This post by a Doudi user praised Winston to the skies, sparing no superlatives. It even went into detail explaining how different races should handle their relationships with one another, as well as the limitations of technology.
Even Ronin, the producer and screenwriter, had not expected Winston to convey so many profound messages so subtly. The issue was that this Doudi user hadn't even seen the full film—just a two-and-a-half-minute trailer. He couldn't help but admire the poster's imagination and ability to expand on ideas.
Doudi powerhouses were truly terrifying!
That wasn't the main point. The key was that many people replied in agreement, saying the Doudi user made a lot of sense. Some of it might have been blind following, but a few individuals voiced opposition, claiming the Doudi must have taken money from Overwatch Films and was therefore going all out to praise it.
However, those who voiced dissent had lower account levels than the original poster. As a result, many blind followers seized on this and hammered the point: "A mere Douwang dares question a Doudi's opinion?" "Where does a lowly Douwang get the confidence to refute a Doudi?" "Go back and post a few high-quality film reviews first, level up, and then come back. Your level of thinking simply isn't on the same plane as ours."
The Douzhe and Doushi users couldn't take it anymore and fired back one by one.
There was a saying that fit the scene perfectly: Even if I die, even if I'm nailed inside a coffin, I will still use my rotting voice to shout: A bunch of bandwagon dogs! They can even read flowers into a mere trailer!
In truth, Ronin didn't really want to see this kind of post. The praise was too over-the-top. Even after Soldier: 76 was released, it hadn't received such glowing reviews on Douban.
Now, just from a trailer, people were already reading so much into it. He was genuinely impressed—in a big way!
Aside from this one post, the other threads were relatively fair, with a mix of praise and criticism, though positive reviews dominated.
After watching the trailer, many movie fans shared their impressions and guesses about the plot on Douban.
This was exactly the kind of discussion Ronin liked to see. It reminded him of when the Soldier: 76 trailer was first released. Back then, almost no one paid attention—there were only two or three discussion threads on the entire forum, with extremely low engagement. It wasn't until the movie came out and its口碑 exploded that Douban was flooded with Soldier: 76 posts.
Looking back at how it had gone from zero to this level of popularity today, even Ronin didn't dare think too deeply about the gap.
Besides Douban, novel forums were also swept up in Winston fever. It was normal for Soldier: 76 fanfiction to be popular on the forums—after all, the movie had been a global hit. But Winston had only released a trailer, yet dozens of Winston fan works had already appeared.
Ronin truly admired these people's efficiency. They were all so eager to ride the hype. Still, it was a good thing—they were all helping generate buzz for Winston. With the popularity Soldier: 76 had gathered, plus curious onlookers drawn in by the various fan works, the box office might very well hit a new high.
The 3-billion box office record set by Overwatch Films would be broken by Overwatch Films itself in the future. That was how inflated his confidence was. That was how willful he felt.
As for口碑 (reputation/critical reception), even if it didn't surpass Soldier: 76, it at least had to reach the same level. They couldn't let quality decline with each film, or the fans' enthusiasm might fade.
In the future, more and more superheroes would appear. At that point, the superheroes in the movies might no longer hold as much appeal for audiences. The only way to retain fans' passion would be to tell good stories and make films with heart.
When Iron Man first appeared, Soldier: 76's popularity dropped sharply. Recently, however, Soldier: 76's heat had risen rapidly again—this was inseparable from Thomas appearing in public in the Soldier: 76 suit.
Currently, the world knew of two superheroes: Iron Man and Soldier: 76. Ronin calculated the timeline—Hulk was probably about to make his debut soon.
Thinking about how even stronger superheroes would keep appearing in the future made his scalp tingle. Soldier: 76 still seemed quite powerful now, but once Hulk and Thor showed up, he would feel rather underwhelming—at best, something like a Captain America focused more on offense.
He wasn't trying to save the world—just to protect himself. So Ronin needed to hurry and activate Winston's transformation form. He didn't expect Winston to be overwhelmingly strong; at the very least, the gorilla needed to be tough-skinned and durable enough to take hits.
Activating Soldier: 76's transformation form had required eighty million Faith Points. But getting everyone to develop Faith Points toward Winston seemed a bit difficult. In the movie, Soldier: 76 was portrayed as a savior-like figure, so fans could easily develop a form of faith in him.
Now, trying to get people to have faith in… a big gorilla…
At this thought, Ronin's expression became rather subtle. It felt a little unfair to ask that of them.
Ronin tried to contact the voice in his mind, but the owner of that voice seemed to lack independent thought. It only popped up abruptly when he completed certain indicators, like triggering an achievement in a game.
So he had no idea how to activate Winston's transformation form—or even whether it could be activated at all. It remained a mystery.
He could only take things one step at a time.
Ronin shook his head. His head felt a bit dizzy; maybe going out for a drive would help.
So he called Thomas. But after waiting two minutes, no one picked up. This kind of situation was absolutely impossible.
After three minutes, Ronin called again. Still no answer.
How strange!
Ronin couldn't sit still. He paced back and forth, thinking for a long time but unable to come up with any reason why Thomas wouldn't answer the phone.
Losing his phone was impossible. If he had lost it, Thomas would have used a backup phone to call and explain the situation.
Thinking this way, Ronin felt somewhat uneasy. He immediately called Tony.
"Hey, Tony. I know you must have installed a tracking device on the Soldier: 76 suit."
There was a pause on the other end. "Uh… the armor is my property after all, so I need to know where it is. What if someone throws it in a dumpster? Then the garbage collector would see it and go, 'Wow, Tony Stark built a piece of trash.' Oh… that would look so bad."
"I swear I'm not blaming you. I just want you to help me check the suit's current location."
"Isn't the suit with Thomas? If you need it, just call him."
"The problem is I can't reach Thomas right now."
When Tony heard this, he hurried to his workshop, pulled up the location of the Soldier: 76 armor, and said in surprise, "The suit is actually in Brooklyn. Did Thomas run off with it?!"
Ronin's heart sank. Sure enough, there was trouble. He believed Thomas would never do something like that. The only explanation was that Thomas had been captured—very likely by the same group that had attacked Brilliant Star.
Their goal was obvious: remove obstacles! Soldier: 76 was the biggest obstacle to their plans!
"Tell you what—send me the precise coordinates. I'll go retrieve the suit."
"Need any help?"
"If the suit's location changes, just let me know in time—that'll be a huge help."
"Safe travels!"
To be honest, Tony wasn't worried. In this world, aside from himself, Soldier: 76 was the strongest. Even if the suit had been taken by criminals, as long as there weren't too many of them and the situation wasn't overly complicated, Soldier: 76 could handle it easily.
Ronin set off immediately. He drove a red supercar that had been gathering dust in the garage for two months, set the navigation to the coordinates Tony sent, and sped toward the location.
It was he who had asked Thomas to play the role of Soldier: 76, forcing the man to expose himself to the public. And now Thomas had been captured by criminals because of that role. No matter what, he couldn't let an innocent person suffer in his place.
No matter what he would face there—even if it was hell itself—he had to go.