Metroid (SCU film)

Metroid (also known as Metroid: Zero Mission) is a 202X space opera film based on Nintendo's Metroid video game series. Produced by Topaz Central, and Nintendo, and distributed by , it was directed by ShadicMCGS (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Derrick Bitner. It stars as Samus Aran, with the rest of the cast consisting of , , , , and . The film features an origin story for Samus Aran, following her life from residing on the K2-L Colony as a child to becoming a full-fledged soldier for the Galactic Federation as an adult and her conflict with the dread Space Pirates.
Metroid premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on September 4, 202X, before being theatrically released on September 17 (in Australia) and September 18 (in the United States) the same year, by Universal Pictures.
==Synopsis==
From childhood to adulthood, Samus Aran was always considered a playful, youthful child, always wondering what things were. When she was a young child, the space pirates infiltrated the her colony and killed everyone she knew, except for her. However, the Chozos rescued her at critical time, implanting their DNA into her body to save her. Now, as an adult, Samus aims to end Ridley's life, as she struggles with the idea of teamwork, caused by past traumatic experiences.
==Plot==
The film begins in space, as a research vessel flies in space, where scientists from the Galactic Federation are researching a Metroid. The scientists begin to ask questions about: the species, the Chozos' history, and their abilities. While testing, the ship is invaded by space pirates and fire a volley of shots, killing everyone. A purple giant dragon named Ridley enters the hull, and spots the Metroid. He bares his teeth, resembling a smile, as his shadow covers the Metroid.
In the K-2L Research Colony, a young Samus Aran is seen playing with some friends sliding down a hill, knocking into a building. Her mother, Virginia Aran, scares off Samus' friends but laughs it off, as they both head to the research facility. Rodney Aran, Samus' father, is told by a colleague that the "Mother" program is ready, so the Aran family rushes to see the functioning Mother Brain, a biochemical supercomputer made to benefit their databases as part of the Galactic Federation's "Aurora" units. Just then, they are alerted that the species named the Chozos have arrived, featuring three prominent members named the Elder, Grey Voice, and Spring Wind. The adult Arans tell the three that the "Mother" program is a on-track to become a successful project, but The Elder is distracted by Samus peaking. He talks to Samus about why the Chozos chose to help the colony, telling her that the species is dying and collaborating with them allows the species to live on in a way. Samus begins to cry at the emotional story, but the Elder comforts her and tells her to continue experiencing the youthful life she has. The Chozos then depart, as the Arans bid farewell to them.
Meanwhile, in Ridley's ship, they've gained possession of the baby Metroid. A pirate escapes, but gets killed by the Metroid. While amused by its energy and potential, another pirate is concerned, but Ridley assures their spies have everything under control. Days later, the colony is invaded by space pirates, and Samus rushes to find her parents. She sees her father dead, and finds Ridley with Mother Brain. Samus and Virginia hide, as Ridley interrogates the Brain and reveals the Baby Metroid. Virginia retaliates and freezes the Metroid, angering Ridley, who pierces her, scaring off Samus. Ridley then suffocates Samus and impales her, while everyone else is killed. After a while, the Chozos find her unconscious, who've answered a distress call. As they bring her in, she's in critical condition, so the Elder decides to infuse her with his DNA, making her their legacy.
After a decade, Samus is training with Anthony Higgs, her new friend Ellen, and other federation soldiers. It goes well, until Ellen becomes inactive which worries Samus, causing her to defy Anthony's commands and saves her friend, but ends up failing the training. It turns out Ellen had it planned all along and becomes angry at Samus for disrupting her, but Samus tries to apologise and defend herself through her battles with the Space Pirates. Higgs attempts to break it up, until squad leader Ian Malkovich comes in to resent Samu's actions and demands her to see his brother, Adam Malkovich. Flashback to a few years ago, Samus is training with the Chozos on Planet Zebes. They teach her about firepower being vital, but the ways of using it is essential. Grey Voice tests Samus' strength but she fails and collapses; seeing this, he tells her about the Power Suit, but when he mentions the "Morph Ball", Samus becomes frightened. Samus gets angry and says she wants to go out into space to fight the pirates and join the federation, and how she is done being stuck on Zebes. Grey Voice comforts her, saying that they have their own problems and she's not ready yet.
Back in the present, Adam and Samus continue to argue, with Adam remaining calm and professional and Samus becoming even more upset and frustrated at his actions, who just repeats nonsense. He then asks why she's wearing the Zero Suit, which could hurt her. The argument ends with her fuming out whilst Ellen tries to calm her down. Outside, they walk past the bounty hunter Sylux, making Ellen worry for Samus more on her safety. They relax on the rooftop, with Samus reminiscing on her being the last of the Chozos; Ellen comforts her as Samus talks about her past. 5 years ago on Zebes, Samus is training in her Power Suit, but gets recoiled enough for it to destabilise. The Elder asks Grey Voice on her abilities, to which the only thing he gives is that Samus is still scared of the Morph Ball, making her more frightened when Spring Wind curls up to show her. After training ends, Samus wanders around Zebes and watches shooting stars, until noticing one heading towards the planet. The space pirates have invaded the planet and started battling the Chozos. Samus wants to save them, but they tell her to leave, to which she sadly agrees to. Escaping to the life pod, she blasts off and escape, watching her family die again to Ridley and a new monster, Kraid.
Back in the present, she concludes that the federation found her and notes that her family has died twice, and continues her vow to kill Ridley and the pirates. Ellen says nothing, and just hugs her, whilst Samus looks at the sky. Adam watches the sky, as a recording of his first encounter with Samus plays. She was shown to be sobbing and angered by the recording, and is otherwise reclusive. Days later, Adam begins to talk with each other and starts a story of how his parents were killed, and he had to take care of his brother for a long time. He assures her that with the Galactic Federation, she won't be alone. Ian comes in and apologises for her actions, but Adam says not to worry, and discusses the problems and contradictions between Samus and the federation. At the end, Adam gives Ian a new mission; then cutting to a few weeks later, where it has been discovered that the space pirates attacked another vessel and she rushes to Adam. It's revealed that Ian was killed in the vessel and Samus wants every force to come after them, but Adam explodes and shouts that he can't do that, and sent out a force of soldiers to attack, including Ellen.
Arriving at Zebes, Samus frantically searches for the squad, but disgustingly starts to find corpses of hunters and soldiers. She tries to find Ellen, but is too late, as Ellen is already dead; Samus swears revenge to kill the pirates, sacrificing a life with others, for a lonely life to protect others. Heading towards Brinstar as pirates attack, she manages to escape in a cavern until there's nothing but a small space. Samus decides to conquer her fears of the Morph Ball and traverses the gap carefully and successfully. She discovers the enemy Kraid but fails to attack it, hesitating as it grabs her. Samus manages to shoot its eye and mouth that releases her, eventually defeating it and tiring herself out. Samus arrives in Norfair, now a lava-filled pool. She accesses a nearby outpost computer for research, and discovers the truth about the Metroids. Samus is then tackled by Ridley, fighting each other in a brutal battle, damaging her suit to a more critical condition. Ridley taunts and cackles at her for her being the weakest of the Chozos, as she has flashbacks of her parents' death and the Chozos' death. Samus makes one last move to enact her revenge, she activates the self-destruct and ejects, sending her towards the lava and the unphased Ridley back to the facility.
Her Chozo DNA allows her to heal quickly, and she ventures on with just a Zero Suit and a paralyser on her. She sneaks by the Space Pirates until she discovers a Chozo mural that has the mighty Power Suit: the Varia Suit. In the past, the Elder told Samus that their memory lives on eternally; she cuts back to reality as the Space Pirates infiltrate the room, but suddenly the Varia Suit reforms around her in a bright light. With the new suit, she takes out the pirates and runs towards Ridley's locatin: Toruian. There, she's greeted by a hostile Metroid but is able to freeze it and uses the core to create an Ice Beam in here arm cannon, with the Metroid escaping. She suddenly hears the echoed voice of Mother Brain and follows it to find her; Samus begs for Brain to betray the pirates, but Brain refuses, being adamant that she'll lead the pirates to glory, by gaining complete control and becoming the greatest life form. Mother Brain sends out Metroids to attack Samus while Ridley battles her from behind. Their battle goes back and forth, but Samus tricks the Metroids into attacking Ridley, knocking him out. As a last resort, Mother Brain activates self-destruct which causes Samus to escape; she enters her ship and barely escapes.
Samus barely escapes and calls to Adam, who is relieved that she's alive and updates about the Federation scouts on Zebes' explosion. Samus, however, is still heartbroken about the death of Ellen, and is determined to help others throughout the galaxy. However, Adam begs her to stay with the Federation which would make her a hero. But with Samus, she can protect others and the Federation at once as a bounty hunter, but is able to cherish their friendship. She calls off the communicator and makes the hyperjump into space. In the mid-credits scene, Samus reaches an unknown planet that shows unusual scans that intrigue her. In the post-credits scene, Adam is talking to another general about Samus' mission; the figure is shown to be General Pepper, who ponders on forming his own division.
==Cast==
* as Samus Aran:A human who lived on the K2-L Colony, who was saved by the Chozos who infused their DNA into her and raised to become a warrior. Samus is described as a subdued, stoic warrior that is determined and compassionate towards her morals. Director ShadicMCGS opted to go for a more unknown actress rather than a popular choice, so that the audience would be able to connect with the character better if an unknown was chosen. and were both confirmed for the roles at one point during production, but both exited the project due to scheduling conflicts and amidst some failed negotiations. Other actresses such as Emily Blunt, Charlize Theron, and Hayden Panettiere were also in consideration for the role. Additionally, Ryan Kiera Armstrong and Anna Harr play Samus Aran as a child and a teenager, respectively.
* as Ridley:A giant, purple pterodactyl-dragon, who is the leader of the Space Pirates, captures the Metroids and Mother Brain to use as biological weapons, and plots to destroy the galaxy for his delight of death and destruction. Ridley is described as a rampant killing machine who is in fact an intelligent being, becoming a respected leader of the Space Pirates and is known as "The Cunning God of Death". Ben Whishaw was briefly considered, but the role was quickly given to Cumberbatch. Despite already having a superhero-credit as in the (MCU), he was chosen for his prior experience in motion capture performance as in .
* as Mother Brain:The central program that was connected to the K2-L Colony's databases, before it was captured and reprogrammed by the Space Pirates to obey them instead. Brain is a computer animated character, and only required voicework from Weaver. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, one of the film's writers for script polishing, was planned to voice the character since pre-production, but production could not renegotiate her contract in time.
* as The Elder: One of the last surviving members of the endangered Chozo species, who is responsible of infusing DNA into Samus to save her life, and raise her to become a warrior. The role of the Elder, along with the other Chozo characters, are portrayed with motion capture work with some requiring stilts that simulate the species' tall stature. Peter Mensah was also considered for the role, but would portray Grey Voice instead.
* as Ellen:Samus' best friend and colleague as part of their squad in the Galactic Federation. Ellen is an original character created for the film and was added to flesh out Samus' character arc, being described as someone who is sympathetic and compassionate to those in need and feel troubled. Laura Brent was considered for the role.
* as Ian Malkovich: The squad leader of Samus and Ellen's team and a member of the Galactic Federation, as the younger brother of Adam Malkovich.
* as Adam Malkovich:A commander involved in the Galactic Federation, who takes Samus in after she escapes the Space Pirates, and is in charge of ensuring Samus' safety in the Galactic Federation. Malkovich is described as a brilliant leader who is torn between in the goals of the Galactic Federation and Samus's morals. Ian Anthony Dale was considered for the role.
Additionally, and portray Grey Voice and Spring Wind, two associates of the Elder and some of the last surviving members of the Chozo species, and voices Kraid, a colossal member of the Space Pirates, who is completely computer animated as opposed to motion-capture. Multiple characters in the film are affiliated with the Galactic Federation including as Anthony Higgs, a fellow solider in the squad that Samus and Ellen are recruited for and is part of the Federation Force; and play Virginia and Rodney Aran respectively, the parents of Samus Aran and are part of the K2-L Research Colony that focused on researching and creating the central "Mother" program of the "Aurora" units; and Sylux appears in a silent cameo appearance, who is a revered bounty hunter that works for the Federation Force. In the post-credits scene, voices General Pepper in an uncredited voice cameo.
==Production==
===Development===
During the production of Super Mario Bros. (2020), Topaz Central founder ShadicMCGS felt a desire to purse an exclusive live-action adaptation of a Nintendo property, as the aforementioned film put heavy focus on computer animation. He knew that many people would be wary on green-lighting such a project because of the former film not being released yet and that the critical and commercial failure of (1993). As such, he consulted with Derrick Bitner of Good Vibes Gaming on utilising his script to pitch a live-action Metroid film.
===Writing===
===Casting===
===Filming===
==Music==
List of music in Metroid soundtrack
 	Name 	Artist(s) 	Length	Usage
1 	Metroid - Ending Theme 	Tsukasa Matsuko	4:45 	
2 	A Metroid Hatches 	Ryoji Yoshitomi	3:47 	Baby Metroid theme
3 	The K2-L Colony 	 	1:52 	K2-L Colony theme
4 	Chozos' Theme 	Kenji Yamamoto 	4:50 	Chozo theme
5 	The Space Pirates 	Kenji Yamamoto 	2:49 	The Theme of the Space Pirates
6 	Federation Force 	 	4:03 	Training mission at the Galactic Federation.
7 	Brinstar 	Shogo Sakai 	3:08 	Chozo training on Planet Zebes.
 	 	 	 	???
 	 	 	 	???
 	 	 	 	???
 	 	 	 	???
13	Theme of Samus Aran, Space Warrior	Masato Kouda 	3:32 	
==Release==
==Reception==
==Future==
==Trivia==
==External Links==
Category:Films
Category:Metroid Films
Category:Metroid (series)
Category:Smash Cinematic Universe
Category:2020
Category:Fan Fiction