate plan might be. Even with the footage shown to us at Pixar, there wasn’t much new information presented that allowed us to piece together a coherent motivation for the villain. The death of the Deavors’ father provides some motivation, but what does their hypnotism of citizens and wreaking havoc on the city accomplish?

Well, if crime is rampant in Municiberg, then maybe the plan is for hypnotism to keep citizens from committing crimes. They’ll do exactly what they’re supposed to do each day by going to work, taking care of their families and whatnot, but they won’t be committing crimes. A world without crime sounds like an enticing idea. It may even be part of an even grander plan to create a more perfect civilization.

One section of art at Pixar for Incredibles 2 featured logos for a location called New Urbem, dubbed “The City of the Future.” Could the Deavors be looking to use their billions and newfound influence to build a new perfect crime-free city? Maybe they want to revamp Municiberg to make it more safe. If so, there might be another way to keep crime at bay without hypnotizing millions of innocent civilians.

Hypnotized Heroes

One revealing piece of art in the halls of Pixar was a concept art sequence showing Frozone, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack fighting off the new “wannabe supers.” But these supers didn’t become straight-up villains themselves. Instead, they were being hypnotized by way of glowing goggles strapped around their eyes. So it would seem that Screen Slaver has figured out a way to control supers and get them to do their bidding.

Remember how the Deavors’ father died because supers wouldn’t come when they were called? Maybe that’s their driving force for hypnotizing supers so that they’re always around to keep crime out of the city.

***

Keep in mind that much of this is speculation based on what we know and what we’ve seen so far. While there are some hard facts about Screen Slaver here, there’s also some educated guesswork being done to try to figure out the villainous plan at the center of the movie. After all, there’s still nearly 90 minutes of footage that we haven’t seen from this movie, so anything can happen in this animated sequel.

Incredibles 2 arrives in theaters on June 15, 2018.

The post Get the Lowdown on the Hypnotic ‘Incredibles 2’ Villain Known as The Screen Slaver appeared first on /Film.

from /Film https://ift.tt/2H6feOe