Movie Pitch:
Hercules: Ghost of Sparta
The story begins like most others, with a father sharing a story of the distant past with his children -
"There are as many stories as there are stars, and as many gods as there are stories," your father had once said, resting against the gnarled olive tree that was the centerpiece of your home, grown in such a way that it appeared to all as Sylvanus' Throne, "Do you know why that is Claudia?"
"No tatta," you had said, peering up at him through the hazel nest that was your hair, dirty as it was from playing in the yard, "Do they grow like olives from a great tree?"
He paused for a moment, before shaking his head, "Not exactly, but that's closer than most of the faithful would tell you. No, the reason there are so many stories is that unlike the gods, we, humanity that is, do not keep a perfect memory."
- and as he shares the tale of Hercules, he begins unlike most others not from the beginning, but the middle, for he has told this story to his daughter [hinted to be the historical Claudia Nerva of Rome] many a times before. As his voice fades into that of the narrator, we find a
devastated Hercules standing above the bodies of his wife and children, slain by his hand during the madness inflicted by the machinations of the Corrupt King of the Gods, Jupiter, following Hercules assault on Troy [
one of the many digressions that would lead to the Trojan War].
[In both narration and cinematography, the audience receives a brief recap of Hercules life as a son of Sparta, his triumphs and victories, the tender moments shared with friends and family that coincide with Hercules' howls of grief. There's an implication his madness is a form of PTSD, gained from his many years as a Spartan warrior.]
We witness his capture at the hands of the King
Eurystheus of the Eurypontidae (one of the two Kings of Sparta), and put to trial for his crime of
familicide at spear point. It is in the midst of intense deliberation, for Hercules has long since proven himself one of the mightiest sons of Sparta to date, that the god
Faunus Mercury came shrouded in his function as Emissary to Olympus and tells them by the decree of
Jupiter, he is to be spared long enough to complete Ten Labors [chosen by King Eurystheus] to prepare for the upcoming Gigantomachy [the War with the Giants]. If he completes these tasks, he is to be spared as he has redeemed himself in the eyes of the gods and men, and if he is to fail...then he is to be spared no quarter and rendered unto Tartarus by his own hand.
[
The audience sees Mercury flicker between his form as the Emissary and that of the Boatman, Charon (who looks an awful lot like Odin) as he says this last part].
And so, Hercules is freed with his nephew Iolaus to watch over him [essentially as a parol officer]. Before Hercules leaves to undertake the Labors, Mercury has him bath in the ashes of his family and binds them to his skin, an ever cursed reminder of his deeds and a physical sign of his desire to atone...and yet, with each task that he accomplishes, Hercules finds no peace. It is only by repairing his relationship with that which remains of his family, his father
Mars Ultor [who provides aid where he can] and his nephew, that he finds some comfort...and yet it is not enough.
[This sequence is the 1/3 of the movie, where the audience gets to witness his struggling with his grief and rage, the tasks themselves less important than the character growth. Also the whirlwind romances he has, but that's a triatery issue.]
With the (now) Twelve Labors complete, Hercules is just about to be released from his bond when Typhon explodes from the earth and attacks Olympus and is called in defense of it, Hercules doing so by renouncing his ties to Sparta (there is nothing left for him there). Serving alongside his father as the Mortal General of Olympus, the war proves to be nothing if not costly and by the time it is done, with many mortals and lesser gods and spirits dead.
[At this point, Hercules has visibly aged, no longer appearing as a late-twenty something and now is in his forties, implying that both the Labors and the Gigantomachy have been over an extended period of time.
While not as prominent as Gigantomachy itself, or even the 12 Labors, we get a brief section of him recovering from his injuries at the hands of his wife, Danu, as a prelude to a Great Flood the Giants unleashed which is where we pick up, as he walks out the door looking back at her with love and grief.]
It is here that the Olympians make their last stand with the Giants, with all the world to bear witness to the Dawn and Death of an age, ending in favor to the Olympians...and the casting down of Jupiter from his Throne, the Last King of Olympus, at the hands of Mars, in defense of his son for it is now that we see the full extent of Jupiter's Corruption as King.
In Jupiter's place, an Olympian Council is raised [as Mars renounces the position in favor of his farm, akin to Cincinnatus], even as Hercules returns to his wife and home, even as more adventures await.
[It's at this point, the narrator returns to being the father with his daughter, stopping the story when he realizes she fell asleep and promises to continue the story another time.]
If it's not immediately clear, I'm using a combination of Mycenean and Hellene mythology, Claudia's tales from In Fine Solum Est Tibi and God of War to make this version of Hercules both unique to this version of Earth and to LucasFilm; the reason Roman names were chosen instead of their Greek ones, even though it would probably be more accurate the Mycenean ones, is that A) I'm pretty sure the Roman ones are more recognizable in the '70s, and B) pretty sure the release of this will probably, probably,
coincide with Clash of the Titans ('81) [and all the other Hercules movies coming out around this time] and I want to avoid/lessen any confusion between the them.
I also wanted to imply that, due to Bruce's familiarity with Chinese (and Japanese? Vote hasn't won yet, can't predict future) culture, there's something of a xianxia creep (philosophically-wise) into the story, but that was less important so I probably forgot to emphasize it.
