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Low-ranking supervillains get the spotlight in animated film 'Henchmen'

Low-ranking supervillains get the spotlight in animated film 'Henchmen'

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In a city full of supervillains, not everyone can be on par with Lex Luthor, Magneto, or the Joker. There are the hopefuls, the dreamers, and those who are just relegated to lesser degrees of evil powers. An upcoming animated film called Henchmen gives these oft-overlooked villains their time in the limelight, and you can watch an extended teaser for the film right now.

A janitor walks into a supervillain museum...

The teaser debuted as a short at the Siggraph 2014 computer graphics conference in Vancouver last week, and it follows a day-dreaming janitor at the evildoer museum in the so-called "Supervillain City." One thing leads to another, and he finds himself in an evil villain's suit. The short is loosely related to the film, which will feature a clumsy kid who similarly finds himself stuck in a super-powered suit. But the film will focus on a low-rate villain instead, named Hank, according to the studio's official synopsis:

Hank is a lowly class three henchmen in the Union of Evil. It’s not how he pictured his career, but as he says, "you just play the cards you’re dealt." When Hank is forced to train an excitable young dreamer, he offers the same trite poker metaphor. Instead, the boy steals an amazing super suit, changing everything.

Hank enlists a woman from his past, Jolene, to help extricate the Kid from suit. Soon, the Kid has fled, and worse, Jolene has been kidnapped. Worst of all, Hank has realized he is in love. Now Hank must break his "risk nothing" code, to save the boy he’s befriended, the woman he loves, and the entire free world!

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez, has taken the film under its wing and it's shooting for a 2016 release date. But the short is plenty enjoyable for now. The creators have imparted the animation with a more natural look than the pristine worlds made famous by Pixar. Hopefully the film will retain the more playful art style when it hits theaters.