Powerless

Just moved here for a new job.

Really excited.

How long have you lived in Charm City?

Long enough to know it sucks.

I don't know. I like it.

A little bigger than where I grew up,

but not that different.

Except for that.

Citizens of Charm City,

Feel the fire of Jack-O-Lantern.

Are you guys seeing this?

Siri, push my meeting an hour.

I know what you're thinking.

Yet another superhero battle.

Well, my name's Emily Locke

and I grew up in what's known as a fly-over state.

Superheroes never stopped there.

They just flew over it.

I didn't have any powers,

so I did what everybody else in my town did:

finish school and got a soul-crushing job.

I felt unfulfilled.

Until one day, my dad reminded me

that you don't need superpowers to accomplish great things.

What you do, in your own quiet way,

can change people's lives for the better.

Right then and there, I decided to make a change:

I got a job at a company that helps regular people like us

feel safer in a world where this kind of stuff happens.

And now I might not even make it to my first day.

Oh, my God, you're Crimson Fox.

Wow. You don't see that every day.

Actually, you do.

You see it every day.

I'm still gonna take a photo.

In a world where superheroes and villains

battle above us each day,

Wayne Security brings you products

that give the power back to the powerless.

Like our revolutionary Joker anti-venom.

Whoo.

- Emily Locke? - I'm sorry I'm late.

You'll never believe what happened to me.

My train literally went off the rails and the...

I'm gonna cut you off here because I'm assuming you lived.

Mr. Wayne is waiting for you.

I just wanted to thank you again

for this opportunity, Mr. Wayne.

Please, call me Van.

Now, my cousin Bruce, he likes to be called Mr. Wayne.

I call him B-Dubs. We're very close.

And I just told him about you.

You talked to Bruce Wayne about me?

No, I texted him. He's hard to reach.

But... look at his reply.

"Stop using my HBO GO password."

No, that...

What a joker. That's classic B-Dubs.

Look at the one right before it.

"Sounds good."

Bruce Wayne thinks you "sounds good."

Look, I'm not gonna lie to you.

Business at Wayne Security is down,

and I am looking to you, as our new Director of R&D.

To come up with a big idea, all right?

Something that I can show to Bruce,

and he'll be like, "What?"

And I'll be like, "Yeah."

This is everything I have ever wanted.

I promise I will not let you down.

I know you won't.

There were more experienced candidates,

but you stood out. You are a people person.

Every one of your references said

you're a great motivator

and you actually care about the, uh... uh... the...

- People? - Yep!

I do, that's why I wanted to work here.

- I want to help people. - Love that.

As long as it's help plus kicking ass.

Because you need to whip this team into shape.

They're very talented, but they're just missing

a you to motivate them.

I'm more of a big picture guy.

Look at this picture.

This picture's huge.

You know, I am no stranger to adversity.

My dad owned a flower shop, and when it was struggling, I...

I'm dying to hear the end of that story, but...

Ooh, look, it's... my assistant's, uh, motioning to me.

What is it? Jackie, did you need something?

- No. - What do you want from me?

Nothing.

You are the worst.

Uh, you said there's a phone call for me?

Bruce Wayne is on the phone for you.

Bruce Wayne? My cuz-bro.

Oh, no.

Come on. Time to meet your team.

I can't believe I'm actually working for Bruce Wayne.

Dot dot dot's cousin.

Teddy, this is Emily Locke, your new boss.

Nice to meet you. What do you do here?

I disrupt.

I alter the structure of expectations,

make people see things in new ways.

For example, what do you think this is?

- A desk? - But what if it wasn't?

What if it was the opposite of a desk?

I'm sorry, I'm still not exactly sure what you do.

I'm the Chief Design Officer.

But what if you weren't?

Wait, are you firing me? Is she firing me?

No, no. I was just making a joke.

Good one. Good one.

All right, come on.

Let me show you around.

This is the lab.

That's our 3-D printer. Don't touch it.

That's liquid nitrogen. Don't touch it.

That's Wendy, our lead software engineer.

Let me guess, don't touch her?

Why would you touch her?

Hey, guys. Watch this.

That's Ron. He's head of engineering

and chief of childlike wonder.

Batter up!

That's amazing. What is it?

It's called the Wear Bag.

It protects against collateral damage from superhero battles.

We're talking about projectiles, falling debris, direct blows.

It's only good for one use.

I know.

That's for taking my muffin, Steve.

- Oh. - That is an amazing product.

Right? LexCorp makes it.

We're trying to figure out how it works

so we can make a cheap knock-off.

Welcome to Wayne Security.

Let's... be... better.

That's a permanent marker.

Well, good, because that's how I want us to be thinking.

Permanently.

Look, Wayne Security has stopped innovating.

Our follow up to last year's Joker Venom Antidote

is the exact same thing in a slightly darker purple.

Mm, it's not slightly darker.

Okay, one is amethyst and one's sangria.

You don't get it. She doesn't get it.

She's not getting it.

No, I get that they're different.

I just don't think anyone cares

about the color.

Ooh, kitty's got claws.

Guys, we need to be innovating.

We need to push ourselves.

We can't...

just copy what LexCorp does.

Oh.

We need to...

Let's be better.

And do you know how we'll do that?

Uh, let me guess. By thinking outside the box?

I want us to forget the box ever existed.

Ron, what are you working on?

Literally... the box.

Ron, I did not know that.

This morning, my train was blown off the track,

which apparently happens every day around here.

Let's come up with something that solves things like that.

That's a brilliant idea. Let me just summon a wizard.

Shazam! Ah, nothing.

Have you ever even made a product?

Well, n... no.

No, but I was sixth in my class at Wharton.

- Ron, is that a product? - Not a product.

No, I was President of the Young Leaders Group.

- Ron, surely that's a product. - Ooh, guess again, Teddy.

Well, guess what? This company needs a big idea

that you haven't delivered.

So I suggest you take my lead on this

because I know what I'm doing.

Okay, Van hired me for a reason.

Yeah, because the other people didn't work out.

- What other people? - You're the fifth new boss

we've had this year.

And I refuse to let myself get attached.

I'm not getting hurt again.

But we'll do whatever you want

until number six comes along.

Just to be clear, I'm not gonna do whatever you want,

so...

You fired four people before you got to me?

Technically, they weren't fired.

One was crushed by rubble before he started.

I like to think of that as God firing him.

Don't you think you should have told me that

in the interview?

You want the real scoop?

You want to pop the hood on this van