Make It So: Mega Man the Movie

Make It So: Mega Man the Movie by Jerry Whitworth

One of Capcom’s oldest and most popular gaming franchises in Mega Man is reportedly coming to the big screen. A co-production by 20th Century Fox (known for their X-Men and Fantastic Four films) and Chernin Entertainment (who have produced the Planet of the Apes films since 2011), the project has been in the works since at least last year and is being overseen by David Ready and Michael Finfer from Chernin (as founder Peter Chernin is set to produce). Mega Man, which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in two years, features an android battling mad scientist Dr. Wily and his Robot Masters in the decade 200X. Mega Man has been adapted for television in shows like Captain N: The Game Master and a self-titled series in 1994 from Ruby-Spears Productions as well as comic books such as the series currently being published by Archie Comics. Lets take a look at elements likely to emerge in the film.

DR. LIGHT and DR. WILY

Students at the Robot Institute of Technology, Thomas Light and Albert W. Wily were classmates and standouts in the academy each graduating and earning a doctorate from the school. However, Light seemed to consistently garner more attention for his work than Wily, so far as when both were nominated for Nobel Prizes in Physics, Light would win and Wily became a runner-up. Angered by Light always being given the spotlight, Wily disappeared while Light opened a laboratory dedicated toward the advancement of mankind through robotics. In time developing a line of robots for work in the home and community, Dr. Light sought to develop a thinking robot with a more advanced artificial intelligence, a so-called Robot Master. While his first attempt in DLN-000 Proto Man proved a failure (one which escaped before being repaired), Light would subsequently create Rock and Roll. Likely designed with a youthful disposition to represent their newfound “life” and as the children Light never found time to have, Rock was programmed as Light’s assistant and Roll as his housekeeper (though, Light treated them as people rather than as servants as they saw each other as siblings). The developed A.I. design formed a template Light used to create more Robot Masters which could perform a variety of tasks that were dangerous for humans to tackle (timber cutting, construction, work in extreme temperatures, regulate the output of power plants, etc). Those six initial industrial Robot Masters built by Light would subsequently be stolen and reprogrammed by Dr. Wily toward world domination and for revenge against Light for always upstaging Wily.

ROBOT MASTERS

With Dr. Wily jeopardizing countless lives, Rock approached his creator toward abandoning his peaceful existence as an assistant and instead become a weapon against Wily. Rebuilt as a combat unit, Rock was fitted with the Mega Buster, an arm-mounted cannon, and a helmet that permitted Dr. Light to interact with him as his body was covered in blue Ceratanium armor. Rock would take the name Mega Man and set out to defeat Wily and his machines. The six industrial Robot Masters, Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, and Elec Man, spread out leaving destruction in their wake. As they conquered, the lands they crossed changed to fit the aesthetic of its masters as the robots that maintained the spaces were reprogrammed to serve Dr. Wily’s minions while Wily’s own dangerous creations populated the landscape. In other words, the path to each Master in essence was like stepping into their own world and Mega Man would not simply face six androids but six armies of robots each led by a general who alone had power enough to destroy mankind’s lone champion. Upon defeating a Robot Master (being sure not to damage their cognitive circuit, which would essentially “kill” them), Mega Man would gain the Special Weapon used by his fallen foe and could then use it himself in battle discovering each industrial Master is weak against the weapon of a different, specific Master.

WILY CASTLE

Upon the defeat of the Robot Masters, Mega Man would seek out Dr. Wily himself who escaped via his flying saucer the Wily UFO to his castle fortress where he manufactured his legion of robots. Featuring such monstrous creations as Yellow Devil, Copy Robot (a clone of Mega Man), CWU-01P, and the six Robot Masters again repaired since their fight with their foe, Mega Man would finally get to face Wily as he piloted the Wily Machine 1. Bringing the villain to justice, Wily would uncover the secrets of developing Robot Masters and return repeatedly with his own creations to combat Mega Man. Amidst this, Mega Man’s older “brother” Proto Man would return, indebted to Wily for partly repairing him and turning him into a combat unit with a Proto Shield to compensate for the inherit physical weakness Wily could not fix in his design. However, through his fights with his “brother,” Proto Man would discover his true nature as being good and would rescue Mega Man following a battle with Wily, bringing him back to Dr. Light who seemingly recognized his “son” through his signature whistling. Proto Man would subsequently become an enemy of Wily but, due to his independent nature, would only help Mega Man in times of dire need. Mega Man would, however, get a steadfast ally around the time he first meets Proto Man in Rush, a robot dog created by Dr. Light that can transform into various modes of transportation.