Up, Up, and Away

Teenager Scott Marshall, Michael J. Pagan, grows up in a family of superheroes, yet he is the only one without powers — a fact he clings to as his 14th birthday approaches, wondering if destiny will finally bestow him with something extraordinary.

Meanwhile, an activist group called the Earth Protectors distributes environmental CD-ROMs to Scott’s classmates; their programmer Nina, Olivia Burnette, wants to educate, while her partner Malcolm, Kevin Connolly, plots to use the technology to push people into crime. What begins as a well-meaning project soon reveals a darker edge, as Malcolm tests the program’s influence and discovers it can steer vulnerable minds toward wrongdoing.

Following a bank robbery that ends in failure, Malcolm realizes the program only appears to work on children and doubles down on testing to refine its effects. On Scott’s 14th birthday, when no powers appear, he and his grandfather Edward Marshall, also known as Steel Condor, Sherman Hemsley devise a plan to let Scott imitate a hero by adopting the family mantle, while his father Jim Marshall, Robert Townsend, and his older brother Adam Marshall, Kasan Butcher, watch and worry as Adam’s electrical powers briefly disrupt the bank’s systems.

As Malcolm intensifies his scheme, the party becomes a catalyst: Scott’s friends and family rally around him, and the birthday crowd—led by his parents—urges him to step out in public for the first time to save Nina, whose fate is tied to Malcolm’s plans. In the ensuing moment, Scott loses his mask and nearly puts Nina and himself in danger, until Jim intervenes and, with Edward’s hidden truth revealed, the family learns the breadth of Malcolm’s manipulation.

Malcolm later recovers Scott’s mask, tests an upgraded CD-ROM to compel the young hero to reveal his family’s secrets, and exposes a shared weakness to aluminum foil. He then delivers a new CD-ROM to be watched by Scott’s parents, a device that somehow makes its way to Amy. Amy, Jamie Renée Smith, is drawn into the web when her mother watches the materials, and she subconsciously robs a bank before being drawn to Earth Protectors’ HQ. Malcolm leverages Amy to trap Scott’s family, intending to brainwash them completely.

Determined to break free, Scott, Amy, and his best friend Randy, Christopher Rodriguez Marquette, set out to rescue the Marshalls, aided by Nina’s awareness of Malcolm’s true intentions. The mission escalates as Malcolm’s operatives capture the group’s allies, but Scott manages to destroy Malcolm’s computer, halting the brainwashing plan. In the aftermath, Adam uses his powers to erase everyone’s memories of the Marshalls’ true identities, offering a fragile peace and a chance at normal life. Yet the family agrees to let Randy keep his memories, ensuring Scott has someone to talk to about his extraordinary life, and the bonds that hold them together endure beyond the events that tested them.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 15:08