SPOILER WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles 2, in theaters now.


As if there were any doubt, Incredibles 2 proves Disney/Pixar knows how to pull off a rollicking superhero adventure, which comes yet again in the shape of the fearless Parr family and their never-ending desire to fight evil. The sequel to 2004's The Incredibles sees director Brad Bird return to continue the heroics of the strong and durable Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson); the stretchy Elastigirl (Holly Hunter); the invisible-turning, force-field generating Violet (Sarah Vowell); the speedster Dash (Huck Milner) and the enigma known as baby Jack-Jack.

This time, though, they're faced with a much more complex villain, one who attacks on the cerebral front just as much as the physical, in the form of Screenslaver. This new enemy does the damage via PR campaigns in order to sway the public opinion and lawmakers, all in the aim of outlawing superheroes once again, something achieved temporarily.

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However, when Screenslaver's true identity is revealed in the movie's finale, you realize that 'his' master plan really never made sense in the first place.

The plot of Incredibles 2 is driven by Elastigirl working with the DEVTECH corporation, owned by the wealthy benefactors, Winston (Bob Odenkirk) and Evelyn (Catherine Keener). Their parents had an affinity for superheroes, only to end up dying in a dramatic robbery. Winston, however, remained inspired and is intent on fighting back against Screenslaver's brainwashing of the public with a PR campaign of his own. Evelyn's his go-to tech genius, working closely with Elastigirl to rehabilitate the image of capes worldwide.

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Sadly, it turns out Evelyn is the Screenslaver, using a puppet to do her bidding. She was masquerading as an ally all along because, unlike her brother, she blames superheroes for not responding to her parents' calls the night they died, and so she embarked on a lifelong mission to render them extinct.

The thing is, she didn't need to be the Screenslaver at all, or use a mask to sully the name of the heroes... because they were already doing that themselves.

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In the movie's opening, after a botched attempt to stop the Underminer, the public's already hating on capes, and laws are in motion to end their existence. All Evelyn really has to do is go public and supplement this anti-superhero sentiment, or derail her brother's campaign by not working with him. By sticking with Winston, Eveylyn was already contradicting her mission.

This becomes clear in the sequence where she helps Elastigirl save an ambassador from a plane which Screenslaver hacks and sets on a course to crash. There's no reason to help Elastigirl at all, as this just makes her a savior in the eyes of the public -- which is totally counterintuitive to Evelyn's campaign. The politicians already had Elastigirl demonized and were against the capes, so there was no need to interfere at all. Her brother wasn't even involved in this particular mission so it came off really dumb that Evelyn would help her enemy with no real reward to gain.

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The big twist about Evelyn's alter-ego really makes you wonder why she continued partnering with Winston in the first place. Not only does she complicate her own plans, she actually sings public favor back for the heroes. Had she just abstained, Winston's PR campaign would have fallen apart as she was a major cog in it, so turning her from friend to foe simply felt like a forced move to shock the audience and give us a piece of misdirection in the narrative a la Shane Black's Mandarin reveal in Iron Man 3.

Even if she wanted to sabotage Winston's project, she didn't have to don a mask because she was literally the brains behind DEVTECH's operation. She could have easily hijacked things at any time without getting caught but by working with Elastigirl to 'find' Screenslaver, but instead, she stupidly led the hero to the decoy she was using as Screenslaver. It was a senseless approach because that mission put Elastigirl on the trail to eventually finding out Screenslaver was merely the puppet on Evelyn's string. Winston wasn't even aware of this mission so there was no need for Evelyn to help Elastigirl here.

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It's a pity Evelyn didn't obey the old adage where sometimes doing nothing at all is indeed the best move, because that way, she would have steered clear of the Incredibles, who were already going down the drain image-wise. All her actions did was uplift heroes up again in the public eye and erase the damage they caused on their own.

Written and directed once again by Brad Bird, Incredibles 2 stars Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Sophia Bush, Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener, Jonathan Banks, Sarah Vowell, Isabella Rossellini and Brad Bird. The film opens Friday nationwide.