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The Mistborn movie can solve its villain problem by following that $375 million superhero movie from 19 years ago

The Mistborn movie can solve its villain problem by following that 5 million superhero movie from 19 years ago

One of the Mistborn The challenge of the film will be the portrayal and portrayal of its main villainand the format of this 2005 superhero film could be the answer. While progress is being made on a Mistborn While the film has been shelved since the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023, Brandon Sanderson has stated that it is only a matter of time before his stories are brought to the screen, and his heart seems set on it to bring them Mistborn to life as a feature film. Since this is his most widely read work, it’s worth discussing what it might look like, even without official plans.




On the one hand, Mistborns The magic system and unique form of combat make it the ideal film. Many of the novel’s scenes are wonderfully cinematic and easy to imagine, plus Sanderson designed the story with the format of team heist films in mind. On the other hand, fantasy adaptations in Hollywood often struggle because the portrayal and material don’t translate well to the big screen. Many of Mistborns Key scenes revolve around characters reading material from a translated text, providing detailed information about the Lord Ruler, The Last Empire main villain.


The film “Mistborn” was supposed to revolve around the Lord Ruler’s plot twist

The audience should be surprised to learn that Rashek is the overlord


Before we delve into the nature of this revelation, it is important to note why the Lord Ruler is so important The Last Empire. After nearly two decades, he’s still one of the most alluring villains in Brandon Sanderson’s entire Cosmere book universe, and he only really appears in the book for a few scenes before he dies. The reason he works so well in such a short amount of time is the way other characters treat him. From Kelsier’s hatred to Sazed’s scientific pursuit, Readers view the Lord Ruler as a larger-than-life presence looming over the dark city of Luthadel.

Through The Last EmpireThe reader learns more and more about this expedition more than 1,000 years before the events of the novel, in which men named Alendi and Rashek travel to the Well of Ascension. To portray this in a film, Flashbacks would likely be required to illustrate this journey and show the viewer how the Lord Ruler came to bewhich prepares them for the eventual plot twist that Rashek is the Lord Ruler and not Alendi. This revelation later gives Vin the insight to defeat the Lord Ruler by using his Feruchemy against him.


Related

9 Mistborn Storylines The Movies Can’t Cut From The Books

A Mistborn film may need to reduce some subplots, but these story elements and character arcs are too important to be removed entirely.

How Batman begins to hide his true villain may work for Mistborn

Batman begins to play out his flashbacks against audience expectations, making for a worthwhile twist

Liam Neeson's Ra's Al Ghul meditates in Batman Begins and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is happy in the ending of The Dark Knight Rises.
Custom image by Nicolas Ayala

When Neeson’s character finally arrives in the present timeline, he reveals that he is actually R’as and that he is the film’s main villain.


Batman begins might be a strange medium to compare it to Mistbornbut there’s a trick to the film’s flashbacks that makes the villain’s plot work. The audience is introduced to Liam Neeson’s character Ducardearly in the film. He is the one who trains Bruce to be Batman through flashbacks, under the suspicion that Ken Watanabe’s character is his leader, R’as al Ghul. When Neeson’s character finally arrives in the present timeline, he reveals that he is actually R’as and that he is the film’s main villain.

Previously
“Batman Begins”
Sources believed that Liam Neeson was simply playing the character Ducard. The choice of casting gives more weight to the plot twist; something
Mistborn
could try to emulate.

Now let’s apply a similar premise MistbornIt would be fantastic to include Alendi and Rashek’s story in flashbacks to make the film audience believe that Alendi would be the man who becomes the Lord Ruler. Then, in the execution scene where the Lord Ruler steps out of his carriage, the film is able to reveal through appearances that he is actually Rashek. This may not mean anything to the protagonists, but it does The audience must divide the Lord Ruler, a character they have come to hate, into Rashek, a character for whom they may have expressed some sympathy in the flashbacks.


The Lord Ruler plot twist is the main idea of ​​The Final Empire

Mistborn exists in the world of the Lord Ruler

Book cover for Mistborn with film reel background
Custom image by Yeider Chacon

On his website, Brandon Sanderson explains the essence of Mistborn in two main ideas. The first is that he wanted to tell you Ocean’s Eleven-like heist story in a fantasy world. The second is this He wanted to create a fantasy story in a world where the Dark Lord had already taken control. Luthadel lives in the desolate environment created by the Lord Ruler, and understanding him and his story is crucial to Sanderson’s narrative. Read the full quote below:

“I wanted to turn the standard fantasy story I had read a dozen times on its head, that of a young peasant hero who goes on a quest to find a Dark Lord. What if the Dark Lord won? What if, in the final climactic moments, he killed the hero and took over the world?”


The Last Empire exists in a world based on this hypothesis. It’s a deliberate subversion of fantasy norms and expectations of characters similar to the Dark Lord, like Voldemort or Sauron. As the reader embarks on the journey Mistborn in the text or on the screen, A crucial aspect should be the revelation of this evil, constantly causing the viewer to question what they know about the Lord Ruler. “Batman Begins” The formula allows for a fantastic execution of this premise that can captivate the audience in the spell of the mystery.

Mistborn: The Final Empire (2006) book cover

Mistborn

The Mistborn Created by Brandon Sanderson, the series is a high fantasy saga set in the world of Scadrial, where magic is powered by metals through a system called Allomancy. The series focuses on political intrigue, robberies and the fight between good and evil. The first trilogy, Mistborn: The Last Empirefollows the struggle to overthrow a tyrannical ruler, the Lord Ruler. Later books in the series, including Era 2set hundreds of years after the events of the original trilogy, expanding the story into new settings with new characters while maintaining a connection to the original plot.

Books:

Mistborn: The Last Empire (2006)
Mistborn: The Fountain of Ascension (2007)
Mistborn: Hero of the Ages (2008)
Mistborn: The Alloy of the Law (2011)
Mistborn: Shadow of Self (2015)
Mistborn: The Bands of Mourning (2016)
Mistborn: The Lost Metal (2022)

Created by
Brandon Sanderson

Character(s)
Vin, Kelsier, Sazed, Marsh, Elend Venture, Waxillium “Wax” Ladrian, Wayne, Steris Harms