Agents of A.R.G.U.S.: Anathema - Part 2

***Agents of A.R.G.U.S.: Anathema - Part 2*** is a 2015 American superhero film based on the DC Comics organization A.R.G.U.S. (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans), distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the seventh film in the DC Shared Universe. It is a sequel to 2015's *Agents of A.R.G.U.S.: Anathema - Part 1*. The film was directed partly by Kevin Tancharoen and partly by Shane Black and written by Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen. It stars Chris Messina, Asia Argento, Henry Cavill, Kaya Scodelario, Ed Westwick, Karen Gillan, Yutaka Takeuchi, Dustin Milligan, Ryan Eggold, Audrey Marie Anderson, Joe Manganiello, Constance Wu, Jake Gyllenhaal, Esai Morales, and Colin Firth. In *Agents of A.R.G.U.S.: Anathema - Part 2*, Theo Austen and his team of A.R.G.U.S. agents assemble a team of Alliance descendants to deal with new threats to the world..

*Agents of A.R.G.U.S.: Anathema - Part 2*was released in North America on December 14, 2015. The film was a commercial success, it grossed $1.270 billion, becoming the fifth highest grossing film of 2015. The film received critical acclaim, with critics saying the new descendants and Anathema were highlights, while the underuse of the Alliance was a let down.

## Plot

Dave Stewart and Olivia Phillips have become distant since the former destroyed Jeremy Ray's body. A.R.G.U.S. Director Theo Austen also feels guilty for killing Walter Jale. Isiah Dercas is disappointed in what Anathema is like; in the body of Jale catching up on news all day. He still plans to find other descendants for Anathema. They track a descendant living in South Asia.
A.R.G.U.S. is also in South Asia investigating claims that forest fires and snowstorms have been happening in the middle of spring. They discover a descendant named Arani Desai who can control and manipulate and ice and fire. After learning that she cannot control her powers, they help her stop Mithra, a descendant who can harness the energy of the sun. However, just as they catch him, the D.E.O. rescues him.

Meanwhile, Austen uses the Theta Brain-Wave Frequency Machine on Simon Steel in hopes to find Dercas; though he does not, Austen causes the collapse of Kord Industries. President Andrew Bennett makes the AMDA the public face of A.R.G.U.S., who is now used for secret black-operations, with David Singh as its leader. Austen and Singh learn that there will be a meeting with a representative from five major countries about the descendants and that Dercas has a mole. However, Agent Arthur Light learns that Singh is trying to free his son, who has kidnapped by Dercas. Austen realizes Singh is the mole. The agents try to help Singh as a fight breaks out but in the chaos, Light and Agent Lyla Michaels end up following a corrupt Russian representative back to his country.

In Russia, representative Anton Petrov is revealed to be working for Dercas to give Dercas an army of descendants and give himself control over Russia once Prime Minister Dimitri Olshenko is killed. Michaels and Light save Olshenko, but they were forced to kill Petrov and the descendant General Androvich, causing A.R.G.U.S.. to disavow them to keep the United States of America and Russia from beginning a new Cold War for super powered beings. Anathema regenerates his body and puts Sal and Mithra under his control. Anathema asks Dercas to show him real power. The leaders of the D.E.O. take over the Transia Corporation and procure its exoskeleton for Dercas to wear.

The D.E.O. also captures Eric Cliff, who can show someone their death by touching them. A.R.G.U.S. tries to rescue Cliff, but he dies in the process, but not before he shows Dercas his death at the hands of Anathema. Caleb Fisher surrenders himself to A.R.G.U.S., revealing he will become Maavar permanantly and has to see Agent Althea Rice before this happens. Fisher hopes there is a better purpose for Maavar but before he can find that he wants to be in A.R.G.U.S.'s hands.

Dercas remembers when he and his brother were first put into the D.E.O. lottery to see who was to be sent to Bismoll. Dercas learned of a trick his father used and used that at their first lottery. However, this caused his brother to be chosen. Anathema reveals to Dercas that he has his brother's memories and instead of killing Dercas, he kills his daughter. Alba and Ezra meet up with untransitioned descendant, Johnny, who gives them an ancient Competalian device. The rest of A.R.G.U.S. captures Sal, who directs the plane to a D.E.O. base with his powers, with most of A.R.G.U.S. as his prisoners.

Alba and Ezra unite themselves with Arani and Parker Lopez as the Alliance and rescue the captured A.R.G.U.S. agents while also killing Mithra. Dercas is found dead and Phillips reveals that Anathema can control descendants and one of the Alliance must have killed Dercas. Carpenter is thought to be the culprit until he realizes Garcia has been infected and killed Dercas. Alba escapes and destroys the A.R.G.U.S. base. A.R.G.U.S. survives and sends Stewart and Phillips find scientist, Niles Caulder and try to get him to help them. Anathema turns descendant Debbie Blacksmith, who can reshape metal and merge it with flesh, and Johnny after giving the latter his powers of super-speed. Anathema's team kidnap Caulder. While there, Anathema with the memories of Ray convinces Phillips to move on, causing her to have sex with Stewart. Anathema reveals her plan to recreate the Competalian expiriments to turn everyone in the world into the Alliance. Austen and Singh destroy the remaining D.E.O. forces.

Phillips and Stewart attempt to figure out a cure to Anathema's control but soon realize it is impossible. Anathema learns he needs living Competalian blood to create a new Alliance. He sends two Competalians down using the artifact given by Johnny. They kill Debbie, prompting Anathema to kill one and assign Alba the task of getting the blood of the other to use. However, the second learns of this and kills himself to prevent the creation of a new Alliance. Alba offers to use her own blood, due to it being infused with Competalian blood recently. However, the experiment goes wrong and transforms the test subjects into horrifying monsters. However, Anathema still views this as success and plans to drain Alba of all her blood and use this new experiment to send around the world and transform all descendants and regular humans into these monsters. A.R.G.U.S. sends Maavar to free Alba of Anathema using his powers and take Alba back. However, though Alba does escape with her consciousness back, Maavar is killed by Johnny. Anathema also realizes that he cannot connect with Alba ever again.

Once with A.R.G.U.S. again, the team finds Anathema, Sal, and Johnny. They use Singh's military contacts to stop the warhead that Anathema was gonna use to spread the pathogen. Anathema is captured and Caulder agrees to work with A.R.G.U.S. but Sal and Johnny manage to release some of the pathogen on the A.R.G.U.S. plane, transforming several agents into the monsters who free Anathema. Anathema learns he has enough blood to turn a portion of humanity into the monsters. Anathema abducts Alba and boards an A.R.G.U.S. jet with Sal and Johnny, planning to release the warhead there. Rice and Stewart manage to free Alba and kill Sal while Austen and the others escape the A.R.G.U.S. plane and the monsters. Austen plans to release the warhead in space where it won't affect anybody but it must be controlled by someone in the jet. Alba secretly goes in herself to atone for her actions but Carpenter gets her out and sends the jet into space with himself and Anathema inside. The jet and warhead explode, killing Carpenter and Anathema, but leaving the pathogen out of reach from humanity.

In a mid-credits scene, taking place six months later, Alba has left A.R.G.U.S. and operates under the codename Black Orchid. Austen almosts catches her but she evades capture. Austen is also revealed to not be director of A.R.G.U.S. anymore. In a post-credits scene, Caulder uploads his updated version of Brainiac, called Brainiac 2.0, in an artificial body.

## Cast

* Chris Messina as Agent Theo Austen
* Asia Argento as Agent Althea Rice
* Henry Cavill as Agent Walter Jale
* Kaya Scodelario as Agent Alba Garcia
* Ed Westwick as Agent Dave Stewart
* Karen Gillan as Agent Olivia Phillips
* Yutaka Takeuchi as Agent Paul Chang
* Dustin Milligan as Ezra Carpenter
* Ryan Eggold as Agent Arthur Light
* Audrey Marie Anderson as Agent Lyla Michaels
* Joe Manganiello as Caleb Fisher/Maavar
* Constance Wu as Arani Desai
* Jake Gyllenhaal as Johnny Chambers/Johnny Quick
* Esai Morales as Niles Caulder
* Colin Firth as Isiah Dercas

Bill Skarsgård, Sugar Lyn Beard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Patrick Sabongui, and Mark Dacascos reprise their roles from earlier *Agents of A.R.G.U.S.*filma as Simon Steel, Debbie Blacksmith, Parker Lopez, David Singh, and Sal. Aziz Ansari, Ravil Isyanov, and Bjørn Johnson portray new characters Mithra, Anton Petrov, and Eric Cliff. Joe Thomas appears as one of the Alliance monsters. James Marsters voices Brainiac 2.0 in a post-credits scene.

## Reception

### **Box office**

*Agents of A.R.G.U.S.: Anathema - Part 1*earned $427.4 million in North America and $842.6 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $1.270 billion.

### **Critical response**

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10 based on 292 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Still evolving in its fifth film, *Agents of A.R.G.U.S.: Anathema - Part 2*further hits its stride with hilarious and dramatic new characters and an excellent villain."