Being one of the best tight ends in the NFL evidently isn’t enough for Vernon Davis. The man has aspirations beyond football. He wants to be an action star. He wants to be a superhero.
If that’s what Davis wants in his future, he got to indulge one of those wishes in a short film called Captain Torpedo. However, what may look like a goof could turn into bigger things for Davis, as the comedy is one of 20 finalists for HBO’s revived filmmaking competition Project Greenlight.
Davis plays the title hero (with a Top Gun-esque logo on his chest), captured by the villain of the piece, Shmokov. As he’s tied up and weakened by seaweed, Captain Torpedo doesn’t see much action here. But Davis does show some acting chops and sells the comedy well, as you can see for yourself in this two-minute “leaked scene.”
Did you see that ending coming? I certainly did not. Very unexpected.
The film was produced by French Mustache and directed by Julien Lasseur. More than 200 shorts were in the previous round of competition for Project Greenlight, so to make it through that process and emerge as one of the 20 finalists is already impressive. Fans can watch all of the films at the Project Greenlight website and vote for their favorite (only one vote is allowed, so no virtual ballot box stuffing) until Sept. 26.
Perhaps you remember the original Project Greenlight, in which Ben Affleck and Matt Damon teamed with producer Chris Moore to help aspiring filmmakers make a feature film. The show ran for three seasons from 2001 to 2005. Season 2 featured Shia LeBeouf, giving us an early look at his acting process.
In the first season, filmmakers submitted screenplays, competing for a chance to direct their own script. During the subsequent seasons, writing and directing winners were chosen and would team up to create the final project. Affleck and Damon are back for the revived show, but Moore (who was really the best part of the show) has moved on to his own reality show competition, The Chair.
Back in July, when Captain Torpedo was submitted in the contest, Davis described his character to the San Jose Mercury News‘ Cam Inman as “the new superhero coming to your town to save everybody” who “can do anything in water” and “run fast and shoot at you.”
I can do anything in water,” Davis replied. “I can run fast and shoot at you.”
Get ready for a new season and a new superhero. I am #CaptainTorpedo pic.twitter.com/s2EtEmlRxn
— Vernon Davis (@VernonDavis85) July 23, 2014
If Captain Torpedo wins, French Mustache and Davis will have the opportunity to direct a full-length feature film. Presumably, that would be an extended version of Captain Torpedo. We would get to learn who this man is, what his abilities are, and why seaweed is his main weakness. (But no origin stories, please. That’s been played out in superhero movies.)
Or maybe this was a two-minute gag, and French Mustache has different aspirations for a feature film. But don’t we all want to see more of Davis as Captain Torpedo (even if — spoiler alert — it didn’t look good for him at the end of the short)?
