A little-seen and entirely unexpected superhero movie battles back against injustice on Disney Plus

Thanks to the company’s acquisitions of both Marvel and 20th Century Fox, Disney has created a stranglehold on the superhero genre, with a cavalcade of comic book adaptations being available at the push of a button on the company’s streaming service. And yet, it’s the unheralded Gundala that’s become an on-demand sensation on the platform’s charts heading into the weekend.

Per FlixPatrol, the Indonesian street-level story inspired by the character of the same name – which even took a page out of Kevin Feige’s world-renowned playbook by acting as the first installment in the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe – has made an unexpected appearance on the global most-watched rankings.

As most origin tales tend to do, Gundala follows the title hero growing up doing his best to make ends meet and carve out a life for himself after being left to survive on the streets as a youngster. After witnessing one too many injustices, the mild-mannered security guard can no longer turn a blind eye, forcing him to suit up and take the fight to those causing chaos on his home turf.

Respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of 75 and 76 percent from critics and audiences highlight that the BCU had gotten off to a solid start, with Sri Asih and Virgo & The Sparklings arriving shortly after, while a number of other titles are in active development as Indonesian cinema tries to play the Hollywood heavy hitters at their own game.

In fact, BCU executive producer Joko Anwar was told during a Disney Plus event back in 2020 that the franchise was “in the right hands” by no less of an authority than a certain Kevin Feige, a ringing endorsement if ever there was one.