This story is about Samaritan, a heroic vigilante killed by his brother, Nemesis, years prior, and the city has not been the same. Sam Clearly (Javon Walton), a thirteen-year-old obsessed with the mystery of the superhero Samaritan, is still around. Like Elvis, Sam thinks he is living the good life in secret somewhere around the big city. He lives with his single mom, Tiffany (In the Height’s Dascha Polanco), struggling to make ends meet. She works so much, having to ride the bus to work, that she has little to no idea what her son is up to. He is becoming one of those true crime internet sleuths, investigating where his hero may have gone.
Sam thinks he has found him one day taking out the garbage — an older man, weathered, who looks like his chiseled frame is made from granite despite always wearing a hoody. His name is Joe, and he lives in the Cleary’s building. The last time we saw Samaritan was 25 years ago when he fought his twin brother and villain, Nemesis. Samaritan was killed in the fire, but his body was never recovered.
However, Sam still must help pay the bills. He and his buddy, Jace (Abraham Clinkscales), sell back copper wire they rip from dilapidated buildings. Even the more dangerous kind of work, like being a distraction for the small-time hood, Reza (Moises Arias). Sam pretends to be injured, so they steal boxes of scratch-offs from the counter. (They turn out to be full of potato chips, making Sam a target). From there, he meets a true psychopath named Cyrus (Pilou Asbaek). He wants to be the new Nemesis and steals back his weapon, which is kept under lock and key at a local police station. Soon, Cyrus takes Sam under his wing, which enrages Reza, who attacks him. Luckily, Joe is there, and when the punk tries to stab him, he grabs the sharp blade with his hand, placing finger imprints into the unbreakable steal.
Sam has his head in the clouds, investigating conspiracy theories about where Samaritan may have gone if he had survived. That is where Stallone’s Joe comes in. A weathered and grey construction worker walks around clunkily. He steals a scrapbook from his apartment, but Joe explains he was just a fan. When Joe convinces Sam and us that he is not the man, he is hit by a car with Reza in the front seat. Joe looks dead but wakes up, puts all his broken pieces back together, and is overheating. So, he had to shower with freezing water and eat ice cream because he was half a machine.
Cyrus kidnaps Sam so that he can bring Samaritan to him. As Joe visits his factory hideout, fifty armed men and women surround Joe from an elevated position after beating up a dozen of them. Cyrus comes down to him, paying back the older man for his hero, Nemesis, using the weaponized sledgehammer. However, Joe reveals he is not Samaritan. In fact, he is Nemesis. He tried to save his brother years ago, but he fell to death, and Nemesis was left holding his helmet.
Joe saves Sam. The kid then tells the news that Samaritan took down the gang terrorizing the city. This now gives the people hope.
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Read More: Samaritan Filming Locations
