Ace of Spades
Chance: 40%
Sam Spade is the iconic protagonist of seminal detective novel The Maltese Falcon. He was created by novelist Dashiell Hammett and based on his experiences working with private eyes. Unlike the wise and cultured likes of Holmes or Poirot, Spade is gruff, uncaring, street smart, and ready to get himself out of any situation and do right by his case, consequences be damned. Despite only appearing in one novel, Spade is commonly understood to have created the archetype of the hardboiled detective in literature, going on to inspire the likes of Raymond Chandler.
In 1941, a film adaptation of The Maltese Falcon was produced, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart as Spade. The story: Spade and his partner Archer meet a client calling herself Ruth Wonderly. They take her case, but soon after both the man they were investigating and Archer himself turn up dead, and Spade is suspect in the killings. With no other choice, and no one to trust, Spade must figure out the true story behind his mysterious client, which involves a coveted golden statue of a falcon stolen from the Knights Templar of Malta...
Long story short: the movie is considered one of the greatest and most influential films of all time. The story is thrilling and full of twists. The cast is full of all time greats giving some of their best performances, from Mary Astor's ambidextrous Brigid, to Sydney Greenstreet's Machiavellian turn as Gutman, to the slimy and shifty Joel Cairo who could only be played by Peter Lorre, and of course Bogey's career- and industry-defining role of Spade. Despite not fitting the physical description of the novel's Spade, Bogart not only made the role his own, he cast a shadow over the entirety of detective fiction for the rest of time. When one pictures a private detective in their mind's eye, they think of Bogart, trenchcoat and fedora-clad, with a perpetual cigarette hanging from his lip and a disaffected, yet not entirely uncaring, perspective on the murky situations he finds himself in. This isn't all Spade, some of it might be from Bogart's later roles as Rick Blaine in Casablanca (where he isn't a detective) or as Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep (based on a Chandler novel). However those roles wouldn't exist without The Maltese Falcon and Sam Spade. The movie's influence isn't limited to detective fiction: many cite it as the first film noir. While noir is a hard genre to define, and perhaps it would be more accurate to call it the first high profile film noir, it's undeniable that it started or codified many of the staples in the venerated genre. And of course, there was success, and there was acclaim, and it was nominated for Best Picture (I'd say it was robbed, but it was up against Citizen Kane — which
was robbed). It's chock full of iconic characters, lines, and the infamous and ever elusive Maltese Falcon, which has spawned many theories and interpretations.
When Warner Bros. tries to reminisce about past glories and remind people of their long history, there's usually three movies they bring up: Casablanca, Kane, and Falcon. You would think that against the likes of the Best Picture winner about the duty to take a stand against fascism, and the epic exploration of man's ambitious nature and inexorable loneliness that is commonly called the best movie ever made, this simple story about a detective looking to solve a couple of murders wouldn't be able to stack up. This goes to show the sheer iconicness of the movie, the power of its quality, the breadth of its influence and the subtle ways it touches upon some big themes. But, yes, if we were to get a rep for "black and white film" as it were, it'd be from one of those three movies.
Frankly, from a fighter perspective, it's hard to argue against Sam. Kane is mostly non-action, and while Rick Blaine does get in fights, he's a bar owner whose character arc is that he won't get involved in the fight. In contrast, Sam is a detective, which is an archetype that you could do some really cool stuff with, which would help flesh out a moveset from someone from a grounded universe. Once you get past the fighter there is a bit more competition (you won't find me arguing that Falcon has a location more iconic or better suited for a stage than Rick's Bar or Xanadu) but I think they might actually consider the black and white stuff to be all one "universe" (think Pac-Man being basically a representative for all Namco arcade games in Smash) and mix and match parts as they need.
Will they want to rep that aspect of themselves? I think they won't be able to resist. A huge part of WB's image is that they're not just superheroes and fantasy; they're a big boy's studio, they got their history, see? They made all these old movies (and own a lot of MGM's and RKO's) and so many of them are considered among the best ever made (and they can be enjoyed by an easy subscription to HBO Max!) Plus it's just a fun thing to have, you know? A black and white human going around brawling with freaking Arya Stark, a monochrome stage complete with simulated film grain and stuff, I'll bet everyone here thought of that when the concept of a Warner Bros. crossover fighter was announced, and surely the devs did too.
Hence my high rating. I could be wrong about the specifics: maybe the draw of having Citizen Kane himself is too powerful to even consider moveset difficulties (and I heard some great concepts for him back on his own rating). But I'm pretty confident we'll get a rep from one of those three movies I mentioned before and I think Spade has the best hand.
Want: 100%
Oh I freaking adore this movie. It might be perfect honestly. Hooks you right away with its mystery, keeps you constantly guessing at the identities and motivations of nearly every character, is filled with tense encounters and conversations, and actually ends up leaving you pondering some interesting questions. What does "the stuff that dreams are made of" mean? Is Sam condemning greed or lamenting how people suffer from inevitably acting upon it? Does he wish he could escape his moral code and dream a bit too? It's open-ended and ironic and haunting in a way. It also amazes me how fresh a movie that influenced every work in its genre that came after can still feel. Bogart can't be imitated nor can he be lost in imitation. The scene where he explains that he didn't even like or respect his partner, but will put his life at risk to solve his murder because that's what being partners entails, damn, that really stuck with me (as did other scenes I won't spoil because c'mon, watch this movie, you'd really enjoy it).
I will also echo
Flyboy
in that I'd just really like a detective archetype in a fighting game (having been the person who nominated Kyle Hyde for Smash RTC). They could get super wild with his gimmicks or just go with the simple aspect of him getting into brawls and shootouts. And since The Big Sleep is also a WB movie, maybe Philip Marlowe as a Variant? Pretty please?
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Davy Jones
Chance: 10%
Vilgax is the main villain of Ben 10. At least, the original show. Don't know if he stuck around for the others (one would hope). He's very popular and a great villain who would really make sense in this game. Plus Ben is almost assuredly making it in. However after Ben, Vilgax isn't necessarily the go-to second rep. Gwen, Ben's cousin and deuteragonist of the show, learns magic eventually and levels up to also be combat ready. Grandpa Max is a plumber who has alien fighter tech. Kevin is Ben's rival who later gets a change in powerset and becomes an ally and main character. So all of those could be contenders and eat into Vilgax's chances.
There's also the question of how Ben will be implemented. Maybe Ben is super resource intensive, or the way they rep the franchise is by making his alien transformations different slots, so we don't ever get reps other than Ben. Or maybe the devs just feel like the franchise is well repped with just him, since there's just too much Cartoon Network to cover. Plus what incarnation of Ben is picked is important: if it's young Ben, for example, it would be weird if old Kevin was the next rep, and there's the reboot to consider as well. Too many questions to answer, and honestly until Ben is in Vilgax is not worth considering.
Want: 100%
Vilgax was a badass villain. I remember feeling super intimidated by him and always looking forward to that final showdown between him and Ben. It's a hell yes on my part. Gwen would also be cool though.
Noms: William Cage
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