Netflix’s ‘Unknown Origins’ follows the narrative of David, a police detective who is accompanied by a comic book nerd while solving a grisly crime. The city of Madrid is terrorized by a serial killer who is also a comic book fan. David is uninterested in any of the superhero stuff but he is forced to get himself indulged in the insignificant world of comics just for the sake of this case. However, by the end of the movie David realizes that now that he has dived into it, there is no going back.
The Plot Summary
David Valentin gets promoted to the post of a detective, and his first case is about a series of murders with the victims dressed in costumes of famous superheroes. The killer calls himself Professor Novaro and has a supervillain complex. Only a superhero can stop him now, but the dilemma is that David, our protagonist, does not want to be a superhero.
So, Who is the Killer?
From the bizarre ways that the killer selects with every subsequent victim, many things become quite evident about him. First, he is a comic-book fan who is obsessed with origin legends of superheroes. Secondly, he is knowledgeable, studying all the lengths he goes for theatrics and all the tricky machinery that he has suggested that he has ways to access a lot of money.
Interestingly, the same killer is also found to be the one who murdered David’s parents twenty years ago. While David acutely remembers that it was a junkie who was attempting to rob them, a detail from comic-book leads him to believe that it is undoubtedly the same person. The only thing that doesn’t reason out here is the time difference. If this detail bothered you too, then you are on the right path.
Image Source: Netflix
While studying the case, Cosme discovers that Victor Vid, their suspect who turned out to be victim had something to do with a guy named Doctor Bruguera. Once this evidence comes to light, everything becomes clear. Bruguera, a forensic pathologist, was recently transferred to their police station, and was examining the bodies of the victims since the case started. Cosme, on his way to expose the truth to David, gets ambushed & kidnapped by Bruguera.
It is revealed that Bruguera did not kill David’s parents. It was, as David had remembered, a junkie who tried to rob them but shot them by mistake instead. As for the Batman reference, Bruguera slid it into his file when he got to know about David’s story. He also admits that all the people that he killed were alleged criminals. Therefore no innocents were hurt in his experiment. He just wanted a superhero origin story.
Bruguera was so captivated with the superhero narrative that he was determined to bring a superhero to Madrid. A shady government, a system in chaos, and so many bad things befell the country- what could be a more fitting place for a superhero other than Spain’s capital. Bruguera thought that no one would wear the cloak of a superhero that their city needed, at least without some assistance.
To have a hero, Madrid first needed a villain, and Bruguera chose to be that. Now, all he lacked was a candidate he could groom into a superhero. While running through the files of many police officers, he landed on David, who a story resembling Batman’s. Bruguera noticed too many similarities between him and the developments of the Dark Knight and selected him as the subject of his superhero project.
Unknown Origins Ending Explained
Image Source: Netflix
In the end, everything goes just like Bruguera wanted. He burns his face so that David couldn’t identify him and pretends to begs him to have mercy. This expedites David’s transformation into a vigilante named Apex. Cosme is murdered by Bruguera, who dissolves into a pool of acid. The case file is closed, but the legend of Apex has only just begun.
Unaware of the fact that Bruguera was the serial killer all this time, his unexpected disappearance sparks suspicion in David, Norma, and Jorge. Three months later, they learn that Bruguera never even sent the radiation report to the Intelligence. Instead, he worked out the case himself, leaving behind a puzzle for David, Jorge, and Norma to solve. This mystery leads them to Victor Vid’s mansion.
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Surprisingly, they discover the den of Professor Novaro. It has everything that any superhero could ask for- an access to the dark web, records of every criminal and a massive pile of money. The trio decides to take over the place and use it as their office to move forward with the escapades of Apex and his own team of superheroes.
The end credits roll, and Apex reunites with Paco, to get back from him the “Five against Neil O’Neil autographed by all the protagonists on the cover”, which Jorge had exchanged with him for getting the name of Victor Vid for solving the case.
