Core Narrative 7

**Title:** The Deadlands Chapter 2**:** The Ark on Superstition Mountain

**Corresponding Macro-Story Beat:** Finale

**Synopsis:** When every citizen in the Deadlands is served a cease and desist mandate barring any interaction between supernatural entities and the Indians (the people believed responsible for the supernatural mayhem) in order to prepare for new settlers to come to the West. Waylon Reeves along with other protestors respond by writing “United Deadlands” in the comments box on the mandate and retreat further and further into the more inhabitable parts of the Deadlands to escape settlement. When word makes it back to these protestors that hundreds of new settlers are dying each day because there’s no one to fight off the supernatural forces. Waylon Reeves must unite one last time with the Indian’s, and all those who have called the Deadlands their home, in order to fulfil a prophecy he’s only ever heard whispers about that sets him on a journey to return a stolen ark back to Superstition Mountain in order to vanquish the supernatural forces once and for all. But there may be something more to that prophecy than anyone could have ever imagined.

**Genre:** Action/Thriller

**Protagonist:** Waylon Reeves - The oldest we’ve seen him, in his late 50’s, a hardened and somewhat hopeless plainsman. Who is torn between the idea of maintaining the harmony that he has fought for for so many years and with wondering if maybe it is time that the Deadlands brought more to those he cares about than just death and heartache.

**Antagonist:** The Devil - Who finally uses Waylon’s own desire for peace against him by manipulating him, the only man in the west strong enough, to return the ark back to superstition mountain to allow evil to once again find it’s home within man.

**Main Supporting Characters:** Nizhóní Wolff: Leader of the Indian Rangers who agrees to help Waylon in finding the ark. Her own people continually rebel against her authority claiming she is a “pale-face” sympathizer and believe that she is uniting with the white’s too easily after the fallout. When Nizhòní (or Isla - a nickame Waylon gives her when he fears he won’t be able to pronounce her name) and the much older Waylon Reeves kindle a spark between each other. Waylon chooses Nizhóní’s good over his feelings, and abandon’s her at a rendezvous at the end of the film knowing that she can’t jeopardise her people’s respect for her by being with a ranger.

Saigō “The Psycho” Ran - A Ronin/Ranger hybrid who whispers about the prophecy of the Ark of Superstition mountain in a bar one night. Upon the news of the hundreds of deaths of new settlers Waylon tracks down Saigō and must convince him to ride alongside he and Nizhòní in order to return the ark. Saigō initially does not want to save the people who tortured and “enslaved” his immigrant people in the mines and railroads. Eventually he agrees to help, realizing that a truly "free" Deadlands is his only hope for keeping that kind of enslavement from ever happening again.

**Primary Location: The Salt River and Pima, Arizona** - the land where the ark is set to reside. The origin of evil within the Deadlands where the Devil first released the Salt Witch into the plains who originally introduced dark magic to the natives that once lived there.

**Additive Comprehension:** Origin Story - Historical Event, Storyworld Reveal

**Target Market:** Men 18-30, Women 18-30

**Media Habits:** Movie Goers, Streaming and Cinema consumers

**Medium: Film**

**Why it works in this Medium:** The film will be released with it’s final reversal of evil being put back into man being released in a graphic novel that explains the end of the film and provides an alternate “wierd history” approach to our historical timeline that brings us up to modern times. Exploring the establishing of the Secret Service who were intended to protect the Presedent from remnants of the supernatural that still exist, to Bigfoot being a descendent of early giants that once lived in the land.

**Platform: Theatrical Wide Release**

**Why it works in this Platform:** This film allows us to create a home for our fanbase by funnelling the viewership into a graphic novel that creates a host of story potential for alternate weird history retellings that tie back in to this larger story world that then allows us to explore different off chutes in a soft launch inexpensive way which can help identify new stories to explore.