Suddard: Civil War

Suddard: Civil War

Suddard 17, or Suddard: Civil War was released in 2012. It forms what is known as "The Sudfinity Trilogy" with Suddard 16: The Three Doctors (2010) and Suddard: Sudfinity War (2014). This grouping has been created as the events in these three films form one larger plot that affects the entire Suddard Universe. This installment subtitled "Civil War" was adapted from the popular Old Man Suddard, "Civil War" storyline from 2006 with characters from various other Suddard films and comics being added to the Suddard cinematic universe as part of either team Suddard or Team Benji. The trilogy was directed by Rebadow Busmalis and featured the return of Patty Rick as the star.

Plot

Following the events of the previous film, Pluggy breaks out of his cell in the desert. Using a plug as a weapon, he takes out all of the guards that had held him. He quickly remembers how he had been imprisoned and was then tested on by the government, resulting in the curing of his autism. Pluggy vows revenge on the world and sets out to destroy it.

Suddard awakens from a nightmare about Pluggy. He is still thinking about the incident with Professor Rudge, but he now believes that his former sidekick, Pluggy, has returned from the dead. Having long believed Pluggy to have died at the hands of "The Revolver" years ago, Suddard goes to investigate the return of his colleague. Taking his motorbike to The Black Lake of Horton, Suddard meets Pluggy, their minds somehow linked due to their past. Pluggy reveals that the government took him after his "demise" and ran tests on him. The pair are attacked by soldiers and narrowly escape. Suddard vows to protect his friend as they hunt the man responsible for his capture.

Meanwhile, the man responsible has been revealed as the government employee who had his building destroyed in the last film. His name is Mister Beartrapp. He has just had a "Suddard Registration Act" passed by the president which aims to make all heroes register as heroes so the government can control them. Beartrapp gets heroes to sign up with Benji Handslam becoming the face of the campaign. When Suddard and Pluggy refuse to come in and register due to Suddard's bond with his friend, Benji is sent to hire a team to bring in Suddard. He recruits The Maori, Tequila Mockingbird, Windbreaker, Sloth, Toast, Roboizzy, Symphony, Chocolate Ma (who has the power of cocoakinesis), Moltengold, and Hyperwave. Suddard and Pluggy know of the impending battle against his former friends and so recruits his own anti registration team made up of The Red Sud, Pluggy, Lobe, Type A, Captain Great, The Walrus, Locust, Teresa, Shadowhawk, Vajely Cruz and Bullker.

After a huge battle at the docks, the teams are seen as evenly matched before the anti-registration team escape. In the battle, Bullker is killed and offers his powers to be absorbed by Suddard. Suddard takes them, and Bullker tells him that his soul is now inside him.

Benji plans to intercept the team at the White House where he knows Suddard will strike Beartrapp. The two teams meet once more, and another massive fight takes place at the White House. The vast majority of the group knock each other out in one of the most brutal Suddard fights ever. The Maori manages to defeat The Red Sud who in turn is knocked out by Suddard. Tequila struggles to cope with the two sides, knowing that her lover, Lee is on the opposite side. Pluggy takes advantage of her weakness and beats her almost to death. Benji tries to defend her, holding her body in his arms. He attacks Pluggy but Suddard defends him knocking Benji to the ground in a bloody mess. There is destruction all around. This leads to the most powerful conversation of the film.

Benji and Suddard look at each other and at the fallen warriors, "Why are you doing this?" Benji asks. Suddard replies, "Because he's my friend." Benji then says, "So was I." Suddard laughs and replies that their friendship was non canon. This angers Benji who harnesses his Sudamantium powers and charges at Suddard. The two battle in the sky for twenty minutes before Suddard finally admits that he is wrong. Pluggy, during this, has murdered Beartrapp and gained his revenge. Suddard knows that it is time that Pluggy stopped this, and he and Benji fight him. They defeat Pluggy, who is angered by Suddard's betrayal but soon sees the error of his ways, agreeing to be cryogenically frozen so that he won't harm anyone else. The President decides that this division over the act is wrong and abolishes it, making the registration optional.

The two teams join together as friends and part ways having put their differences aside. Suddard heads back to his home as Lee sits in the hospital with a now fully recovered Tequila.

The film ends with Suddard and Benji riding motorcycles together to the voiceover of Suddard reciting a quote by Ulysses S. Grant,  " The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on."

Mid-Credits scene

A mid-credits scene shows Suddard sat taking a dump. He thinks about Bullker and having a part of him in him. He grunts and strains before a small crystal falls out of his backside. Suddard picks it up saying, "Whaht thah hell is this?"

Post-Credits scene

A post-credits scene shows a shadowy figure sat in a chair on a distant planet. His eyes open and he utters the words, "The stone has revealed itself. Time to visit my son."

Trivia

Featuring various Suddard characters that appeared in the original Civil War storyline, this film contained the most Sudco ever seen on one screen. A fan favourite of this film was the introduction of The Maori from OMS: Well Hung (2011) into the cinematic universe. He has since been made canon in the Civil War storyline. A Maori spin off film has since been released in 2016.

An appearance by a drunken middle aged man on the streets of Horton has led many to believe that he is  Brent Addams, also known as Pluggy II who went on to become the protector of Chesham City as the vigilante Nitehoop and that he may play a larger role in an upcoming Suddard film.

The character of Pluggy was played as not having autism due to the director believing that this was a bad portrayal on screen. Many fans hated this as it felt like the true Pluggy never got his chance. However, the film's clever writing worked around this nicely.

Following the end of this film, a trailer was shown in selected cinemas across the USA and UK. It would later be shown to wider audiences one week later. In it, a destroyed Horton can be seen. It is a deserted wasteland. The sentence, "All Sud things must come to an end" appears on the screen before the camera zooms in on Suddards broken goggles. A boot then comes down on the goggles shattering them completely. The screen fades to black before the words "Suddard: Sudfinity War" and "2014" appear on the screen. One year later another trailer would be released showing Suddard, Benji and all of the other characters that appeared in Civil War stood side by side, bloodied, in front of a ruined building. In this trailer, Suddard utters the words, "He's coming." before cutting to black.

Suddard: Civil War won an award for most Suddard character's to ever appear onscreen in a Suddard film and is stated as being the ultimate lead up to "the Suddard that we have been waiting for."