Smash Bros. ASSIST ME! Link

If you're reading this blog, hopefully you've already seen Learn to Smash, which is Max's basics tutorial for Super Smash Bros. 4. If not, check it out here:

In this video, I had the honor of playing one of my childhood video game heroes, Link from the Legend of Zelda franchise.

The backstory here is that when Matt and I were young cosplayers, we dressed as original designs of Link and Agahnim. When it came time to cast for Smash Assist Me!, Simmons egged me to play Link. At first I resisted, because I'm pushing 30 and didn't think I'd be able to pull off the young Elven look anymore. But he insisted, and so I compromised that I would play Link if I could keep my beard and basically play Link as a gritty, battle-hardened man. Matt was fine with that, and so we moved forward.

When it comes to the question, "Why does Link look like that?", that's the short answer. Of course, I couldn't leave it at that. So if you want to know the in-depth reasoning behind this twist on such a classic character, read on.

Which Version of Link is This?

There are some hints here right in the video. I wanted to include some more with the costume, but time and budget prevented that. This Link is the Hero of Time, or the Link that appears in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. The big clue is the inclusion of Navi, who is only a companion to that incarnation of Link.

One of the more subtle hints is the design of his Hylian Shield. I wanted to feature the decals from Ocarina of Time, but make the shield look old and customized, hence the sharpened edges. The style of his baldric (the belt around the chest for the sword) is also based on his Ocarina of Time design, just more detailed.

The reason I went with the Hero of Time incarnation. instead of the more modern Hero of Twilight or Hero of Skyloft, was simply a matter of personal preference. Ocarina of Time was a game I played over and over as a kid, and it is still my favorite in the series. I still consider that Link to be the true original Link (any game they say takes place before it in the timeline can suck it). It's that Link that I wanted to portray.

Why the Beard and Eyepatch?

Since I am portraying Link at an older age, I wanted him to look the part. Many older Hylian men are depicted with facial hair, so they're not like Tolkein elves, which seem to never have any whatsoever. The eyepatch is actually something I thought would be fitting because in Twilight Princess, you encounter the restless spirit of the Hero of Time, and he's missing his right eye.

The Hero's Shade, as he's known.

I interpret this as an indication that he lost his right eye at some point in his life. When exactly is anybody's guess, but it seems I'm not alone in this.

Credit to Sage-of-Winds at DeviantArt.

That there was one awesome piece of fanart that inspired the design of my Link.

Is This Link a Badguy?

Link does some pretty dark stuff in the episode. He breaks a pot, steals some money from it, eats Doom's yogurt, and ultimately stabs Doom with the Master Sword.

That being said, no. My Link is not a badguy. In his world, it's pretty normal to break pots and keep money found in them (any Zelda fan knows this.) And come on - Doctor Doom may be a fan favorite in Assist Me, but he's not exactly one of the goodguys. Link tormenting him is all in a day's work for a hero - and it's funny.

I actually think of my Link as somebody who has lived longer than his appearance suggests. His adventures in Termina (Majora's Mask), may have actually taken years without aging him, as he was reliving the same 3-day cycle. His scars and old wounds show that he has seen a lot of fighting (it's assumed that in his timeline, Ganondorf attacked Hyrule and was ultimately captured). I think of the Hyrule he comes from as war-torn and hard to live in.

Despite that, he's a good guy. He's a hero, sort of a paladin. But he's older, he's seen some shit, and he's (at least a bit) belligerent and bitter.

Other Inspiration

This article wouldn't be complete without crediting artist Aaron Morse, whos portfolio is found at www.threenineart.com. I stumbled across his redesign of Link:

He kindly granted me permission to use this as a starting point for my Link costume. I used the pointed jerkin, the overall shape of the shield, and the attached cowl (hood) from this design. Of course I took some of my own liberties, but this awesome model was a huge inspiration.

Will We See Link Again?

I like to think we will. We have some other plans for Smash Assist Me!, if it continues to grow in popularity. So keep your ear to the ground! Thanks for reading!

Morrigan ASSIST ME! is Happening

Those of you who follow Max on Twitch know that I was up in LA for the streams this last weekend. If you missed it, catch it on the YoVideogames YouTube channel when Simmons gets it uploaded (hopefully in the next week or so, because it was so hype.)

Anyway, the reason I'm writing today is because I talked to Max about the next episode of Marvel ASSIST ME! (Morrigan) and he confirmed it is in fact happening. We filmed the episode nearly a year ago, and it's insane how that time blew by. Max was swamped working on other projects since the Dante episode came out, but he now has a tutor for the character (I'll leave it to him to announce who when the time's right.)

So it's happening! We went over the live action footage and he made a few tweaks. There's still lots of sound editing (Doom VO, music, etc.) and probably other work to do, but it is happening. I'm so stoked it'll be coming out. Don't know when, so don't ask me, but it is gonna happen and I think you guys are gonna love it.

For reasons that escape me entirely.

Stay tuned!

The "Operation: Raccoon City" Special That Never Happened

Digging through my old files tonight. Found a funny one that was meant to be a promotional video for Resident Evil Operation: Raccoon City.

This hilarious affront to the gods of gaming.

When ORC was still in its promotional phase, we had some connections to CAPCOM and used them to pitch an idea that we'd shoot a small comedy introduction video for the six playable USS characters. The story was conceptualized by Simmons, and I wrote up the script. It involved HUNK and Night Hawk (a USS pilot erroneously renamed 'Lone Wolf' in ORC) searching for people to recruit to Delta Team.

I would be playing HUNK, Simmons would be Night Hawk. I had actors lined up for every other role, and locations as well, but ultimately communications with CAPCOM fell through the cracks and so we never shot it.

There are some nice ASSIST ME! references here, and I think the comedy's decent. This is the rough draft of the script, but enjoy it!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SCRIPT!

What's It Like Playing Wesker?

This is entry #1 in a series of posts that will detail my insights to the characters I play in ASSIST ME!

Up first is my favorite of the bunch, Albert Wesker of Resident Evil, who makes far more appearances than any other character I play in the show. Wesker has a rich history of actors playing him. First voiced by Sergio Jones in the original video game, Wesker was made a fan favorite by Richard Waugh, who took the reigns in Resident Evil Code: Veronica. Waugh set the standard for Wesker's mid-Atlantic accent (sort of a midway point between an American and British accent and often attributed to Americans of a high social class). Waugh was eventually replaced by D.C. Douglas, who voiced him for his more recent video game appearances, including UMvC3.

In live action, he's been played by the likes of Jason O'Mara and Shawn Roberts. However another source of Wesker's character is Ken Lally, who did the motion-capture work for him in Resident Evil 5 and also portrayed him in the live action versions of the cut-scenes done by Reuben Langdon's studio Just Cause Entertainment.

What a boss.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ken (and several of the mo-cap and voice actors from RE5) at Fanimecon 2009. Ken got a kick out of my Wesker costume, and we talked at length about the character and his interpretation of Wesker's body language and martial arts background. It was a great source of character research that I did well before I expected to play Wesker in any videos. Ken helped me work on Wesker's posture, explained to me why Wesker often had his left arm tucked to his body and had his right hand free by loosely near his neck or upper torso. Wesker's left arm tucks down his holstered Samurai Edge so that if he needs to draw it, it's ready to go. His right hand is always loose and ready to draw if needed, but he also keeps it ready to block any incoming attacks to his head or neck. Cool stuff.

Ken also talked about one of Wesker's character traits that he wanted to implement, but didn't because in CG it looked weird. Wesker is always watching the ground - his combat arena, if you will - to be constantly aware of his surroundings, enemy movement, obstacles and potential traps. He may be superhumanly strong and fast, but he doesn't survive by being careless.

One thing I picked up from reading interviews with Richard Waugh was that Wesker always refers to people by their first name (this is why instead of "Doom" or "Dr. Doom" or anything, he calls Doom by the name Victor.) Waugh also liked to cut out abbreviations (his Wesker says "will not" instead of "won't" and so on) although this isn't a trait that survived into the D.C. Douglas era, and so it wasn't something I picked up on since my Wesker is based on RE5.

I try to implement the official actors' quirks when appropriate into my physical portrayal of Wesker. Of course, ASSIST ME! being a comedy allows lots of freedom for other character quirks.

Aside from making sure Wesker appears confident and ready for a fight, there are other things I do specifically as Wesker. When Wesker does take a seat, he relaxes. Not so much slouches, but just chills. I figured if Wesker would bother sitting with his enemies, he's going to at least make himself comfortable. (This is opposed to Deadpool, who sits forward facing and is always eagerly childish.)

Another source of inspiration comes from Tom Cruise's character Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. In ASSIST ME!, Wesker's hot headedness and precise insults are a bit of a nod to Les. I try to avoid it being a knockoff as much as possible, but it seemed appropriate for the parody series.

In season 1 and Ultimate, Wesker being the villain made my job easy. I just took what he was like in the games and made it funny. But with season 2 and on, Wesker starts to get this really interesting character arc. Of course we first see him help Max and Doom survive Deadpool's attack, but that's more for his own gain than any other reason. In the Chris episode we see Wesker is living with Max and Doom, but tensions are still there. Ironically enough, the first real hints we see of his arc are in "Doom and Wesker Watch Resident Evil 6 Trailer #2", which takes place after the Chris episode and is alluded to in the "last time on ASSIST ME!" bit of the Phoenix episode. What seems like a one-off joke was actually integral to the plot, and it's the bit where Wesker finds out he has a son.

Now, Wesker (in the show) has always had daddy issues. He admits to them in his own tutorial episode, referring to the fact that his father never taught him to play baseball (before drinking a lot). Now that he finds out he's also a deadbeat dad, he panics. This, in addition to Doom's accusations of Wesker causing the zombie outbreak, cause Wesker to leave the apartment.

It's actually a way heavier character moment than the viewers may have realized, because Wesker just had his whole world turned upside-down by the revelation that he's just like the father he hated. And it was that that turned him around and made him start towards the good-side of the fight. You'll see it more in season 3 (assuming it's released) but you do see it at the end of season 2 when he comes back to help the guys fight Taskmaster. He didn't come back but for any other reason than that he's trying to right his wrongs.

These are the eyes of a man who hates himself.

It's one of my favorite things about playing Wesker in the series. He comes off as cocky, brutish and villainous, but he's actually a deeply delicate character who ultimately recognizes his own sins and starts to right them.

And probably, nobody noticed that til just now.

Q&A - Round 1

Yesterday I offered to make a blog based on a Q&A both on my Facebook and my Twitter. I didn't get a huge response but I'll answer those questions here. I may do it again in the future.

Q: Is there a cosplay or character that you would totally refuse to do? (From Ayrton Frank Pilares Delgado via Facebook)

A: This is an interesting question. I look at cosplay personally as a way to express my love for a character. I don't cosplay a character if I don't already like them a lot. Hence, my list of cosplays is short even if I've rebuilt each of them a dozen times. Since I started, I've cosplayed as Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean), Link (Legend of Zelda), Jecht (Final Fantasy X), HUNK (Resident Evil) and Albert Wesker (Resident Evil). I guess you could also count Deadpool (Marvel Comics) and Thanos (Marvel Comics) although I did those costumes for ASSIST ME! rather than personal cosplay. Of those characters, Jecht was the one time I did a cosplay based on friends wanting me to do it. It was a fun and simple enough build, but I honestly didn't enjoy wearing it because I had no attachment to the character and no love for the series.

For me anyways, when you wear a costume you have no particular attachment to, it's boring. Plus you'll get people who are fans coming up to you to talk to you about the series, and you don't know what they're talking about, and then you look like a douche.

Pictured: my Jecht costume, apparently.

In the future I have plans to make costumes of Batman (DC Comics), Edward Kenway (Assassin's Creed), and perhaps an originally designed Hylian Knight. That's all stuff I want to do, and I know I'll enjoy it.

So in short, there's not really any one costume or character I'd refuse to do. The fact is I simply won't do it if it's not interesting to me. I guess that technically puts the count of characters I would "refuse" to do pretty high though.

Q: Will you be going to Anime Expo this year and/or any convention this year? (From Matthew Nevarez via Facebook)

A: I have no intentions to go to Anime Expo unless they return to Anaheim. The last time I went to AX was 2007 when they did it in Long Beach. The location wasn't the problem as much as the fact that in 2006 and 2007 the con was run so awfully that it just turned me off. I would go back to Anaheim for the sake of nostalgia though. Really, I've fallen out of the con scene. They just aren't all that fun to me these days. I might get back into them in the future, but I did them for 10 years and to me they got dull.

Q: When is next ASSIST ME!? (From Alvin Li via Facebook)

A: That's really a question I can't answer. Season 3 was almost entirely filmed in the spring of 2013. We do have some pickups to shoot, and we haven't shot the finale episode yet. The next episode of UMvC3 (Morrigan) is completely filmed, but to my knowledge Max hasn't had time to do the in-game stuff yet. He's been extremely busy with paid projects (as I've said before, ASSIST ME! costs more to produce than Max gets back from YouTube hits). I don't know when he will, you'd have to hound him for it. Soon, I hope, while people are still interested. That said, he has talked to me about doing more Killer Instinct episodes. They'd be easier to make, and that's what he's passionate about right now. I wouldn't be surprised if he releases some KI episodes before we see Morrigan.

I NEED AN ADULT.

Q: How exactly did you do the Deadpool mask? (From Jaymic Schliesman via Twitter)

A: Pretty simply, actually. The red part of the mask was just a cotton-spandex blend fabric (the same as the outfit) that I sewed into a custom balaclava. I based the thing off of his appearance in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, which gave me the idea to have black makeup instead of fabric to allow for eye movement. Our makeup artists then covered my eyebrows and most of the rest of my face in layers of liquid latex to give the appearance of twisted, chunky, fucked up Deadpool skin. They painted that black with some grease makeup, eyeliner around the eyes, etc. and popped in white mesh eye contacts. It took over an hour to get the makeup done, and taking it off hurt like hell, but I think it was worth it.

eBay? Ain't nobody got time for that!

Q: Any advice for cosplay beginners? A friend of mine wants to do Chris Redfield soon. (From Dan via Twitter)

A: As I detailed a bit in my first answer above, stick to what you like. Do what you're passionate about. Even when doing commissions, if I work on something that I'm not interested in it just isn't nearly as fun. At the end of the day cosplay is supposed to be fun, so don't get too caught up on anything but doing something you want to, and doing it the way you want to. For some people that means a big extravagant debut in their first costume, which is cool and all, but that shouldn't be your standard. Enjoy yourself.

Also, make sure your costume is easy to change out of, use the restroom is, breathes as much as possible, doesn't totally block your peripheral vision, doesn't drag on the floor (an escalator will fuck your shit up) and isn't Hetalia.

Fuck Hetalia.

"Day Of" Jokes

To my understanding, an honest-to-God film production doesn't have changes made the day of filming. The risk of continuity errors, etc. is just too much to handle. Once a script is written, it'll be used in rehearsals, screen tests, and otherwise edited probably a ton before the final version is ultimately settled, but come filming day nobody's throwing out new ideas or coming up with new dialog.

At least, that's my understanding of it. Don't take my word for it.

In ASSIST ME! things are a lot different. I usually write scripts well before we're ready to film, and send them out to the cast for feedback. Due to our conflicting schedules and travel distance, we can't get together for a bunch of rehearsals and discussions. So everybody reads it, sends me any feedback they might have, and I'll make some changes. Usually my second or third draft is what I call the "final" draft, but that doesn't mean that the script is scripture when it comes time to film.

A lot of the rest f the crew doesn't pay much mind to a particular episode until filming day. And since we don't get together for rehearsal not even I can be sure what the flow and feel of the episode will be like until we're in character, bouncing lines off each other and the camera's rolling.

To somebody used to professional procedure, this is probably an enormous headache. But to those of us just doing it for fun, it's kind of a blast. Everybody gets to toss in ideas, and what we agree works best is what we go with. A prime example is "magic hood" gag, where Doom pulls random plot devices or other props out of his hood.

Back when we were filming Ultimate ASSIST ME!, Max had written the script for the first episode and  if memory serves me correctly, the script just called for "Doom pulls out a copy of Ultimate Marvel 3." When it came time to film, Max realized there needed to be some kind of interesting reveal. We didn't just want to have Doom snap it into existence because we had done that for mundane props before - the early copy of UMvC3 was a big deal in the plot, so we needed something new. After we all thought on it for a few seconds, I said "Just have him pull it out of his hood."

Doom's hood is friggin' huge. So we stuck the game up in there and had him pull it out like there was some mystical pocket. It was a bit of a pain to make it work, because with his gloves on Simmons couldn't even feel the case, but after a few tries we got it down, and magic was born.

Since then, Doom's "magic hood pocket" has been iconic in the series. We made a throwback to the gag in the Deadpool episode. When Max wants to show Deadpool a change from the vanilla version, he reaches into Doom's hood (notice how he reaches into the opposite end that Doom pulled Ultimate from - aw, shit!) and pulls out the game to Doom's surprise. As Max and Deadpool play, Doom pulls an assortment of random crap from his hood, surprised at everything he finds.

The inside of Doom's hood, probably.

We used the joke again in Retro ASSIST ME! when Doom sticks old games into one side of hood, and after horrible grinding noises pulls Infinity gems from the other side. (And also plutonium, because comics are stupid.) It's one of the seemingly intentional iconic pieces of ASSIST ME! lore that was literally thought up on the fly during filming.

And that's just one thing. The amount of jokes and gags in the show that we come up with day of is ridiculous. This is why even though I'm often credited as the main writer, I've said before at pretty much every panel we've done that nobody can really take full credit for any particular episode. The whole process is so organic and involves a lot more heads than one.

Sometimes it works out really well. Other times not as much. But really, it's a fundamental part of the show. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Bad Cosplay

This one's a bit off the norm for this blog. But it's my blog. I do what I want.

Tell 'em, bitch.

As I've mentioned previously, I'm not an actor. I do act (on occasion) for fun, but primarily I'm a costumer/cosplayer when it comes to the "dress up and pretend to be somebody else" thing. That's how I got started in ASSIST ME!, which was my first "real" experience acting. And even that started as just a fun way to help a couple friends make a YouTube video. I didn't think of it as a job.

Somebody once asked me the question "What do you think about bad cosplayers?" followed up by another person asking "Yeah, can we talk about how people shouldn't cosplay--" that's all I remember. I stopped listening. Because, Jesus Christ, you guys. Jesus.

Jesus.

And I've seen that mentality come up a lot. I'm not gonna get all White Knighty and defend cosplayers individually or anything. Truthfully, I value free-speech as much as anybody. And if you gotta exercise it by knocking the hobbies of others, well that's sad for you, but damn it, people died face down in the mud so that you could say whatever the hell you want.

That's assuming you live in a free country. If you don't, fucking move to one. Jesus.

Anyway, the real problem I have with this is that aside from people just knocking the quality of somebody's cosplay, countless people come to this conclusion that cosplay is some kind of privilege. Like if you're not doing it to their standards, you have no right to be doing it. And that's fucking asinine.

That's like if I walked into a pool-hall, saw a guy step up to make a break and have him do a sub-par job, and then I decided he had no business playing the game in the first place (the bastard.) Cosplay is a hobby. People do it for fun. They don't do it to please anybody else (well, some might I guess, but generally speaking here.) There are great cosplays, there are $2-and-this-paper-bag-I-found cosplays, and there are all manner of things in between. And they're all equally qualified to exist if for no other reason than that they're enabling a fan to show that they're a fan.

I'll admit there were times when I was younger I'd see a bad cosplay and think "dude, what were you thinking? That character tucks his shirt in, dumbass" But a quick self-check would remind me that they have every right to be wearing the costume, they're just showin' the love, they probably don't care as much about the accuracy and today I'm a better person for realizing that my standards don't - and shouldn't need to - apply to them.

I don't consider myself to be a bad or good cosplayer. I feel someplace in the middle. I'm just a dude making costumes that I love to show my fandom because it's fun. I believe some of my attempts have been better than others, sure, but if you came up to me and said "Hey, your costume doesn't look accurate enough. You shouldn't wear that." you'd have a hilarious trip down an upwards-moving escalator shortly following that.

Me in my old Jack Sparrow costume.

People can cosplay whatever they want (assuming of course they're not in actual violation of decency laws or bronies [just kidding, bronies - but seriously, what the shit?]). You don't have to be fit enough, tall enough, the right age, the right ethnicity, have the right eye color, or even be the right gender to show your fandom.

Now there are some insanely good cosplays out there. Some people go so far as to follow strict diet and workout routines to fit their character - and I'm not knocking that. That level of devotion to anything - even a hobby - is an admirable quality. And if the final result is the cosplay looks like it was ripped from the screen of some anime/video game or the pages from some comic, I will be impressed. I'll think it's awesome. Hordes of people will think it's awesome, because it is.

But cosplay didn't start that way. Cosplay started with hardcore fans with slapped-together costumes making their outfit on a budget, getting together and taking pictures because they love their fandom and wanted to have a great time with like-minded fans. It wasn't model-fit folk with their hair and makeup done perfectly and their outfits professionally tailored. The quality of cosplay in general grew over time as the hobby expanded, and more and more people with trade skills got in on it and spread that knowledge to their fellow cosplayers.

Cosplay wouldn't even be the thing it is now if it weren't for the hardcore fans that started it all. So every time you find yourself ogling Jessica Nigiri or Liz Katz or for those that like the guys, InkyLinks, Jack Conways, etc... All of which are (probably - I don't know 'em all) hardcore fans all the same - remember that you owe that ogling moment to the pioneers of the hobby, who looked a lot more like this:

"You're welcome, you hopped up little shits."

So don't be that dick that mouths off about whether someone should or should not cosplay. I mean, go ahead, I guess. It's a free country. But look at it from somebody elses perspective. If at the end of the day you feel that somebody shouldn't take part in a hobby they love because they don't do it well enough to fit your standards, then you might want to reevaluate yourself.

What's Next?

As far as I'm aware, my part in developing the ASSIST ME! verse is over. I'm sure even once the season wraps Max still intends to use characters like Doom and Ammy in future random videos, as he has since the dawn of ASSIST ME! but the availability of the larger part of the cast and crew means large undertakings are harder and harder these days. Whether there will be similar videos for some other series in the future, I can't say. Because I don't know. Plans for Injustice ASSIST ME! never took off, the same for Street Fighter X Tekken, and so on. Killer Instinct seems like it will give Max some passion-fueled content, but I doubt something as ambitious in scope or as structured as UMvC3 ASSIST ME! will come of it.

But really, that's just my outlook. I can't speak for Max or really anybody else on that. If I'm asked to work on something with them in the future, chances are I will do it if I have the time, but I doubt I'll get as involved with anything else as I did with ASSIST ME! As much as I loved working on the series, it was one of those things that sucked up a lot of time and energy, and at times was too frustrating to do just for the fun of it.

I did toy around for a small time with suggesting we continue the story of ASSIST ME! strictly in sitcom format (10 minute webisodes or so) and even took a lot of my unused content for season 3 and turned it into a total of 10 scripts. The interesting thing about season 3 was that getting people together and filming it wasn't the hard part. Sure, some parts were harder than others, but mostly the season was fully filmed in a total of 7 or 8 combined days, with the exception being the finale. The thing that delayed the season was the video-game stuff, which is actually a huge undertaking for one guy to do with the quality Max does it. (Aside from capturing gameplay, Max must first learn the character, practice the moves well enough so that he can perform combos during capturing, write and record all of the tutorial dialog, apply effects like input icons, edit all that shit together, etc. An honest-to-God production would have like six guys doing different parts of what Max does all by himself.) My idea was that if we did a sitcom it would be easier just based on the fact that no gameplay footage would be needed.

Would people watch it? I don't know. But as time has gone on I've found myself less interested in the ASSIST ME! verse and more interested in doing other fan projects that I've always wanted to do. Here's a rundown of some of the fan projects that I'm writing (whether or not they'll ever be produced, I have no idea.) Unless otherwise noted, these are my own ideas for fan projects.

• The Legend of Zelda: Knights of Hyrule - a gritty look into the "Fallen Hero" timeline of the LoZ series. This story (planned to be a feature length script) sees Princess Zelda and her last standing Sheikah guardians seeking the disbanded Knights of Hyrule after fifteen years under Ganondorf's rule (8 years after the Hero of Time falls in battle.)
• Project: Batman - An alternate take on the Batman universe in which a young and overwhelmed Bruce Wayne funds and organizes "Project: Batman", a small team of specialists trained to battle crime in Gotham City. A feature length script, concept by Matt Simmons.
• Gotham City - A more traditional take on the Batman universe, in web-series format.
• Phobos - A feature length script set in the DOOM 3 universe, in which a group of Marines and scientists stationed on the Mars moon Phobos encounter an ancient and powerful demon.
• Merc Work - An action/comedy web-series starring Deadpool, Taskmaster and Crossbones.
• Biohazard - A web-series based on the Resident Evil universe, broken into four "chapters", each with dozens of episodes. Part 1 is "Umbrella Rising", part 2 is "S.T.A.R.S.", part 3 is "Raccoon City" and part 4 is "Ashes".
• MvC - The continuation of the ASSIST ME! universe, starring all the characters you'd expect and more. No video game footage, just dramedy.

I have other, original, projects in mind too. And more ideas will come. I would love it if I could find the time to write and produce all of these things, but the truth is I probably won't. Many of these will just remain nice ideas.

Season 3 - Part 2

I talked in my last few posts about the episodes/sub-plots dropped from season 3. There are some things I can't fully reveal, because they are still part of the plot of the season 3 we're actually releasing, but to wrap things up on this topic I'm going to gather (to the best of my recollection) the general plot outline of season 3 before it was trimmed.

I don't have any comprehensive notes on this, so it's based on my memory and what little remains in the few scripts I still have intact.

Kidnapping the Supervillains

This particular plot point was one that was meant to make the universe feel bigger. After the events of season 2, I figured our villain would kick his plans into overdrive. Originally he was trying to take out our heroes before executing his master plan, but when Taskmaster and the other badguys he hired failed to do that directly, he decided to use his powers of influence to get some help.

As I mentioned before, there was one version of the story where SHIELD agents began collecting superhumans. There was another version where mercenaries working under Taskmaster (who was in turn working under the CIA) were doing it. There was yet a third (I think I planned it, but never wrote it) where the BSAA handled all this. In all versions, the outcome was basically the same.

The reasoning behind this was simple. By the time the finale came around, I wanted our heroes to have their backs to the wall. They'd have a few allies to call on, but the world at large was being affected by this villain, and they didn't have a lot of hope left. It would all lead to a large-scale showdown where Max, Doom, Wesker, Strider, C Viper, X-23, Chris, and Jill (and perhaps a few cannon fodder BSAA agents) moved against the villain, Taskmaster, Deadpool, and his group of SHIELD agents/mercenaries. There were some variants where X-23 was brainwashed by the villain to work for him, and our guys had to try to save her.

Again, sometimes I'm a little too ambitious.

How This Affected the World At Large

I have in my notes how this affected the rest of the MvC universe. This is stuff that may have been mentioned in news broadcasts watched by Max, or something along those lines. It wasn't meant to be seen directly in the show, just hinted at. And really, it was more detail than was needed. As a writer I thought "okay, if this big bad supervillain is making moves to dominate the planet, why aren't any of the heroes of the universe except for our motley group of idiots trying to stop him?" The answer to that question was the above. Our villain manipulated enough of the world to cause havoc for the superhuman community so that he could execute his master plan without interference from, say, the Avengers, the X-Men, etc.

So I have these notes about what the rest of the universe is doing while our season unfolds.

• Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants strongly opposes the superhuman collection act (because of course they do), which causes trouble with the X-Men who are attempting to find a peaceful resolution with humans. The X-Men is also weakened because some of them have split off to find Phoenix, Wolverine, and their other lost or kidnapped members. Not only that, but Sentinels are deployed to hunt for mutants, so basically the entire mutant community is way occupied with their own problems.
• The BSAA, SHIELD and basically all Government organizations are essentially working for the villain without knowing it, doing the legwork of collecting all superhumans. C Viper works with them as a double agent, secretly helping the allies she has in the superhuman community, and ultimately fighting on their side.
• The Avengers split up due to internal disagreements on the act (a nod to the Civil War storyline).
• Taskmaster, Deadpool and perhaps other mercenary type characters willingly work for the villain, so they're (at least temporarily) immune to any trouble from the superhuman collection act. Nathan Spencer is recruited to enforce superhuman collection.

Sub-Plot: Doom Loses His Power

I discussed this some in previous posts. There were two versions of this sub-plot. In one version, the main villain made himself known at the beginning of the season and sapped Doom's powers away. In another, he remotely manipulates Doom's powers, causing them to go haywire. Doom eventually has his powers restored/fixed by the end of the season. Throughout the season, this would humble his character somewhat because he wouldn't be able to do whatever he wants with the snap of his fingers. This sub-plot was entirely scratched from the season with no trace of it left in the episodes you will actually see.

Sub-Plot: Doom and X-23

Doom and X-23 would begin a relationship when Wesker sets them up on a date. X-23 was portrayed as pretty shallow, either taking up the offer for money, or information about Logan. Exactly when and how Wesker set them up changed with each version of the season plot, but ultimately the result was the same. Doom wins her over for real when she realizes he's rich and powerful, and not just all talk. So... slightly less shallow, I guess? X-23 will still appear in season 3, and it's clear Doom still has a thing for her, but otherwise this sub-plot is completely scratched from the season.

Sub-Plot: X-23's Personal Mission

In any version of the season plot where Wolverine was kidnapped, X-23 would be using information from Wesker to track him down and rescue him. We would have seen a lot more of X-23 as an independent heroine in this arc, since Wesker wasn't interested in actually helping her on any missions. Of course, this plot is entirely gone.

Sub-Plot: Wesker's Redemption

In all versions of the plot, Wesker is on a redemption quest. What really changed was the scope of it, and whether or not he maintained his superpowers throughout. In some versions, Wesker lost his powers when Doom did. In others, he didn't. While this was a major setback for Doom, who had come to rely on his powers for most of his life, for Wesker it wasn't. Wesker was a badass martial artist spy/special forces operative before he was a superhuman, so he still had something to fall back on. However, due to his regrets about his past, in some versions he would actively seek out and destroy B.O.W. trades. This sub-plot is still part of his character in the final season, but you don't see him doing a bunch of missions now. If you watch the season trailer, you can probably see hints of his regret on his face whenever he's seen with C Viper (it should all make sense come episode 3, I promise.) The only reason Wesker's character arc remained at least somewhat was because Max told me to keep that in. I wanted to keep as much character development as possible for all the characters, but Max's reasoning was "Season 1 is about Max, Season 2 is about Doom, Season 3 should be about Wesker." So that's sort of how it worked out.

Sub-Plot: Wesker and C Viper

Without making a romance out of the two characters (we already had Doom and X-23 and this isn't a fucking romcom), I wanted C Viper to be the character that grounds Wesker and helps bring him to the light side. This was of course another part of the above sub-plot, but it merits its own entry. To an extent, elements of it are still in the season, but now C Viper's appearance is relegated simply to one episode. With the removal of the superhuman collection act angle, her role (which relied heavily on that) was basically cut out. In the original finale, while some of the heroes fought Taskmaster and some goons (which you'll read more about a few entries below), Deadpool and other goons went to C Viper's house. They had realized she was a double agent, and sent Deadpool and the mercs to kidnap her daughter as collateral.

This was a great bit, because I wanted her daughter depicted as a child (as she is in Street Fighter's animated film) but SF4 takes place awhile ago. Technically by now Wesker and Doom would also be very old men though (Wesker's 38 in Resident Evil 1, so... hmm). Deadpool acknowledged this entire thing about the ASSIST ME! verse while standing outside C-Viper's house.

Deadpool: "Wait, nobody said she was a kid! Who approved this? This doesn't even make sense! Didn't Street Fighter 4 take place in like 1995?"

Mercenary: "I think so..."

Deadpool: "Then C Viper's daughter should be like... thirty... This timeline's all fucked up."

Anyway, Wesker breaks off from the main group to go save Maya's daughter (to whom he's like an uncle). He tears the badguys new assholes, saves the day and all. It was a sweet moment that showcased Wesker's full circle into being a good guy.

Nothing like that really happens now. He's still gonna show hints of redemption but it's angle more towards him looking out for Max and Doom.

Sub-Plot: Strider's Quest

Arguably my favorite sub-plot that I had to give up. And this is more because of Ben (who plays Strider) than it is about my love for Strider. Ben's an actual trained actor/singer, and he's incredibly talented. I feel he hasn't got to show it in the series yet because Strider is such a  mellow and dry character. I think Ben's voice work for Tasky was fucking fantastic. I wanted to expand on Strider to let Ben really show off his chops, and I thought I did a fairly good job of making Strider compelling with the short-film featuring his original mission (MvC2). Strider would have been heavily involved in that version of the season. The script where Wesker and X-23 take down the B.O.W. trade also had a version with Strider in it, but I can't find a copy.

Sub-Plot: People Be Dyin'

On that note, characters were going to die in this season. That's actually something I wanted to implement really badly, because we've always teased character deaths but they always seem temporary (in Deadpool and Wesker's cases, this sort of makes sense though.) In the original version of the finale, Strider would go toe-to-toe with Taskmaster in a swordfight. They'd be evenly matched, and then in the midst of this giant fight, Doom would take a bullet to the shoulder. In that brief second where Strider looks to his friend, Taskmaster headbutts him and impales him with his sword.

"Make yer dyin' wish, pretty boy."

Taskmaster drops Strider and then ducks out of the battle as a wounded Doom comes to Strider's side. Strider dies without any parting words, and Doom then goes fucking top-tier on the nameless henchmen, incinerating them with blasts of magic.

It was so dark. So sad. I loved it so much.

Taskmaster would get his comeuppance before the season was over though. once the good guys caught up to him, Doom would beat him within' an inch of his life. Taskmaster would promise Doom anything if he let him live.

"I want Strider back, you son of a bitch."

And then he'd kill Tasky. For good. Because I wanted Tasky to die a real death, not a human-blender explosion. (Although I gotta say, that bit at the end of season 2 was hype as shit.) Also, Princess Bride references are fantastic.

There were other deaths, but when we trimmed down the plot and all unnecessary characters it seemed like a waste. What's the point of killing a main character without first getting the audience to love them?

Homeboy knows what's up.

Sub-Plot: Max is Tired of All This Shit

Lastly, we have of course Max. As Max is the only real normal guy in this whole situation, we was going to spend most of this season getting more and more sick of Doom and Wesker's shit. His whole life has been turmoil ever since Doom showed up and started squatting the house in season 1. This whole angle I can't really take credit for because it was Andrew who suggested it.

I had an episode planned (either as a short film or something, it was never written) where Max would finally get a day to himself without any superpowered weirdo roommates to worry about. Ironically, he'd be faced with challenges where having Doom around would be really useful, so his day is still ruined.

Ultimately, this arc would begin with Max really tired of the guys, but by the end he kinda learns the value of his friends (quirky and meddling as they are) and has their back when it's time to face the badguys. There are still elements of this sub-plot in Max's character, much like there are of Wesker's redemption sub-plot, but not to the extent they were originally planned.

In Closing

That was a lengthy post, but I think that wraps up the things ahout season 3 that were cut out. I'll have more things tomorrow, but without spoiling the remainder of season 3 I can't disclose a whole lot more.

Lost Episode: Puppets

If you've been trying to piece together the old plot based on my last few entries, now's where you should give up. The season 3 plot was restructured several times (my next will cover all the different versions, and dropped sub-plots, without spoiling what remains of the current and final plot). Anyways, this is the last script that I have a full intact version of that not a single scene remains of in the season.

This one is called "Puppets", and it would have ignored the early-introduction of the villain (Doom would have not lost his powers, but Wesker would have one way or another.) Wesker would not have hired Strider or brought Nemesis in for training, so this version must be from one of the rewrites where those episodes were cut. Wolverine would have been captured by mercenaries (not SHIELD), and Deadpool and Taskmaster would not have been reintroduced. The Doom/X-23 date episode would have taken place, but I don't know what version (there were several). Lastly, C Viper would have been introduced before this episode, as an old frienemy of Wesker (this still happens in season 3, so I won't go into too many details, but she would have been working with the CIA to collect superhumans and trying to keep Wesker from getting himself in trouble.) Confusing, I know. Sorry about that.

This episode begins with Max and Doom on the couch playing UMvC3, and Doom spamming the foot dive for a victory. He tries to snap in a beer, and it takes him three tries to do it (his powers are dwindling in this version - because of the villain - but he doesn't know why). When he opens the beer, it explodes and makes a mess. Max tells him to go into the kitchen and get a normal beer, not another "crappy exploding gypsy beer". Just then, Wesker and X-23 appear from the garage, armed to the teeth, and leave.

Elsewhere, we see a B.O.W. trade going down between two groups in a warehouse. Some well-dressed thugs are selling a Licker to a street gang. The deal is interrupted by Wesker and X-23, who bust in and kill everybody. Wesker plants a bomb on the Licker (who's in a containment unit in stasis) and as they exit the whole place blows up.

Ain't no fucks given here.

Back at the garage bunker, X-23 asks Wesker if he really is trying to right his wrongs. She then remembers that Wesker had made a deal with her (in this version of the plot, Wesker had only got her to go on a date with Doom by promising he'd help her find Wolverine). Wesker gives her a thumb drive with some stolen data to help her track Wolverine down. She's not pleased, but Wesker figures they're even. She leaves, kinda pissed. Then, Wesker's computer chimes up "Perimeter breach, section three."

Across the street on a rooftop, a mercenary spies on Max and Doom through the window of the apartment. Wesker goes full Batman on the poor guy, roughs him up and pins him by the throat.

Wesker: "See anything you like? Who sent you?"

Mercenary: "If I tell you, do you promise not to kill me?"

Wesker: "No."

Taskmaster then steps out of the shadows (this would have been his reveal in this version), very much not-dead. Wesker knocks the merc out and faces Tasky. We cut away to see C Viper in a CIA control room, asking another agent where Taskmaster is. She then realizes he's out on an unauthorized assignment.

Back to Wesker and Taskmaster, we have a nice tense standoff:

Wesker: "I suppose I'm interrogating the wrong person then."

Taskmaster: "Yeah, how'd that go for you last time we met? What are you even doin', Wesker? Allyin' yourself with the losers, bustin' up bio-weapon trades, and for what? You on some kinda redemption quest? Think you can be a hero after everything you done? If you didn't have your head up yer ass, maybe we coulda used ya, y'know?"

Wesker: "You work against your own kind, Masters. When there are no more superhumans to collect, they'll turn on you as well."

Taskmaster: "Nah, you aint lookin' at the big picture. See, I work for a higher power. This is just the beginnin'. The balance of the world's changin' and you're completely oblivious to it."

I guess I was really into lengthy dialogue when writing this season.

Wesker: "Oblivious is a long word for a mercenary."

Taskmaster: "Funny. Tell ya what, I'll leave ya alive so you can keep crackin' jokes, as long as you quit gettin' between me and my target."

Wesker: "That's never going to happen."

Taskmaster: "I was hopin' you'd say that."

Taskmaster and Wesker stand off Old West style, each ready to draw a firearm. C Viper cuts in through Taskmaster's earpiece. She reminds Tasky he's not on assignment, and orders him to stand down. Taskmaster complains, but she doesn't give him any edge. Tasky is of course really working for our villain, but has to keep up appearances, so he complies. He picks up the unconscious merc and makes his exit. Wesker promises him the next time they meet will be the last, one way or the other. Once Tasky leaves, Wesker drops his facade and is visibly shaken. Even with his powers, Taskmaster bested him once before.

The episode ends with Wesker standing on the roof, watching Doom and Max laugh it up in the house, completely oblivious to the danger they were just in.

This is an episode I could have probably salvaged parts from, but it would have been rather difficult because of the locations needed. Plus, with Max wanting the sub-plots removed, there wouldn't have been much context for the whole standoff with the mercenaries, etc.

Next time, I'll talk about the changing plot line of season 3. I've also got notes about things cut out from RETRO ASSIST ME!, and some about the Injustice ASSIST ME! series that never happened, and if I can land a copy, a Street Fighter X Tekken script from Simmons that never saw the light of day. That's about it as far as my notes go, but I'm also thinking about providing some insight as to the characters I play. So we'll see.

Lost Episode: Nemesis Tutorial

So my posts seem to be running a little long, and there's been no real rhyme or reason to them. Just kind of a brief history of my work on ASSIST ME! I'm going to start keeping the blog a little more organized from now on. As I mentioned in my last post, another episode cut from the early draft of season 3 (that had actual work put into it) was the Nemesis tutorial.

I'm sure I did more than one draft of this, but I can only find one copy in my files. Fortunately, it follows the version of the story I last left you with (Doom and Wesker have lost their powers, the villain has made himself known and is now moving to conquer the world since our heroes have been defeated, etc.) Also, Strider has been officially hired by Wesker to beef up the team.

The Nemesis episode began with Max coming down to the garage (Wesker insists everyone call it "the bunker") to find Doom at the weapons table. He practices quick-drawing a German Mauser, which is his traditional sidearm from the comics. Why an all-powerful wizard and master of technology feels the need to use a dated German pistol as his sidearm is beyond me, but ya know. Comics are stupid. There's a bit of a throwback where Max questions his use of pistols (remember Doom once said "guns are for pussies") but without his powers, Doom doesn't really know how to fight.

Just then, the garage door opens. Enter Wesker and Strider, dressed in combat gear and spattered with blood. Behind them, in chains, is Nemesis.

Sup.

Max is, understandably, not for the idea of a seven foot abomination living with them, but Wesker insists that they need extra security on account of their recent nerfing. As Doom attempts to showoff his quickdraw, he accidentally discharges the gun, scaring Nemesis. Doom calls the quickdraw a "stupid cowboy technique" but Wesker tells him to keep practicing, as it might save his life one day. This is what you call foreshadowing, by the way. We then get this exchange, probably one of my favorite Strider moments.

Doom: "Yippie ki-yay. And Strider, since when do you work with Wesker?"

Strider: "He needed my assistance in obtaining the creature."
Wesker: "He's good backup. We call ourselves Team Teleport."
Doom: "That's gay."
Wesker and Strider: "You're gay!"

Max drives the conversation back to the elephant B.O.W. in the room. Wesker wants him to program Nemesis (through UMvC3, obviously) to work as their bodyguard. Max puts his foot down and tells Wesker to take it back. Wesker takes off his shades and:

Wesker: "Take it back? Take it back? What do you think this is, a joke? Some kind of gag? Like, 'oh haha, Wesker brought home a giant monster, classic Wesker!' No. No. The reality of this, Max, the reality of this: this creature set me back two hundred and seventy three million dollars. And the exchange was a sting. Strider and I had to fight off a task force of over 50 BSAA agents trained specifically to take me down. And you left no gas in the tank, so we had to wait in line and fill up in the middle of a massive firefight while transporting a multi-million dollar piece of bio-organic weaponry. And you want me to take it back? ...I have never felt so unappreciated. I’m hurt. Honest. There might be tears."

For your consideration.

Max submits, takes Nemesis by the chains and drags him up to the living room. Doom goes with. As Max sets an arcade stick on Nemesis' lap, the beast growls angrily at him. Doom swats him on the nose, and Nemesis recoils like a bad dog. And the tutorial begins.

When we come back to the scene, Nemesis is sniffing the arcade stick. An irritated Max slams it back down to his lap. Nemesis roars in frustration. Doom just goes "Dude, that thing is going to bite the shit out of you." They're interrupted when Ammy runs downstairs. Max tries to stop her, but she jumps into Nemesis' lap. He picks her up, lifts her to his mouth, and... starts cuddling her. Max is confused, but Doom realizes Nemesis is secretly a big softy. He scratches Nemesis behind the ear - or I guess, where his ear would be, if he had any - and Nemesis stamps his foot repeatedly. A happy Nemesis drools all over the dog. Disgusted, Max carries Ammy to the garage where Wesker and Strider are going over some mission documents.

Max charges the guys with cleaning up the dog since they brought Nemesis to the house, and heads back upstairs. We later see a scene where Wesker and Strider bathe Ammy in the bathtub, and get drunk off a bottle of whiskey. They get curious as to what's going on downstairs, and as they take a peek we're treated to yet another Disney parody, this time to Beauty and the Beast. Doom has nearly set up a dinner table for himself and Nemesis. Doom tries to teach Nemesis how to use the eating utensils. I'll just post the lyrics for you guys.

Doom

"They say you're mean;

And quite malign;

Some say you’re scary, Doom thinks that’s just your design;

A little love, that is your cure;

Doom wonders why nobody tried this way before."

Nemesis attempts to use the proper utensils and only knocks food over, making a mess. He starts to rage and pound the table, but Doom calms him with a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Max steps in.

Max

"Doom, he's a beast;

He's eight feel tall;

He’s gonna snap, I know it, then he’ll kill us all;

What is my life? Just one big chore;

(Max suddenly becomes distracted and walks off in thought.)

I wonder if Capcom will make a Marvel Four?"

Doom

"Though his look is alarming;

And he’s chased us since Resident Evil 3;

He may be no Prince Charming;

But there’s something in him that we simply didn’t see."

At this point, Wesker, Strider and X-23 (I inserted her for the lols, she's not dating Doom yet in this version of the plot) poke their heads in from upstairs.

Wesker

"Well look at that."

X-23

"It's quite a sight."

Strider

"What do you know?"

X-23

"Well what indeed?"

Wesker

"Well who’d have guessed Doom would correct him on his own?"

X-23

"There may be hope, just wait and see."

Wesker and Strider

"We’ll wait and see..."

Wesker, Strider and X-23

"A few days more;

There may be something there that wasn't there before."

At this point, Wesker and Strider look at X-23 in confusion and she gives them the biggest shit-eating grin Tess could muster. After the song, Doom tries to teach Nemesis how to bake cookies. As Nemesis stares blankly at the bowl of cookie dough, Doom says "We can make whatever shapes you want, like balloons, and horseshoes, and stars, and--" Nemesis roars "STAAAAARRRSSSS" and bashes the bowl of cookie dough. Doom tells Max to never say the "s-word". He then runs upstairs. Max sits back down with Nemesis to continue the tutorial.

Somehow I thought I could get away with two parody scenes in one episode, because the next scene is Wesker and Strider getting good and drunk while bathing Ammy and singing the drinking song from Shanghai Noon. Like, the whole song. I don't know what I was thinking. This probably isn't the final draft though. The best thing (IMO) out of this scene is that near the end, a drunk Wesker and Strider get all philosophical (it should be noted they're now sitting in the bathtub with Ammy - clothed though, don't make it weird):

Wesker: "I am so lost here, Hiryu. I don’t even know if I’m walking the right path anymore... I’m a terrible villain."

Strider: "No, you're a good villain!"

Wesker: "Please, I'm a screw up."

Strider: "No - I’m screw up. I can’t even get Legion to work properly, and I don’t even want to talk about

Ouroboros. You’re good, I’ve seen you! (Makes firing gestures with his fingers and "pow pow" noises).

Wesker: "The only thing I'm good at it being a deadbeat father."

Strider grins like an idiot behind his mask and puts a hand on Wesker's shoulder.

Strider: "It's true."

After the last tutorial sequence, Max gives Nemesis some basic commands (sit, stand, etc.) which he follows perfectly. Max announced that he's got Nemesis under control, just as Doom comes barging downstairs with a giant sci-fi gun. He (of course) ignores Max's protests, points his "Latverian-made cross-verse TV reatomizer" at the television and fires a blue beam of light into it. After a flash of energy, STARS Jill appears before them. She hugs Doom, celebrating her release.

Jill: "Victor, you finally got me out! (A beat as she clutches her neck.) Is that... my voice?"

Looking down, she sees her STARS uniform.

Jill: "This isn't right..."
Doom: "You look like Jill to me!"

Jill: "But I'm ten years younger than I was when you sent me in! (She grabs her butt.) My ass! My ass is gone!"

Doom: (Hefts his scifi gun.) "Doom would like to take this chance to admit he's not sure how this thing works."

Just then, Nemesis stands up behind Doom and Max, and notices Jill. Jill screams, runs for the door, and Nemesis clobbers the shit out of the guys to chase her. Max leaps onto his back to allow Jill a few seconds to escape. Wesker and Strider, now back in the garage, hear the commotion upstairs.

Strider: "Should we go up there?"
Wesker: "No, I'm sure it'll work itself out."

Roll credits over footage of Nemesis chasing Jill through LA.

This episode, I loved, even though it still needed some polishing. To my recollection, Max liked it but it was one we cut from season 3 ultimately because the Nemesis costume would have been too expensive to make look good. We did have an actor lined up, and he's 6'5" so in the costume he would have towered over even Max, but alas - no dice.

Overall it didn't push the plot forward very much. It did help to establish that Wesker was turning his view of the world around, and regretting his villainous past, and that the goodguys were at least taking some action to get back at the badguys. After the serious ending of the Wolverine episode and the Strider episode, I felt we needed some raw comedy though, and that's what I aimed for with this script.

There's one more short film that was entirely cut from the season, which I'll cover in my next update. As I mentioned before, there were originally three short films. The first was an episode about Wesker's nightmare, and his reactions to it. Ultimately that got cut and pasted into the Wolverine script, and eventually the concept of his nightmare was re-written and worked into the short Shadows of the Past, which you'll actually see in season 3, after the Morrigan episode. The second was the Strider episode, detailed in my last post. The third was to take place after X-23 had joined the lineup (the whole bit where she goes on a date with Doom was still part of the story, it just got shuffled around a bit when we planned out season 3.)

So next time, I'll talk about that short film. See you soon!

Season 3 - Part 1

The first version of Season 3 as I recall was extremely long. As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to use short films to bulk out the plot without flooding gameplay-loving viewers. So I had planned something like 4 tutorials and 3 short films.

It should also be noted that we changed the context for the finale fight on several occasions. At one time, it was to be a one-on-one fight between one of our heroes and the villain. Then it changed to be this gigantic showdown where our villain and his lackeys (Deadpool, Taskmaster and brainwashed X-23 and Phoenix) were battling all three of our main heroes, plus Strider, Chris, Jill, and several BSAA agents.

The structure of the season had to be adjusted as we zeroed in on what we wanted to the finale to be. Remember we had already planned the just of the ending for season 2, now we needed to rethink it to work over the arc of one more season.

I really wanted to build on the main characters in the third season. Andrew suggested that to make Max more interesting as a character, we show that he's growing tired of all these superhumans living in his house, getting him intro trouble. So he's getting kind of cynical, and short tempered. Wesker had this whole subplot where he began to feel guilty about his criminal past, and he starts taking measures to right his wrongs. Doom would lose his powers at the beginning of the season and have to cope with life as a normal man.

On top of all that, I wanted our villain to be making his final attack, and that took form in the Superhuman Collection Act (similar to the lead-up to Marvel's Civil War). Our villain used his powers of manipulation to influence the world leaders into fearing superhumans. Rather than make them register, anybody deemed a supervillain was to be captured by SHIELD and imprisoned. Taskmaster and Deadpool (thanks to the machinations of our villain) were contracted to work with SHIELD instead of being targeted by them. Obviously this bodes poorly for Wesker and Doom.

The only script that survived this version of season 3 is Wolverine, which was (in this version) episode 1. It began with Wesker having a dream (a throwback to the Deadpool episode, which began with Doom's dream sequence). Wesker's dream shows him what his life could have been like if he'd pursued an honest career as a biology professor instead of becoming the badguy he is. He's depicted with a wife and a young daughter, and all is very happy and well. Suddenly, Wesker's wife refers to him as a killer (very out of nowhere in this super happy, relaxed scene) and then she says "Your work destroyed thousands of families. What makes you think you deserve one?" She then zombifies immediately in front of his eyes and lunges at him and he snaps awake, and we hear this echoing laugh from our villain.

This abnormally dark intro was kind of setting the tone for season 3. It was going to be a darker story. It still is, in a way. I never wanted to do away with the humor in ASSIST ME!, but I wanted the plot (for those that followed it) to hit hard.

That morning, Doom realizes that they're out of yogurt and badgers Max to go buy some. Max is clearly irritated and tells Doom to go get it himself. Wesker, disturbed by his dream, comes downstairs and leaves. Shortly later, Wolverine shows up looking for Phoenix. This bit more or less survived through to season 3, so I won't reveal much dialog or anything.

During the tutorials, we'd see bits and pieces of Wesker out on the town. He does some people watching at a park, deep in thought about his past. On his way home that night he stops a mugging, and is about to kill the assailant when he realizes the guy is a just a bi-product of people like him (that is to say, rich evil assholes).

Back at the house, the guys get attacked by SHIELD agents who don't see Doom because he's buried himself in the fridge looking for beer. They drug Wolverine with carbonadium (one of his weaknesses) and take him into custody. They leave Max alone. Wesker comes up after the agents have left, and ignores Doom and Max as they try to get him up to speed. When he goes upstairs:

Max: "What's with him? These guys with guns break into our home and he doesn't even care?"
Doom: "Oh my God, Max!"
Max: "What? What is it?"
Doom: "We really need to get that yogurt."

And credits. This script would have setup the guys investigating Wolverine's kidnapping. They would have discovered the Superhuman Collection Act by SHIELD, and Doom's powers would mysteriously vanish over the next episode (he struggled to pull a beer out of thin air in the Wolverine episode, and this was of course due to our villain). It also began a sub-plot where Wesker starts taking down black-market B.O.W. transactions by going straight up Punisher on the dealers.

Ultimately, the  idea with all the SHIELD agents was deemed to be too many extras, too much money, etc. I dumbed down the outline to feature similar circumstances, and similar sub-plots for Wesker and Doom, and re-wrote Wolverine and then the second episode: Nemesis.

The Wolverine re-write started with a shorter version of Wesker's nightmare, but ultimately it was the same sequence.Wolverine shows up under similar circumstances. The big change was the ending. Rather than being attacked by SHIELD agents, Max, Doom and Wolverine take cover when a smoke bomb goes off in the living room. They run downstairs to the garage as Deadpool breaks into the living room. The garage (which serves as Wesker's pseudo bunker) is dark and has a few weapons about. Max goes for a gun and is intercepted by Taskmaster. (Keep in mind Taskmaster's intro in his episode was shot at Max's new place, so we're going with the implication that not only did Max, Doom and Wesker steal Taskmaster's van - they also took over his safehouse and made it their new home. This plot point is still canon but never acknowledged in the series.)

Deadpool and Taskmaster whip Doom and Max to the floor with ease. Wolverine stands guard as Taskmaster taunts the guys - and then our main villain steps downstairs making his big debut (that's right - in this version of the season, you'd know who the mystery badguy of season 2 was right from the start!) Doom realizes that this villain is the one who haunted his dreams, and Wolverine correctly assumes that he has something to do with Jean's disappearance. Wolverine rushes the villain and gets well and truly owned (!) without doing any damage. Doom tries to use Finger Lasers on the villain, who effortlessly redirects the energy back into Doom, flooring him.

Yeah. Our main villain is a bamf. Just sayin'.

Then, my favorite part happens. Doom springs up and says:

Doom: "Don’t worry, Max! Doom knows what to do! With a glass-cannon like this guy, you just gotta intimidate ’em with a little arcade-age smack talk! (He steps forward with a strut.) Who the fuck do you think you are? You in Doom’s house! You in Doom’s house, li’l boy! Doom’s seen Hsien-Ko’s harder than you, you abyss-tier, cotton-balled, dumb shit, funny lookin’ motherfucker! Don’t like it when Doom talks to
you like that? Fuck you go’n’ do, li’l boy? Fuck you go’n’ do?"

Doom's ghetto talk gets him punched out by the villain. As Taskmaster and Deadpool restrain Max, the villain then sucks away all of Doom's powers. Wesker finally shows up and attempts to save the day, but Deadpool leaps up behind him and shouts "Plot device!" and injects him with an anti-virus. So now Doom and Wesker are without superpowers. Our villain taunts Max with "Fear not. Your friends will live. And now, Max, you’ll finally have what you always wanted - a home without superhumans."

The badguys then disappear as a look of guilt crosses Max's face. For the first time in our series, the goodguys have been beaten.

I actually really liked this version of the season 3 first episode. it had a lot of humor in it (Wolverine is still my favorite episode of the season) and I thought the plot was strong enough to hook people for the season. That's kinda the issue I have with the Dante episode. I think it's fun, but there's no real hook. There's no real reason to stick around to see what happens next. I'm hoping that when the story picks up with episode 3 of season 3, the fans will be intent on seeing it through to the end, but I always thought it was important to hook them from the start.

The outline then called for a short film. It was called "Time Lost" and it was all about Strider Hiryu.

What a boss.

And this is where I got really into ASSIST ME! lore. I had this idea that the events of MvC2 had taken place in our universe long before the show started (explaining Doom's friendship with Strider). So there was this short film that began with Strider returning to his HQ right after the fight with Taskmaster. There, he meets Director Kuramoto, who chews him out for spending so much time helping his friends when he has his own missions to attend to. Strider stands up for himself, stating "My apologies, sir, but I do not see time spent protecting my friends as time wasted." and reminding Kuramoto that he's sacrificed a lot for the order. Kuramoto says that if he could send Strider home, he would.

We then flash forward to the future. 2050 to be exact. In Strider's quarters, Strider is with Lexia, his love interest, and he's about to go on a mission. She's trying to talk him out of it. He tells her that if all goes well, it will be as though he never left.

Flash back to the present. Strider is in the same room he was with Lexia. He starts to write a letter to her, telling her what year he's in, and just kind of talking about how insane his whole mission has been. He points out that if he can't find a way home, he'll be an old man when he meets Lexia. He winds up stopping short, overwhelmed.

Then we see the next scene in 2050. Lexia and a very old Kuramoto are seeing Strider off for his mission - with Ruby Heart.

Which should trigger ALL the nerdgasms, forever.

Ruby Heart uses a TIME GEM to transport herself and Strider to our time - obviously to fight Abyss. Lexia is sad when Strider leaves. Kuramoto reminds her that if Strider never returns, that was simply his destiny.

In the present, Kuramoto comes to Strider's quarters and shows him that Wesker has contracted with the Strider Order to employ Hiryu directly. Kuramoto says "Your friends have just found the way to my good side." Strider gears up, puts his unfinished letter to Lexia in his locker, and leaves. One final scene in 2050 shows Lexia going through the locker. She finds Strider's unfinished note, and begins to cry.

Because Strider would not be coming home.

Because Doom lost the Time Gem when he lost the Infinity Gauntlet.

So as you can see, the short-films would have had this (comparatively to the rest of the series) heavy story element to them.The next episode was the Nemesis tutorial, but this entry has got really long. So next time I'll talk about the Nemesis episode that was cut entirely from season 3, and the rest of the short films that were also cut.

The Episodes That Were Cut From Season 2

So I mentioned that I have some notes regarding season 3. As I mentioned in my post about season 2, the third season was born out the the last few episodes that would have been in season 2, that were cut out due to the one-two punch of Retro ASSIST ME! and Max having to move right as we were filming Taskmaster.

To sum it up without spoiling any of the yet-to-be-revealed plot, there were three episodes meant to take place after Taskmaster. I wrote two before, that was an error. I had forgotten that one of the episodes was a rehash tutorial of Wesker. It would basically be a changelog for the character between MvC3 and UMvC3, and I think it would have been only one part instead of two.

I have in my records both a 1st draft and a 4th draft for Wesker. Drafts 2 and 3 were probably minimal changes, which is why I don't have copies anymore. The first draft of Wesker starts with Max coming downstairs in the morning and chatting with Wesker, who's moved back in after the events of Taskmaster. Wesker reveals he's still on his Progenitor samples (recall he declared in the Nemesis episode that he had kicked that habit). Max is freaked out, but Wesker tells him that if he hadn't been taking the samples he couldn't have helped them fight Taskmaster.

Anyway, Doom is upset because he had a dream about X-23, so Wesker and Max conspire to get her to go on a date with Doom and use an earpiece to coach Doom through the whole thing. Wesker calls X-23 and does a perfect Doom impersonation by clearing his throat and pinching his nose. A good exchange here:

X-23: "Look Victor, I’m tired of hearing from you. We just wouldn’t work out."
Wesker: "You’re wrong, Laura. Normally Doom would put you down with insults and belittle your tattoos and lack of good hair product. But Doom’s being straight with you. Doom wants another chance. Just once more chance to prove to you he’s the man you deserve!"

X-23 eventually agrees to one date. Then this happens:

Doom: "How did you do it?"
Wesker: "She’s a nineteen year-old girl, Victor. It’s all about impressing her with confidence. And lying."
Doom: "You made Doom sound needy! How is that confident?!"
Wesker: "It takes a confident man to admit his shortcomings."
Doom: "Then how come you don't admit yours?"
Wesker: "Because I don't have any."

This was a pretty fun episode. Basically as Max coaches Wesker through the gameplay changes, the two of them talk to Doom through his earpiece and instruct him on what to do during the date (which takes place at Doom's Latverian manor.) There's plenty of back and forth where Doom says something stupid to X-23, the guys chastise him for it and then he back-pedals and says something else. Also, Max and Wesker give conflicting advice, arguing over the earpiece while Doom stares blankly at X-23, waiting for clear instructions.

It ultimately ends in a full on parody of "A Whole New World" sung by Doom and X-23. When she realizes he's rotten with money, riches, jewels, slaves, and all that good stuff he has back home in Latveria, she has a change of heart and decides to be his girlfriend.

The fourth draft has an alternate intro where it's Doom's birthday and during gift-openings (Strider gives Doom ninja stars, which he promptly throws off-screen and injures a crew member with) Wesker forgot to get Doom a gift, and so teleports out to find X-23 and ask her to go on a date with Doom. He ultimately convinces her just by paying her fifty bucks. The rest of the episode was the same.

The episode ends with X-23 moving in to the (getting very cramped) house. Although the more important thing here was that this episode kinda solidified Doom and Wesker as friends. They still antagonize each other, but ya know.

After that would have been the Morrigan episode.

By popular request, for reasons that escape me. (Titties.)

So the first draft or two of Morrigan was actually a shared episode with Morrigan and Felecia. I figured that their characters would have a fun contrast - Felicia as this bubbly cutesy catgirl (she braids Max's hair, drinks milk from a bowl and Doom sprays her with a squirt bottle when she scratches the furniture are all the jokes I remember centered around her). Easy stuff. Morrigan would be flirtatious, but otherwise serious, and rather irritable with Felicia's actions.

My wife Barrie would play Morrigan, and our friend Kristen would play Felicia. I figured Max could do a double tutorial, like for the characters in Ultimate ASSIST ME!, but in the end he didn't want to cram that much gameplay into the videos. Also, Barrie got pregnant, so that put a damper on her ability to wear a leather corset. In the end we recast Kristen as Morrigan and I rewrote the script just featuring her.

The oldest copy I have from when it was still part of season 2 is marked as the 3rd draft. This was probably the last one before we moved it to season 3. Even then, it's extremely similar so I'm not going to reveal much since it's due to be the next episode out.

The beginning of the episode has Max coming home from getting some fast food. He finds Wesker and X-23 working out in the garage (Wesker has a large pile of punching bags that X-23 is working on with her claws). I guess this was written after the move, given the existence of the garage. When Max finds them, this exchange happens:

Max: "Hey, is Doom around?"
X-23: "He should be upstairs."
Max: "I don't know, I came back with lunch, and put in on the couch, and--"
Wesker: "He's probably eating it."

Max bolts back upstairs. Meanwhile, Wesker takes a turn at the punching bags. X-23 holds it for him, and the first punch sends her flying hard into the wall.

Wesker: "Oooh. I told you, chin down, lean forward, knees apart, Laura... Laura? (she's not moving) ...You'll be fine."

Other than the introduction, the jokes were largely the same as they'll be in the season 3. The ending is different, because originally Morrigan's episode would directly lead into the finale. Now, it's episode 2 of the third season and so the ending is more laid back.

A side note on Morrigan - Kristen was making the costume herself but knew the episode would be delayed for season 3, so when we shot Retro there was no Morrigan costume. I did a quick casting call to find girls for the scene with Captain Commando, and heard back from Nikki Brunetti, who had a Morrigan costume and a C Viper costume. I obviously had plans to implement Morrigan into season 3, but I also had plans for C Viper (including an actress), so I asked her to bring Morrigan to the shoot since she was more popularly requested. So if you're wondering why we recast Morrigan, that's why. We technically already had our Morrigan, just no costume yet.

Anyway, the only other episode that was written was the climactic finale with our villain. Since we decided to take those last two scripts and put them into season 3, we figured we would expand a bit on the buildup to the finale, and thus the ASSIST ME! lore.

Literally nothing ever in the series has gone through as much planning, meetings, rewrites, etc. as season 3. Throughout the series, we've always had this sort of forward momentum. Everything seemed bigger than the last thing we did. Deadpool hit a high point for us comedy-wise, so Chris had this giant zombie showdown, Phoenix had this hard-hitting plot relevant cliffhanger, and Taskmaster had the 3 on 3 fight. Then Retro was shot almost entirely out of the house, which was a pretty new experience for us since our outdoor stuff rarely consisted of more than one or two people walking down the street. Retro had a car chase, a restaurant, a video-game store, and all these locations. Also, I'm an (overly) ambitious writer who likes to make challenges for the production, so needless to say my initial go at season 3 was pretty nuts.

I really liked the idea of the Max dies short film that the guys put together for season 2. I thought short films dispersed throughout the season were the way to go to really thicken out the plot without putting too much clutter in the tutorial episodes. That way, viewers who came more for the tutorial didn't have a ton of live action stuff to skip through. They could just not watch the short films and be better for it.

In the next post, I'll talk about the early stages of what we officially called Season 3.