People Will Die

Labeled as The Superhero Crossover Event of 2009, Isang Lakas has been said to follow how the western comic books are structured. “When Marvel or DC do their crossover events, they have these set of unwritten rules that they follow…what we’re gonna do is take those rules and apply them to Isang Lakas” says Phillip King, one of the series’ writers.

So what are the rules of a big superhero crossover event? “People will die. Casualty will be everywhere, even on the side of the superheroes. Some characters will die and not even make it towards the middle of the series, others naman won’t make it out alive.” hints Phillip. So we initially asked why pack in so much body count? “We the creative team kasi regards this crossover as a kind of A Step In Evolution this is were only the strong survives. Kailangan pagdaanan ito ng mga characters kasi they need to grow. We’re also doing this to capture the human side of the superheroes. We are going to put them to one hell of an emotional wringer. People will die, people will suffer and they will be changed by the time this is over.”

Aside from deaths what are the other rules of a superhero crossover? “There should be a big change in the status quo of the world, I mean yung world where the superheroes live in. Ni-label namin to as an EVENT, para namang there is no point na we would put the characters through hell if in the end the world goes back to normal.” We had to ask, so what will be the change in the end of Isang Lakas? “That would be fishing…hahaha. What I can tell you is by the end of the series, Isang Lakas would usher in a new era.” teases Phillip.

“Nasanay na kasi tayo na sa mga TV shows or sa mga kwento sa komiks tungkol sa mga superheroes, na after matalo ng superhero ang supervillain everything goes back to normal, mamumuhay ulit sila ng mapayapa. We’re changing that, paano kapag natalo mo nga ang kalaban pero everything around you is different na, di ba mas interesting yun?” adds Phillip. “Hindi lang sa superheroes, pati sa mga supporting cast nila, we will push everyone to their absolute limit, with some even paying the ultimate price. Kasi what would really challenge the superheroes is to bring them to the next level in terms of emotional complexity pati yung sheer kickass nature nila.”

Isang Lakas seems to be a different brew of a superhero story, the concept of good versus evil is still there but new ingredients are added which makes the entire thing so much more enticing and interesting. Phillip King said that Isang Lakas is “A Step in Evolution” to move things forward. This concept and structure is new and looks exciting. Isang Lakas is shaping up to be one heck of a roller coaster ride. “We’ll try and do our best, we are working really hard to give audiences something they deserve, a good show to watch on TV. One of our goals here is to tell a truly Pinoy Superhero Story, not a western concept dressed up to be a Filipino TV series. That is why we decided to bring pinoy superheroes back to their roots. We examined what made superheroes popular back then? Then when we got those concepts and had the story, we injected it with a 21st century pacing and structure. Sana the audiences supports this because this is really for them. Isang Lakas po tayo.”