Spoilers for Major Grom: Plague Doctor will be left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Major Grom: Game (Russian: Майор Гром: Игра) is an upcoming Russian action film directed by Oleg Trofim. It will be the third full-length feature film based on BUBBLE Comics' Major Grom series, and is a direct sequel to 2021's Major Grom: Plague Doctor.
More than a year has passed since Major Grom captured the Plague Doctor. St. Petersburg recovered from the shock, and Sergey Razumovsky ended up in a psychiatric hospital. For Igor Grom, life has never been better: he's has become the hero of the city and its biggest celebrity, catching criminals by day with his partner, Dima Dubin, and spending his evenings with journalist Yulia Pchelkina. For the first time, all is well.
However, such an idyll cannot last. Lieutenant General Maria Arkhipova (Olga Sutulova) arrives from Moscow with a plan to reform the Saint Petersburg police and replace the staff with highly advanced technological devices, courtesy of international weapons magnate August van der Holt (Matvey Lykov). When a test run of Holt's crimefighting drones ends in disaster (thanks in part to Grom's involvement) costing his partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the enraged businessman hires a mysterious terrorist known as "The Ghost" to cause chaos throughout the city—and prove to everyone that Igor Grom is no true hero.
Much of the cast of Plague Doctor, including Tikhon Zhiznevsky (Igor Grom), Alexei Maklakov (police chief Fyodor Prokopenko), Alexander Seteykin (Dmitry Dubin), Lyubov Aksyonova (Yulia Pchelkina), Sergei Goroshko (Sergey Razumovsky), and Dmitry Chebotaryov (Oleg Volkov) will be returning to their roles in the film. Filming began in March 2023, with a planned May 2024 release date. The teaser trailer
was released on October 9, 2023.
Tropes used in Major Grom: The Game:
- Abandoned Area: The Ghost's base of operations is a repurposed theater, which has been abandoned for some time and is falling into disrepair (with the lights burning out and the ceiling showing signs of falling down).
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Holt's crimefighting drones malfunction during a test run against human law enforcement.
- Celebrity Superhero: Thanks to the publicity surrounding the Plague Doctor case, Igor Grom has become a celebrity in Saint Petersburg: the city erects a statue in his honor, people cosplay as him, and he has merchandise (including plushies and an energy drink), a comic book (Grom: The True Story), and a film based on his adventures. Grom doesn't seem to care much about any of this. (The Ghost, however, does.)
- Crossover: Holt International, the main antagonist from the BUBBLE comic book series Red Fury (who are confirmed in film canon to have manufactured the Plague Doctor's suit and flamethrower gloves) features prominently in the film, with August van der Holt, the company's shady CEO, in a starring role. Another character from Red Fury, Otto Schreiber, also appears as August's bodyguard.
- Cyborg: August van der Holt has cybernetic implants in his spine that regulate his vital functions with an electronic current; they also super-charge his body with energy, allowing him to punch a man across a room with a single blow.
- Genius Bruiser: The Ghost is not only a technological mastermind, but a fierce fighter.
- In Name Only: The film's director promises that The Game will be a unique story that is only very loosely based on the comic book arc of the same name.
- In-Series Nickname: The new villain terrorizing the city is nicknamed "The Ghost".
- Mad Bomber: Among other things, The Ghost uses explosives to carry out terrorist acts on the city. Promotional images from the film show various locations around the city (including police headquarters and Vmeste's corporate headquarters) as smoldering wrecks, while the trailer shows the column in Palace Square being destroyed by explosives.
- Man Versus Machine: The film's underlying theme, as St. Petersburg's human police force (and Grom in particular) try to prove their mettle against highly-advanced technology — be it Maria Arkhipova's crime fighting drones (which are primed to replace them), August van der Holt's enhanced cybernetic physique, or the Ghost's complex timed explosives.
- Prison Riot: In one scene, Igor and Dima visit a prison colony and end up in the middle of a riot orchestrated by The Ghost (who hacked the prison's security system and caused the doors to unlock). This puts both men at the mercy of a brutal gang leader—whom Igor previously apprehended.
- Recursive Canon: Igor Grom has not only has a comic book series, but a feature film (which bears a '"striking'' resemblance to the 2017 Short Film "Major Grom") based on his life.
- Revenge: August van der Holt hires a terrorist to play mind games with Igor Grom and carry out criminals acts that he is unable to prevent, in order to disgrace and defame the major; he does this because Igor caused his drones to go haywire during their test run, and ruined his prospective business deal with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
- Room Full of Crazy: Sergey Razumovsky's room at the mental hospital is covered with drawings of chess boards.
- Sanity Slippage: Razumovsky undergoes this while staying at the mental hospital, suffering a full psychological split (with one side of his psyche seemingly manifesting as Dr. Rubenstein, while the other continues to appear as Oleg Volkov).
- Sequel Non-Entity: Averted: initially, Sergei Goroshko was stated to be absent from the cast; this was surprising to fans, given that The Game is a Razumovsky-heavy arc in the comics and the Mid Credit Scene of Rough Childhood already hinted at his return. However, Goroshko has since been confirmed to be appearing in the film.
- Shout-Out: One scene from the trailer depicts the two sides of Razumovsky's personality (envisioned as Dr. Rubenstein and Oleg Volkov) both shouting into one of his ears; a clear reference to a similar scene from the 2004 film adaptation of Night Watch (which, appropriately, also features bird and chess motifs and a battle between a light side and a dark side).
- Show Within a Show: In the film, Igor Grom has a movie based on his adventures. Both he and his friends are amused by the inaccuracies.
- Stuff Blowing Up: The Ghost's terrorist acts are carried out mainly with explosives and smoke bombs. Among other things, he detonates bombs around the base of the obelisk in Vosstaniya Square, leaving behind a smoldering crater.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Grom sports one in the movie's poster.
- To Know Him, I Must Become Him: Discussed: Prokopenko tells Igor that in order to stop The Ghost, he must use his methods. The prospect terrifies Grom, as it means becoming a vengeful killer — both of which he swore never to become.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: The teasers and behind the scenes materials hint that Igor proposes to Yulia at a stadium—in the middle of a circus act.
