Superhero movies are a dime a dozen, but you’ve never seen one quite like Amazon’s new Prime Video exclusive, Samaritan. Sylvester Stallone stars in the lead role as Joe Smith, a retired, presumed dead super-human who saved the world from the wrath of his vengeful twin brother. Before the credits roll however, a twist throws everything audiences thought they knew upside down. Here, we delve into the Samaritan ending, and discuss the possibility of a sequel.
There will, of course, be spoilers…
What happens in the Samaritan ending?
Samaritan begins by telling us the story of two superpowered twin brothers. Their strength frightened the public, so much so that their house would be burned down, killing both of their parents. One twin would spend their life seeking revenge, so that others could feel the pain their parents felt, under the moniker Nemesis. The other, called Samaritan, would fight crime and seek social justice, becoming their twin’s sworn enemy.
In the present day, Granite City is on its knees, following a violent uprising led by Nemesis wannabe, Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk). Having been reminded of his roots by 13-year-old Samaritan super fan Sam (Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton), Joe looks to have rediscovered his passion for fighting crime. Enjoying the quiet life however, it takes Sam’s kidnapping by Cyrus’ crew to bring him back fully into the fold.
Flashbacks throughout the movie show us snippets of Samaritan and Nemesis’ final battle, taking place 25 years before the events of the film, where both men were presumed to have died. It is in the final couple of flashbacks experienced by Joe, however, that audiences learn the truth of that fateful night: Samaritan was the only twin brother to have died. Joe is in fact, Nemesis. “You keep calling me the bad guy,” Joe says to Cyrus during their showdown. “I’m not the good guy. I’m the bad guy.”
Though Joe has definitely learned from his experience, he doesn’t go through the full transformation from villain to hero. After defeating Cyrus, he picks him up and, despite his pleas to live, throws him into a fiery tomb. It’s a fitting conclusion for a man who was willing to do whatever it took for chaos and power, and it was nice to see that not all saviors are inherently ‘good’. This wasn’t the Samaritan ending many would have expected, but it made perfect narrative sense.
After giving Sam one final pep talk, Joe disappears from the scene and allows the youngster to tell the world that Samaritan is alive. He watches on from a distance, before turning tail and presumably leaving Granite City for good.
Is there going to be a Samaritan 2 or a sequel?
Amazon Studios are yet to announce whether or not there will be a Samaritan 2, suggesting they are being a little cautious before turning this film into a franchise series. While we’re sure the door is being left open, the lack of a post-credits scene would also suggest there are no immediate plans.
Only picking up a critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 37% based on 30 reviews (at the time of writing), it’s going to take a lot of persuasive word of mouth to see Amazon give this one the green light for a sequel. Fortunately, the public seems to be reacting a lot more positively than the critics. Samaritan’s audience score is currently at 83%.
In other news, She-Hulk episode 2 introduced a long-awaited character to the MCU, and the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero post-credit scene fight has been explained.
