Question: On the train, how does Magneto know who Wolverine is?
Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.
Question: When Arthur steals Adam's power, why does he crumble to dust?
Chosen answer: Adam is hundreds of years old, and has been kept alive only through his regenerative powers. When that is taken away from him, the years catch up on him, and his body ages so rapidly that he is instantly mummified and crumbles to dust.
Question: Do either of The Joker's "You wanna know how I got these scars" stories have a hint of truth to them? Also, why does he recount the stories to people?
Chosen answer: There's no way to tell - the Joker gets no backstory at all in the film, other than the two stories that he tells, which contradict each other anyway. In all likelihood, they're both lies, made up on the spot. As to why he tells them, it distracts people, puts them on edge, plus, most importantly, it amuses him to do so.
Question: Why would Ivo Shandor and his followers possibly want to summon Gozer? For what reason?
Chosen answer: Because Shandor believed that human society was too sick to survive (to quote Egon). Gozer was supposed to destroy human civilization in the hope (apparently) that something better would rise to replace it.
Question: Instead of using Rogue to power the machine, why not just build in some sort of automated system? Surely a lot less time consuming.
Chosen answer: Maybe they tried it and they couldn't. Maybe there's something about the specific energies of Magneto's powers that makes the system work. Maybe it would have made for a far less dramatic film if they had. Script-writers make the choices that they make with the aim of crafting as good a film as possible. Dramatically, it's far more interesting to have Rogue used as an unwilling power source than them building some power reactor thing. You may disagree, but it's the choice that they made.
Question: What exactly is Edward? Is he some sort of android?
Chosen answer: Just like Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" we are not actually told how Edward is created. (Most have interpreted it to mean he was made of discarded body parts, though she never actually states that the body parts he stole were used in the monster, just in his "experiments".) In the end, we are left to believe that the inventor created a human-like person from some sort of scratch. Edward has blood, emotions, creativity, and the ability to heal his many wounds. Beyond that, we are told nothing.
Question: Is there any explanation regarding Adrian Veidts' fighting skill? All Watchmen are obviously very well trained in unarmed combat, but Adrian easily takes out both Night Owl and Rorschach attacking together, and he manage to grab a bullet fired from close range. I'm curious if it's explained in novel or somewhere in the movie that I might have missed.
Answer: Veidt has, through unspecified training, become able to use considerably more of his available mental capacity at any given moment than the average human. This allows him heightened intelligence, speed, reflexes and coordination, allowing him to easily out-think his opponents and accomplish physical feats at the absolute peak of human possibility. More than enough to give him an edge over the well-trained Nite Owl and Rorschach.
Question: Why did/does Skynet launch a nuclear attack against humanity? What were its reasons? I'm just a bit confused because in both movies they give conflicted answers.
Chosen answer: It was a defensive move, basically. As Skynet developed and increased in complexity, it ultimately achieved sentience and became self-aware. The humans tried to pull the plug, effectively trying to kill the new intelligence and Skynet fought back, utilising the nuclear arsenal to attempt to eradicate those who would shut it down.
Question: Instead of fighting the T-1000, why don't John, Sarah and the Terminator lay low for a while, hire a plane and go abroad?
Chosen answer: Because it would be a really dull film. Anyway, they'd know that it's always out there, trying to find them, never sleeping, always searching, relentless. No matter how long it took, it would ultimately locate them. Best to face it now in a proactive fashion than lie low and risk being caught by surprise when it finally catches up with them.
Answer: That's what they were going to do, when Sarah decided to kill the scientist who was working on the robotic arm from the first Terminator.
Answer: Consider a quote from the original Terminator about how terminators work: "It doesn't feel remorse, or pity, or fear, and it absolutely will not stop, until you are dead." Given that, running would be a temporary measure at best.
Question: Why does the sniper target Stu? What's he done that is so bad?
Chosen answer: Stu is a pretty unpleasant character - he's arrogant, rude, untrustworthy, he's considering cheating on his wife, treats his assistant like crap and so forth. The sniper's intent is to force him to change his ways, to confess his sins to those around him and hopefully, by doing so, put himself on a path towards some sort of personal redemption.
Question: Why do the writers and producers of 'Heroes' feel the need to kill such great characters? For example, The German. His power was pretty cool and could have been a major new villain in the third season, but they killed him off. Another would be Elle. Why her? She was such a great character.
Chosen answer: The writers kill off characters as and when it serves the purposes of the overall story for them to die. All characters have some potential to them - just as with real life, not all of them will get to live up to that potential. It sucks when a favourite character is killed off, but that's the nature of a TV show - characters, particularly recurring characters like Elle or minor villains like the German, are going to die on a regular basis.
Question: How exactly does Sylar acquire other powers? I know it has something to do with the victims brain, but what exactly?
Chosen answer: It's not been made 100% clear. It was originally assumed that he actually consumed part of the brain, but this has turned out not to be the case. Sylar has been shown all along to have an instinctive knowledge of how things work and how to fix them - this is his actual original power and the ability that made him an exceptional watchmaker and repairer. It appears that he uses a similar process when acquiring new powers - he exposes the brain of the target, allowing him to examine it and determine how their power functions. He can then apply that knowledge to his own brain, allowing him to replicate the ability in question.
Question: Why is Mike standing in the corner? Is he kept alive to be standing?
Chosen answer: During the beginning interviews with the townspeople, the one guy tells how the killer, Parr, would make his victims stand in the corner as he killed the other kids. He didn't like the way they would look at him, so he made them stand in the corner.
Question: How is Dash Parr able to run across water?
Chosen answer: If any object can move across the water quickly enough, the weight isn't transferred completely. In some Scandinavian countries, they actually DRIVE very quickly across water in adapted vehicles. If the character of Dash could actually run that fast, it is feasible and possible for him to run on the water's surface.
Question: Why does Bond go to Bibi to try and get information about Eric Kriegler? Couldn't he have simply contacted his own department to get a background check on him. After all, it's not like she would have had anything very informative (considering that she had previously stated that he never talks to girls).
Chosen answer: Whether he talked to her or not, Bibi would have inside information simply by being around him so much. She would have overheard things that a background check wouldn't reveal, like planned criminal activity.
Question: How exactly does Peter Petrelli acquire that pretty nifty looking facial scar, even though he's absorbed regeneration? Is it even explained?
Chosen answer: (POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING) Peter lost his regeneration ability and can now only possess one power at a time. He may yet get the scar.
Wait but that future scene was after the future was changed.?
Answer: You are talking about two different Peter's. The "scarred" peter never met Claire until Hiro told him to do so.
Question: When Mrs. Collins opens the fridge, is there a sandwich in a plastic bag in there?
Answer: There is a sandwich in a bag in there as well as a full jug of milk. It's one of the ways that she knows that her son isn't there.
Question: This has been submitted before, but the answer is not correct. Richie, Eddie, Beverly, Ben and Bill don't remember anything about each other or the events in Derry. For example Bev's husband reads one of Bill's books and she doesn't recognise the name, and Bill doesn't know who the architect Ben Hanscome is. Why is it that Stan not only recognises Bill's name and remembers him, but also remembers the Turtle? He remembers all of this long before Mike calls.
Answer: The longer they're out of Dairy the less they remember about the specific incidents. That doesn't mean they don't remember any of it, just that their memory is dim and they've forgotten large chunks of it. They still remember parts of it in their dreams too.
Question: At the end when there's a zoom shot of the castle on the water, how was the effect with the water done? Is it real water?
Answer: From what I understand it's done with a method called xeroxography. It's a really good job, I'll agree.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Chosen answer: He and Xavier has been keeping track of mutants for years, in part by using Cerebro (as seen in X2: X-Men United). And as Logan is a very powerful mutant, as well as part of a government-funded project (which leaves a paper trail), they would definitely know of him and would have collected as much data as possible about him. When Magneto then detected his adamantium skeleton, it was easy to deduce Logan's identity.
Twotall