The Vindicator

In a secret high-tech lab, Whyte oversees trials of the rage program, a software designed to override an attacker by controlling the user's brain. The test subjects include monkeys, and Whyte's curiosity pushes the program beyond safe limits, resulting in the death of a test subject. Carl becomes suspicious of the project and its funding.

Carl confronts Whyte about suspicious cuts in project funding and the integrity of the rage program. The confrontation escalates tensions between Carl and Whyte, foreshadowing the power struggle behind ARC's secret project. Whyte then orders Massey to take further action.

Whyte arranges for an explosion in Carl's lab, killing Carl and disguising the death as an accident. ARC informs Carl's pregnant wife Lauren and daughter Catherine that Carl died, setting up the ruse. In truth, Carl's charred body is preserved in a suspension tank to be later used for reanimation.

Using Carl's body and ARC's prosthetics, Whyte makes a cyborg version dubbed Project Frankenstein. The rage program is installed with a remote control safeguard, setting the terms for Carl's reanimation and future control. Gail Vernon attempts to intervene but remains entangled in the project's risks.

The reanimation attempt initially fails, causing the team to halt the procedure. Gail Vernon disassembles the suit to troubleshoot the problem and understand what went wrong. The project stalls as they look for a workable integration of life support and prosthetics.

When the remote control unit is removed, a short circuit brings Carl back to life. Gail tries to reinstall the control, but Carl pushes her away, interpreting it as a threat. Her action triggers a lab accident that releases the lab monkeys, which kill Gail in a rage.

Carl escapes the facility via a garbage truck, his flight suit burned away in the process. The damage reveals cybernetic prosthetics underneath, granting him immense strength and the ability to fight back. He heads toward his home, hiding his condition from the outside world.

While pursued by street thugs, Carl's suit activates and he unleashes a brutal assault, killing his attackers. The experience confirms that the rage program forbids close contact with people, forcing him to hide his condition from his family. He communicates with his wife Lauren from outside using a faulty synthesizer in their living room.

Whyte, fearing police scrutiny, hires the elite hunter Hunter to track Carl. Massey’s autopsy report and death certificate point to a suspicious death, which Carl investigates. He confronts Massey at his home, learning that the key to defeating the rage program lies in accessing the suit's programming.

During the confrontation, Massey shoots Carl, triggering another rage episode in which Carl throws him out a window. Lisa witnesses the murder, and Hunter kills Lisa to cover up the project. Carl flees into the sewers with Hunter’s forces closing in.

In the sewers, Carl battles Hunter's team as his life-support systems falter. He rips a gas line and uses the release to incinerate Hunter's men and Kessler, then escapes into the city. Whyte's web tightens around him as the pursuit continues.

Carl arranges a meeting with Lauren through Burt, unaware that Burt is working for Whyte. Burt betrays him and a trap is set with quick-setting resin, sending Carl to ARC to be transported. Carl's strength allows him to break free during transit.

Whyte reveals Frankenstein enhancements, and Carl fights Whyte while Lauren disables other cyborgs by cutting life-support cables. Whyte is drowned by his own suit after Carl binds him to an umbilical and floods his suit. With his life-support exhausted, Carl dies in the process.

Years later, Lauren visits an aeronautics museum with her son and sees a display of the suits, accompanied by a fabricated story about Carl's sacrifice on Mars. Carl Jr. asks if he was a hero, and Lauren answers that he was.