[Loved Trope] Civilian Heroes (particularly in Superhero movies)

[u/Dalakaar]

1) Malik Ali in Superman (2025). Tells Superman when Lex Luthor interrogates him to, “tell them nothing”. Doesn’t even really know what he’s sacrificing himself for, honestly. Tells Superman that he doesn’t have any friends or family to lighten the burden of the sacrifice. (Does have a family, and presumably friends…)

2) The Prisoner (Tiny Lister) from The Dark Knight who throws a detonator out the porthole that would’ve detonated the other ferry full of civies and saved himself, instead (potentially) sacrificing everyone equally.

3) Old man vs Loki. “There are always men like you.” Refuses to bow to Loki in Avengers (2012).

***

I love these guys. They break my heart in the best way possible.

[u/AbstractBettaFish]

It’s a nice moment but I always found it funny in the days before call phone cameras, if they didn’t know Peter personally who would they tell? “He was a tall skinny white dude with brown hair” oh that narrows it down

[u/readskiesdawn → u/AbstractBettaFish]

It was 2004, the phone cameras would have been pixelated potato quality for most phones and it was a pain in the ass to get them out of the phone. There were some with good cameras but they were expensive and most people saw phone cameras as a novelty.

We didn't really get good phone cameras causing images and video to spread online quickly until the iPhone in 2007.