Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: When Vanellope throws the medal into the cup, it registers her name. Since the medal was actually Ralph's, shouldn't his name have appeared on the board?

Answer: The coin is simply the required payment to enter the race. The person throwing it is the entrant.

Question: The curse can be lifted by using the blood of only the individual who removed a gold coin. Shouldn't Will have been exempt from this rule? He never took a gold coin from the chest. His dad did so only Bootstrap's blood should have worked. Also, since only the individual's blood can remove the curse, why did the rule suddenly change to needing Will's blood if he never removed a coin from the chest?

Answer: The movie explains, very explicitly, that the blood of a direct descendant of one of the pirates will do as well as the blood of the pirate himself, so Will's blood, being "the blood of his father", works. The "rule" did not suddenly change, it was the same from beginning to end.

Question: Was it the decision of the directors to have Ghost Rider killing people rather than using the Penance Stare like in the first movie. I found it odd that Johnny stated that the Ghost Rider would go after anybody such as people who tell little white lies.

Answer: The entire film was designed to have a different tone and feel from the first film, to be accessible to viewers who never saw the original. Thus this film exists as something of a soft reboot. In interviews the directors also stated the origin story for Ghost Rider never made sense to them and they wished to change aspects of the character for this film. That includes removing the Penance Stare and making Ghost Rider have an uncontrollable desire to feed on the wrong people have committed, even things like little white lies could set him off.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Multi-part question regarding the actual brawl between Batman and Superman. Batman's first barrier is a sonic attack (lifted right out of Marvel's "Incredible Hulk," which Superman defeats the same way the Hulk did: Ripping apart an iron plate and destroying the sonic emitters with the two halves of iron). Why was Superman bending over, holding his head, when we know he has super-selective hearing? Superman could instantly block out a sonic attack without even blinking. Batman's second barrier was comprised of a couple of machine-cannons; again, Superman ducks and covers until he realises the cannons do not affect him. Why would Superman attempt to shield himself from conventional firearms? Did he suspect they were Kryptonite rounds? If so, why even bother shielding himself? If Superman suspected that Batman was using Kryptonite-based weaponry, why would he even walk into that scenario? After Superman strolls through Batman's first two deterrents, Batman then uses a third barrier, a smoke bomb that can, apparently, block Superman's X-ray vision. What was in the smoke? Was it lead-based smoke? Because Batman escapes while Superman seemingly can't see through the smoke. As far as I can tell, Superman doesn't realise that Batman is using Kryptonite-based weapons until Batman uses the Kryptonite gas mortars on Superman. So, why did the first three weapons even slow Superman down? Superman could have defeated Batman in a fraction of a second without killing him.

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: The sonic emitters were constantly changing frequency making the sound impossible for Superman to "select" and block out. As for the cannons, Superman knows that Batman is resourceful and therefore assumed that he would not bother firing at him unless the rounds could do damage. Superman took cover as a precaution against this. There are also several elements which block x-rays and can be made into a gas.

Phixius

Answer: We see Bruce working with lead to contain the Kryptonite gas in the grenade capsules, so we know he understands the interaction of lead and radiation. X-ray's are a form of radiation and if Luthor has a complete file in Superman's abilities the fact that he can see in the X-ray spectrum would be included, so Bruce would have planned accordingly but adding lead particles to his gas grenade should he need to escape. This is not covered in specific in the film; it requires you to add up several incidental pieces of information and make and informed assumption.

Answer: The bullets from the machine gun may not be able to break his skin and injure him but that doesn't mean they don't have a physical effect on him or that he cannot feel them. In Man of Steel Clark takes a 50cal round while trying to fly out of the military's line of fire and it throws him into a building. The bullets might not injure him but he can still feel them and they still hit pretty hard, so I imagine he's just trying not to get shot in the eyes.

Regular bullets do not have any effect on Superman's body whatsoever as long as he has absorbed solar rays before. Anyone that suggests they do knows nothing about Superman. Superman can survive a megaton nuclear explosion without so much as a hair on his body harmed, as long as he has absorbed enough solar rays.

lionhead

In the comics, yes. In the movies is completely different.

Not at all. Someone fires a gun right on his face and it bounces off his eye without a blink.

lionhead

Answer: First you have to understand that Superman doesn't know what Kryptonite is. He's never seen it, never heard of it, never encountered it. So he isn't expecting anything like it. He cannot prepare for or even look for something he does not know exists. Superman says in Man of Steel that he can focus on what he wants to hear above other sounds but that doesn't mean that he doesn't hear anything else; it just means he's able to manage the influx of information. You can hold a conversation with a friend at a nightclub but that doesn't mean you stop hearing everything else - you just don't focus on it. The sonic devices are very loud, focused directly at Superman's head and emitting frequencies up and down the spectrum not to mention the actual physical effect as evidenced by the rainwater caught in the blast. It's a lot to deal with all at once.

Question: Jacob Kowalski kicks open the door of Graves' office at MACUSA. How could he just open it easily? Before he opens it, Queenie used the unlocking spell on the door, which didn't work.

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: The door was magically locked, not magically sealed. Jacob, being a muggle who hasn't relied on magic his entire life, knew he could simply break the lock when he kicked the door.

Phixius

Question: Newt manged to capture all of the escaped beasts except the billwig. Why did he give up on it? Because it's just a little insect? or he had already many of the species in the case?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: It's not known why he gave up. Newt did have to leave New York and there was no point in continuing the search at that time.

raywest

Chosen answer: Obscurials often manifest around childhood. Children are young and influential, so Graves/Grindelwald can persuade one to let their magic free without much protest in a public place as an indestructible weapon. As we witnessed when Credence rampaged through New York, Obscurials would be far more destructive to whole cities than just casting a lot of spells.

There's WAY more to it than that-although you'd never know it if you only ever watched the original HP films and never read the books. In short, Graves/Grindelwald has had first-hand experience with an Obscurial before. Remember that painting Aberforth Dumbledore had on the wall of the Hog's Head Pub in Deathly Hallows Part 2? That was Ariana Dumbledore, his and Albus' sister. When she was a child, she was attacked by three Muggle boys who caught her doing magic, which traumatized her and caused her to become an Obscurial; the Obscurus inside her later killed the siblings' mother. At the same time, Dumbledore and Grindelwald were plotting together to bring wizards out of hiding and reassert their superiority over Muggles with the help of the Elder Wand. In the end, Aberforth confronted them, leading to a chaotic duel that resulted in Ariana being killed by a stray curse. Dumbledore and Grindelwald went their separate ways, with Grindelwald putting their visions of wizard supremacy into action, while Dumbledore's grief for his sister led him to repent and shun power for the rest of his life. Virtually none of this made it into the movies. But that's why Grindelwald wanted an Obscurial so badly-because he'd seen one before and knew first-hand how lethal they could be.

Actually, it was never 100% confirmed that Ariana did become an Obscurial.

Answer: In the second film in this series, Crimes of Grindelwald, it's revealed that Grindelwald had a vision years ago that he would use an Obscurial to aid him in killing Dumbledore, since the two of them were magically barred from fighting each other. That's why he was so determined to sway Credence to his side.

Question: How could the Erumpent the size of a whale escape out of Newt's case without Newt around, without his help (magic)? Can Erumpents shrink themselves like Occamies?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: Erumpents cannot change their size, however the suitcase is itself enchanted to allow objects of any size to enter and exit its magically expanded interior. Newt's presence is not required for this.

Phixius

Answer: This might actually be a valid mistake. The exit of the suitcase is depicted as being inside a hut, at the ceiling. A savanna creature like that would not even consider that to be a route it might be able to take, because that requires (sorry for the pun) out-of-the-box thinking.

Doc

Perhaps that would be true for a non-magical creature; however, there are numerous references in the Wizarding World canon to magical creatures have human-like cognitive abilities (Kneazles are one prominent example), so perhaps Erumpents fall into the same category.

"Perhaps" or "Maybe" generally don't cut it. They usually denote attempts to justify a mistake. In the movie Erumpets aren't displaying any intelligence beyond that of a bull or rhinoceros.

Doc

I agree under normal circumstances the creature wouldn't try to escape. However, as Newt pointed out, this creature was in mating season and was looking for a partner; which is why she went to the zoo as there were the closest creatures she sensed to herself. Animals going out of their natural habitat when they sense a potential mating partner is a natural survival instinct real animals do. As real animals do this, it makes sense this creature would do the same thing as a real animal.

As said elsewhere, the exit is depicted as in the ceiling. Erumpets aren't displaying any intelligence beyond that of a bull or rhinoceros. Climbing out through a roof hatch is not in their behavioral patterns, mating season or not. A bull won't climb a ladder, no matter how many cows are on the roof.

Doc

Question: When Dr. Strange gets into the accident near the beginning of the film, why didn't his car's airbag deploy? Wouldn't such an expensive car have all kinds of standard safety features?

zendaddy621

Chosen answer: The airbag did deploy. However, the deployment occurred when the car first crashed and we see the accident from the outside, so we can't see it. Once we get a shot of the interior, you can see the airbag is sticking out from the steering wheel, but (unlike what some movies would show you) airbags deflate very rapidly after a crash, so you may have missed it.

But if the airbags did deploy, then why did he have such major injuries? Wouldn't the airbags have made what happened to his hands less severe?

I don't think so. I watched it again recently and I think I saw the car's speedometer crush his hands while they were still on the steering wheel, while the airbag deploys from the centre of the steering wheel, nowhere near his hands.

Often in real life, when air bags deploy from the steering wheel, they force the hands off the steering wheel resulting in the hands hitting the windshield. Damage to hands, wrists, and lower arms are common.

Chosen answer: Because it's part of his costume.

MasterOfAll

Question: Vullaby's Pokedex entry in Alpha Sapphire says that she guards her posterior with bones that were gathered by Mandibuzz, but why is it that whenever she hatches from an egg, she's shown already wearing it?

Question: What was Steve talking about when he said Ultron and Wanda and Pietro have something in common? Maria Hill makes it sound like Strucker, but it can't have been since Strucker had nothing to do with creating Ultron.

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Chosen answer: They all resent Tony Stark.

Phaneron

Question: When Jones sees his green grocer being attacked by two thugs, he immediately fights them. Wouldn't he be charged with police brutality considering that he hit them first and really worked them over?

Answer: First: they threw the first punches, which Jones blocked. Second: they were criminals assaulting a member of the public. Third: they continued attacking him, so he continued to fight them.

Greg Dwyer

Chosen answer: After Jack, Henry and Carina are captured at Hangman's Bay, she is given a dress so she can be the bridesmaid in the wedding of Jack to Pig Kelly's sister.

Question: When we see the eggs for the first time did they come from an actual Queen, or did David use Shaw's reproduction system to create them?

Darth Crucible

Chosen answer: If there had been a Queen, David would not have just left it there on the planet, he would have taken a Royal Facehugger embryo with him on Covenant. So the latter is most likely correct.

Question: Why does David use his real name at the end instead of Walter's to gain access to the colonists and embryos? Wouldn't that been noticed in the log or something? He is pretending to be Walter in the first place and with the last log entry he uses the name Walter.

Answer: It doesn't matter anymore at that point. He has full control of the ship and can change anything he wants. Including the logs, if it's necessary.

lionhead

Question: What exactly did it take to get Norman to become brave and more willing to fight?

Answer: Although he starts out afraid, awkward and hesitant, Norman gradually becomes battle-hardened throughout the film. But there is one event that probably changes Norman more than anything: When his one-night love interest, Emma, is killed during a German attack. After that, the tank crew realises that Norman has changed, become harder and more focused, and they finally accept him as a team member with the nickname "Machine."

Charles Austin Miller

Question: In the scene leading up to where the mirror is knocked off and the car stalls, there appears to be a billboard in the background with a cowboy with his head in profile. In large letters above it is what appears to be the word "Impotent." (Not "Important"). Does anyone know what is with that?

Answer: That billboard was part of an anti-smoking campaign from about 18 years ago. The image mocks the iconic Marlboro Man, with the cigarette in his mouth flaccid and drooping. The word "Impotent" is rendered large in the same type style as the old Marlboro logo. In much smaller text (not visible in the film), the sign reads, "WARNING: Smoking Causes Impotence."

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: No, he did not have any knowledge regarding that. Luke or Leia would have told him at some point after Vader's death, but that is not shown in the film.

raywest

Considering Leia's aghast reaction to Luke's explanation on Endor ("Your father!"), he hadn't mentioned it to her before, and I can't possibly believe he would tell anyone else before her. (On a side note, it amuses me to wonder just how long it took before Leia put two-and-two together about what this all means about HER father; the implications don't seem to have hit her before this scene is over).

TonyPH

Question: There was a deleted scene where the Slytherins escape in the dungeons. Where did the Slytherins go after they escaped? Did they fight? If so, which side? And who blew up that dungeon door?

DFirst1

Answer: It's not shown who specifically blew open the door, and it probably was more than one student working together. It's also not shown where the Slytherin students went after escaping the dungeon. Most likely, they scattered. The younger ones or those students whose families had no allegiance to the Dark Lord, were probably hiding in their common room. Older students, whose parents were Death Eaters or Voldemort followers, would probably join the Slytherin ranks outside the castle.

raywest

I am sure that there are also Slytherins whose parents are not Death Eaters who battled alongside Hogwarts side.

DFirst1

Chosen answer: I don't think that the Slytherins are all sons and daughters of the death eaters. Most likely, they were the reinforcements who collected by Slughorn. But it was off screen. Perhaps the one who blew up the cage door is Draco. Without the deleted scene, it was obvious that the Slytherin escaped. Because later on Crabbe and Zabini were accompanied by Malfoy in the room of requirement.

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