WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Episode 1 of Super Crooks, streaming now on Netflix.
Superhero origins have tropes and clichés that are familiar the world round, and the way they stay fresh is by shows like Super Crooks putting their own spin on the classic origin tale. In introducing audiences to a downtrodden Johnny Bolt discovering his powers and deciding to embark on a career as a costumed adventurer, the Netflix series sets up a classic story seen countless times before. And then, it goes in a different direction.
Super Crooks is not about the heroes with whom audiences are most familiar. Instead, it focuses on the villains that they fight, who are heroes in their own way, and who have more similarities to their foes than they might admit. The very first episode of the series puts a unique twist on the classic origin story, and stands out as one of the series' most inspired episodes.
At the opening of the series, Super Crooks introduces the idols that define the world and establishes the series' connection to Jupiter's Legacy. Through news stories focused on the team of heroes called the Union of Justice and their leader the Utopian, these inspiring figures are introduced alongside Super Crooks' protagonist who, as a child, is just as starstruck as anyone. Obsessed with superheroes, but neglected by a mother busy with her own life, the stage is set for a familiar origin story as Johnny Bolt discovers his power to control electricity.
The episode unfolds in a familiar fashion as Johnny's superhero story kicks off from there. Johnny is bullied at school, has a girl he likes but struggles to impress and has a nerdy best friend who is every bit as excited about Johnny's budding powers as Johnny is. The two design a superhero costume to prepare for Johnny's big debut as he practices with his powers, ready to be a hero in their small American town, just like the Utopian. Wanting to impress all of his friends, Johnny plans his debut for a big pool party where many of his classmates will attend. And that's where everything goes wrong.
Still struggling to master his powers, Johnny's bully recognizes the masked figure and mocks the fledgling hero as he levitates above the city pool. Johnny loses his cool, falls into the pool below and shorts out when he hits the water, electrocuting everybody at the party. This proves fatal to everyone but Johnny himself, who realizes by the episode's end that he just isn't meant to be a hero. That's when he decides to become a supervillain, in a unique twist on the typical story.
Nesting a supervillain origin inside of a superhero's is not an idea entirely unique to Super Crooks, but the series manages to pull it off in a refreshing and inspired way. There's truly the sense that Johnny wants to do good, but the trauma of the childhood incident follows him on into adulthood, where much of the series deals with his addiction to a life of crime. Starting the series proper in a prison built for those with powers, Johnny remains as downtrodden as ever. And yet there's still the sense that somewhere inside him is a hero.
The series deftly blurs the line between heroes and villains, inverting the usual perspective away from those stopping crimes toward those committing them. Much of it becomes similar to a heist movie, as it's easy to root for the lovable rapscallions constantly trying to pull off one last job that will set them up for life.
By mixing familiar tropes and genres Super Crooks uses the familiar to create something unfamiliar. There are too few supervillain stories out there, and audiences are so familiar with those about their heroic counterparts that there is constantly talk of superhero fatigue as they take over the worlds of movies and comic books alike. The Super Crooks anime, itself spinning out much of its original content from its source material in the comics, proves that there is always a new direction to take old stories.
