Chapter 668: Madness is a Feeling

"Cut!"

Murphy's voice rang out loudly across the warehouse set. "James, your expression isn't right! You're not mad enough!"

"Give me five minutes!" 

James Franco rubbed his face and shouted, "Give me five minutes to adjust."

He glanced at Henry Cavill opposite him. Cavill was fully clad in a black uniform. Despite this being a confrontation scene between the two, Cavill clearly had a much easier time.

As Franco paced back and forth on the set, Murphy said nothing. He signaled for the crew to remain quiet, providing Franco with a conducive environment to adjust. Murphy trusted Franco's ability to get into the right mindset to portray a crazed supervillain.

As for the other side of the confrontation, Henry Cavill's performance was average. Despite extensive training at drama school, possibly due to limited talent, his progress was not significant.

Having already filmed one confrontation scene between the two, Murphy could see that the scenes between the Magician and Chris Dane would be inherently imbalanced. He only required Cavill's performance to be not too poor.

After all, in some ways, the protagonist of this film was Franco's Magician.

Five minutes quickly passed, and Franco sat opposite Cavill again. Murphy nodded to the assistant director.

The assistant director held the clapperboard in front of the camera and loudly announced, "Dark City, Scene 142, Take 11, action!"

Franco's expression changed immediately, showing a mix of a slightly playful yet sinister smile. He exuded an abnormal aura that was hard to pinpoint but clearly unsettling.

Madness isn't about shouting, just as shedding tears doesn't equate to good acting. Madness is a feeling, not exaggerated physical expressions.

"You wanted to find me…" Cavill said in a muffled voice. "Now I'm here!"

"Oh…" Franco's demeanor didn't resemble a criminal but rather someone in complete control. "I just wanted to see what you would do. You didn't disappoint. So many people died because of you. Even someone like me thinks you're too cold-blooded!"

Cavill ignored the rants and asked, "Where is Jay?"

Franco didn't answer, continuing, "Those mob idiots want you gone so they can go back to their ways. But I know the truth. There's no turning back. You've changed everything!"

He said earnestly, "And forever!"

"Why do you want to kill me?" Cavill asked.

"Hahahaha…" Franco erupted in an unpleasant laugh, shaking his head. "I never wanted to kill you! Who said I wanted to kill you? Without you, what would I do? Go back to tormenting drug dealers? No, no, no, no. It's you… It's you who completes me."

Cavill scoffed. "You're just a garbage killer for money!"

"Don't be like them, all talk about morals. You're not one of them!" Franco continued, ignoring Cavill's questions. "No matter what, you won't fit in. To them, you're just another freak like me. They need you now, but once they don't, they'll cast you out. Look at their moral codes, their laws: they're just bad jokes. When danger comes, they show their true colors. They only coexist in times of peace. I'll prove to you that in a crisis, these so-called civilized people are just like that!"

Franco laughed again. "See, I'm not the monster. You are!"

Cavill suddenly lunged, grabbing Franco by the collar and pulling him across the table, shouting, "Where is Jay?"

"You've always followed the rules…" Franco maintained his demeanor. "Thinking they'll save you? You need to break all the rules. The truth is right in front of you."

"Cut!"

Murphy stood up from behind a heavy IMAX camera. "That's a wrap for this one."

"Looks like things are progressing smoothly."

Robert Downey Jr.'s voice came from the side. Murphy turned to look at him. "What brings you here? Finished with the global promotion for The Avengers?"

"Finished." Downey Jr. looked visibly exhausted. "Four months of non-stop events across Europe, South America, the Middle East, and the Far East. It was driving me insane."

Murphy quickly gave some instructions to assistant director Michelle Williams, then turned back to Downey Jr. "You guys achieved incredible results."

"Yeah," Downey Jr. nodded, not modest at all. "No denying that."

The Avengers had grossed over $500 million in North America alone and nearly $1.4 billion worldwide, surpassing Man of Steel and setting a new benchmark for American superhero films.

After a brief chat with Downey Jr., Murphy noticed the crew had moved to the adjacent set and said, "I need to get back to work. Let's catch up after."

Downey Jr. nodded. "Go ahead. I'll look around the set."

As Murphy walked away, Downey Jr. wandered the set, stopping by Gail Gadot's office to say hello before chatting with Kara Faith. He then visited the set where Murphy was filming Chris Dane's action scenes, noting the stark contrast between these realistic, grounded sequences and the exaggerated style of Marvel movies.

After a while, Downey Jr. bumped into Margot Robbie, sharing a brief conversation with her. Turning back to the set, he saw another confrontation between Chris Dane and the Magician.

After defeating the Magician and saving him from falling to his death, Dane faced more taunts.

"You… You just can't let me die, can you? It's what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You really are incorruptible, aren't you? Can't kill me out of your misguided sense of self-righteousness. And I can't kill you because you're just too much fun. I have a feeling we're destined to do this forever."

Listening to Franco's manic lines, Downey Jr. recalled the script he had read at Murphy's place. Chris Dane and the Magician embodied extreme justice and evil, respectively.

The film's exploration of justice and evil presented a simple yet profound question.

Extreme evil might seem terrifying, but what about extreme justice?

Even the most profound evil is inherently checked by the legal system and society's moral force.

But justice isn't.

Justice aligns with the law. Often, there's no intrinsic motive to restrain actions based on justice. This alignment makes justice more deceptive, cloaking it in righteousness. Therefore, when someone wielding extreme justice loses self-restraint, the resulting damage could be more devastating than extreme evil.

Having portrayed Iron Man multiple times, Downey Jr. naturally drew parallels to superheroes.

In a sense, Chris Dane was New York City's superhero.

He represented superheroes' predicament—wielding great power to enact extreme justice, but this power was only checked by their moral compass.

In a well-regulated society, potential destructive forces are balanced by law, making superheroes the most fragile part of the system because nothing else can restrain them.

Like Chris Dane, only his principles can restrain him. If he crosses his line, as the Magician suggests, the consequences could be dire.

During filming, the Magician told Chris Dane, "You complete me."

But Downey Jr. realized it was actually the Magician who completed Chris Dane.

Extreme evil can exist without extreme justice, but extreme justice relies on extreme evil. Justice doesn't justify evil, but evil validates justice.

This line should have been spoken by Chris Dane to the Magician.

Suddenly, Downey Jr. thought, perhaps this was what Bush wanted to say to the terrorists?

The filming went smoothly. By 4 PM, all the planned shots for the day were finished. With Downey Jr.'s presence, Murphy didn't extend the workday and announced the crew's wrap for the day. He invited Franco, Gadot, and Robbie to join him for dinner at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills.

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