With Superman rising to the top of the charts and The Fantastic Four likely following close behind, we might be staring down the barrel of a superhero boom. As both Marvel and DC get back to their roots, another wave of heroes has resurfaced on social media.
Suppose there was a series that pulled the masks off beloved superheroes and exposed the flawed, corrupt, and even predatory natures of the people beneath the tights and spandex? No, we're not talking about The Boys or Invincible on Amazon Prime, but rather a DVD featurette that gave viewers an intense look into the world of The Incredibles.
A different side of Pixar
For those who remember the age of DVDs, the footage above comes from a featurette that shows the backstories of the superheroes killed off by Syndrome in The Incredibles, while some of these entries come with goofy names and awkward line delivery (listen to Downburst's), many have some rather problematic backstories like Gamma Jack and Psychwave. Not exactly Pixar's usual schtick.
Clips and interviews from these superheroes began showing up more and more on TikTok this week, and it feels like a piece of lost media resurfaced to reveal a different side of a much-loved film. Although we'll still have to wait a long while before we see the first glimpses of Incredibles 3, there's something here that Disney and Pixar truly need to revisit.
In this writer's opinion, The Incredibles laid the foundation for the cinematic superhero teams that followed; even the MCU's own Avengers have parallels to something like this. Pair that with the social commentary of the world the Supers inhabit, and that's precisely why the film continues to resonate even years later.
Why this matters now
With the themes of family and post-modern/pop art designs of the 1960s, there's no denying that there are more than a few similarities between the Incredibles and the MCU's variant of the Fantastic Four. It gives off the feeling that the DVD bonus feature resurfacing might not be a coincidence.
If Disney and Pixar are smart, they could use this nearly-forgotten piece of media as the cornerstone of, not another sequel, but a prequel series on Disney+ to ride the superhero hype train. Moreover, this could be something Disney makes as fan service for adults, but without plunging itself into a ridiculous budget. Of course, this is also still wishful thinking from a very dedicated fanbase.
Both Incredibles films can be found on Disney+.