Fandom Overview: The Losers

[katemonkey.livejournal.com]

The Losers is a 32-issue comic series from 2003-2006 published by DC/Vertigo, written by Andy Diggle and illustrated by Jock, who did most of the issues and all of the covers. A stylish, well-crafted political action thriller, it's now available in two graphic novels, creatively titled Book One and Book Two.

In 2010, Warner Brothers released a movie based on the comics, directed by Sylvain White and written by Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt. Taking a lot of its visual cues from the comics and filled with ridiculously hot actors, this is where the fandom exploded. The movie is now available on DVD.

SPOILER WARNING: This overview does have spoilers for the movie. Quite a bit of the fandom is based post-movie, so there's no way around it. However, there are no spoilers for the ending of the comics in this overview. That's something you should experience unspoiled.

PLOT

A crack Special Forces team, known as the Losers, is in Bolivia, doing a basic search-and-destroy mission. But when they discover that a truck filled with small children is now on the compound, they disobey their orders given by a mysterious voice on the comms named Max, go in to rescue the children, kill the bad guy and generally save the day like the badasses they are.

But this badassery is short-lived, as their escape chopper, filled with the small children, is shot down on orders from Max. They're supposed to be dead, shot down for betraying orders and finding out more than they were supposed to.

They're trying to get by, when a woman meets Colonel Clay, saying she has a way to get back into the States, take down Max, and get their lives back. But she has her own agenda, of course, and isn't telling them everything.

Heists are pulled, Max is scheming towards something utterly destructive, and it all comes to a head in the Port of Los Angeles, where secrets are revealed, people are betrayed, but pretty much everything works out in the end.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Colonel Franklin Clay (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan)

Tough, gruff and always stylishly dressed in his black suit, Clay is the man with the plans, the big man, the one who starts everything in motion. But he gets blinded by his need for revenge, his obsession over those dead children, how "a man with a voice is a man with a throat" and he wants to be the one to wrap his hand around that throat.

He also has a tendency to date rather dangerous women, which leads us to...

Aisha al-Fadhil (played by Zoe Saldana)

As Clay says, "she is volatile". She's the bankroll, the instigator, the woman who knows more than she's telling. She's smart, hot, and not adverse to fighting like a hellcat. She has her own reasons for doing what's she's doing, and is pretty goddamned badassed.

Plus? She gets a rocket launcher. There is no wrong here.

Captain William Roque (played by Idris Elba)

If Clay has the plans, Roque is the one who gets them done. He focuses on the team, focuses on what they need, focuses on keeping them alive. If Clay's the daddy in this little family, Roque's the mom, but he'd probably punch you for saying that. But everything he does, you can see why he does it. He looks out for the team, and if it means doing something about Clay's need for revenge, then he's willing to do it.

Roque has a lot of knives. And he loves them. Possibly inappropriately.

Sergeant Linwood 'Pooch' Porteous (played by Columbus Short)

Pooch drives, Pooch builds, if you need something getting done, it's Pooch who does it. As he says "I'm the black MacGuyver. I'm Blackguyver!" If they are a big family, Pooch is the middle child, the mediator, the person who's focused on just getting the job done and getting home. Because he's also the one with something to go home to - his wife and child. And when he holds his wedding ring, on a chain around his neck, you want him to come home.

Pooch believes in the power of duct tupe. Because it does solve all problems.

Sergeant Carlos 'Cougar' Alvarez (played by Oscar Jaenada)

The sniper of the team, Cougar is quiet, patient, always watching. But he is also the smuggest son of a bitch on the team. With that hat, that smirk, and those eyes peeking out from behind his sniper rifle, he can be an impossible character to write, but he's also ridiculously hot. He feels the children's deaths intently, and that just makes you want to hug him even tighter.

Plus, when he's taking a shot, they focus on his mouth, licking his lips and breathing just before firing. Yeah, it's...nice.

Corporal Jake Jensen (played by Chris Evans)

Smart-talking, t-shirt wearing, super hacker, Jensen really is the fan favourite. Probably because everyone can see themselves in him and anyone who comes up with random things like "Did you know that cats can make a thousand sounds and dogs can only make ten? Cats. Not to be trusted." is bound to be loved. He's a hacker, an infiltrator, a parkour and a devoted fan of his niece's soccer team. Go Petunias!

Plus, most of those t-shirts are kinda tight. Not that I noticed or anything.

Max (played by Jason Patric)

Max is a pretty two-dimensional character, it must be said. He's the big bad, the villain who has his fingers in all the pies. But, in fact, he might not even be Max. As the CIA tries to tell them in the comics, there is no single person named Max, he's a construct, a concept the CIA uses to lure enemy spies. "A ghost story for spooks," CIA Deputy Director for Operations Robert Sanderson says. So is this Max the real Max, or does it go deeper?

Wade (played by Holt McCallany)

While Max has the potential to be even deeper, Wade is...pretty much what you see. He likes guns. And beer.And air shows. He might be slightly interested in bigger things, but when he's told he doesn't need to know, then he doesn't need to know. He's from Quebec, but doesn't really care about such things (as evidenced by the shrug).

SECONDARY CHARACTERS

Jolene Porteous (played by Tanee McCall)

For someone who is in only three scenes, Jolene deserves all the love she gets. The whole team obviously knows her, and they work to get Pooch back to her as quickly as they can, before she gives birth to their baby. In the movie, they have a baby boy (name unknown), and in the comics, they have two daughters - Ashley and Jasmine. She's tough, and smart, and sexy, and she knows that Pooch has to do what he needs to do, but she'd be a million times happier if he was home.

Jensen's Sister and Niece

Jensen's sister doesn't actually exist. No, seriously. All we know is that Jensen has a niece, who plays in the 8-and-under soccer league and lives in New Hampshire. That niece had to come from somewhere, so Jensen's sister became a sort of fanon. There isn't a common name, personality or style to her - sometimes she's an older sister, sometimes she's a younger sister, and sometimes they're twins. Often, she has a name that starts with a J, just because the Jensen family would be that cruel to their children. But she's awesome. And not just because it's painfully obvious that we're all massively identifying with her.

Marvin Stegler

Appearing only in the comics, Stegler is an old-fashioned CIA spook, stuck with kids who are only in it to move on to fat private consultancy contracts. If this was a more traditional type of story, Stegler would be the hero - the man bringing down CIA corruption from the inside. But, instead, he's pretty much just bumbling into things, wrecking the Losers' plans on a regular basis.

Fahd

Fahd also only appears in the comics. A freedom fighter in Afghanistan, Fahd is angry, violent, and so perfect for Aisha that it veers on ridiculous. He might have been attractive before the CIA got a hold of him, but it doesn't matter, because there's still fire behind those eyes, and he will have his revenge.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMICS AND MOVIE

Why am I mentioning comics-canon and movie-canon? Because they're different, but they are interspersed in the fandom - it's rare to have something that's purely movie-based or purely comics-based, because we like to pick and mix. The sharp dialogue and adorable family life of the movie blend beautifully with the epic political conspiracies of the comics. There are a few things that should be pointed out, though, in case it could cause confusion.

The biggest one, really, is Roque. In the comics, Roque is pretty two-dimensional and just a bad guy. You don't really get to see him before the betrayal of the team, he's in it just for the money, and there's nothing really more to him. He's also a white guy.

But in the movie, he has all these layers, and you can see why he does what he does, and he's played by the ridiculously attractive Idris Elba. So it's all good. Even Andy Diggle has commented on how much more awesome movie-Roque is.

There's also a major difference in locations. Unsurprisingly, it's a heck of a lot cheaper to have a comic book go everywhere than a movie. So the initial incident with the helicopter filled with children takes place in Afghanistan instead of Bolivia. The epic finale takes place on an oil rig off the coast of Qatar rather than the Port of Los Angeles. In-between they're in New York, London, Monserrat, Mazatlan, and even a little town in Wisconsin.

Everyone's a lot tougher, a lot sharper, more profanity and anger and shooting-to-kill, not just to maim. Everyone has some sort of PTSD, everyone gets ridiculously screwed up, and it's just a darker, more vicious world. Which can be awesome for writing epic angst, knowing you have that security blanket of gentle PG-13 movie universe just in case.

And as mentioned above, in the comics, Pooch and Jolene have two daughters, Ashley and Jasmine. They're the only ones with family. In the movies, Jensen has a niece, and Pooch and Jolene have a baby son.

And finally, in the comics, Jensen likes to hack in his underwear. Sadly, this does not happen in the movie.

CANON PAIRINGS

Clay/Aisha

The first time they meet, they don't pull any punches - literally. And they're hot enough to burn the house down - again, literally. Vicious, violent, all fire and liquor and fury. He likes his women volatile, and maybe she's sleeping with him to control him, or maybe there's something else - something deeper and far more sinister. And it's just ridiculously astoundingly hot.

Pooch/Jolene

Pooch is the family man of the team, and with a wife like Jolene, it's obvious to see why. You can write them sweet, you can write them sexy, they're utterly adorable and awesome and it's no wonder people don't write a lot of Pooch-slash, because no one wants to break these two up. And how could you?

Aisha/Fahd

Like Bonnie and Clyde of righteous fury, they want to see the whole world burn down. You get the feeling they grew up together, freedom fighters even before they could spell the words, and that familiarity - that fire that burns in both of them - it makes for delicious possibilities.

FAN PAIRINGS

Jensen/Cougar

The most popular pairing in the fandom. This is because of three things:

1. They work together (with perfect timing).
2. Cougar is always watching Jensen's ass (mostly through his scope).
3. They hug. No, really.

It's that combination of talkative and dorky with silent and smouldering that is always a fan winner. And they have it in bucketloads.

And did I mention the hugging?

Clay/Roque

It could be said the entire movie is actually the story of the epic break-up between Roque and Clay. That they don't even have to talk, just look at each other, that while Clay has all the plans, Roque's responsible for making them work, and that, when Clay's plans go too far for Roque, and Clay ignores him despite all of his arguments, that's when it's just too much for Roque to take. It's epic, it's tragic, and of course, it's gonna end badly.

Everyone/Everyone

But they're all so amazingly hot, and there's so much potential for filth, that it's really really tempting to just have them in one big dogpile of dirty lovin'. Or threesomes. Foursomes. Fivesomes. Sharing partners. Swapping partners. Anything, really, because, God, look at them. Don't they deserve as much sex as you can write?

WHY YOU SHOULD LOVE THIS FANDOM

So why should you get into this fandom?

Utterly awesome characters of colour

Seriously. If you ever sat there going "Man, I am so tired of seeing the lone PoC get killed halfway through!" then this is for you. 60% of the team is a PoC! Aisha makes it 66%! They have personalities and lives outside of the movie and are all so hot that it's ridiculous.

(Even more ridiculous? Check out Sylvain White. Even the DIRECTOR is hot. This must've been the set of pure SEXINESS.)

Explosions, guns, knives and hacks!

Have you been wanting to see more weapons in your fandom? Obsessed with Mythbusters and wishing there was another fandom that would build shit just to blow it up? Your shallowness will be rewarded in this fandom. We have rocket launchers made out of plastic pipes and duct tape, we have giant electromagnets, we have Jensen proving that real hacking isn't about bludgeoning your way through code, but, instead, conning your way into grabbing encryption keys off the server, we have Roque's awesome knife collection and we have Clay, carrying "M-16s like he’s a porn star and the guns are his fake tits" (quote from charlie_d_blue's Blood Comes Off Easily.

The movie starts with them betting weapons in a game of Blindman's Bluff. It is built for the shallow.

Crossovers, crossovers, crossovers!

You have a small self-contained team that can appear anywhere in the world, get into all sorts of trouble, and then just disappear again. They are built for crossovers. And we have them by the bucket. Supernatural, Iron Man, Glee, due South, Inception, Batman, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Leverage, A-Team... It's the little black dress of fandom, and we love them for it.

We are a tiny tiny fandom

Seriously. Tiny! We need vidders, fanartists, more fiction, more recs, more discussions, more more more! We're tiny and happy and there's always someone who wants to beta, wants to discuss, wants to do something - it's what we do best!

FANDOM SOURCES

On Livejournal:

• thelosers_fans is the primary discussion area, and filled with icons, screencaps, fanfiction and just general delight.
• losers_fic is where all the fic goes. Also home to some awesome commentfic memes.
• thelosers_kink is the obligatory kink meme. And can occasionally be brilliantly filthy or endearingly adorable.
• losers_minibang is the 5000+ word challenge. We didn't think we'd have the attention span for a Big Bang just yet.
• losers_pwn is a regular challenge community. A concept is posted, people write stories based on the concept, and everyone wins!

On Dreamwidth:

• the_losers_2010 is the community. Fanfiction, icons, screencaps, and a commentfic meme that needs to be seen to be believed for sheer awesomeness.

On AO3:

• Ante Up is the seasonal challenge. Stories will be added on January 15th, so keep an eye on that.

There's also fanfiction for The Losers (2010), The Losers (Comics) and The Losers in general. I'm linking to all three because, while there's a lot of overlap, a few might slip through the cracks.

TO WRAP UP:

The Losers is shiny and lovely. Who does Jensen think should join the fandom?

YOU.

Comments

[seiyaharris.livejournal.com]

POOCH IS THE MIDDLE CHILD omg <333

A++ dude. Especially the film as a metaphor for Clay & Roque's breakup. Because dude. SO. TRUE.

In conclusion, CHRIS "The Gun Show" EVANS

[shotboxer.livejournal.com]

POOCH IS THE MIDDLE CHILD

Yep, and know that's going to get stuck into the AU 'Clay as the bestest ex-military foster dad ever' I'm going to write someday . . .

[seiyaharris.livejournal.com]

As it should be. Because BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT! The middle child who mucks about with building things and making things and keeping himself entertained whilst the cool eldest brother gets all the girls and drinks and smokes and swears, when he's not being cool and silent and the dorky youngest follows him around like a puppy trying to impress him and no I haven't thought about this a lot tonight *cough*

[wwwiamasheep.livejournal.com]

For that AU, I'd probably give my firstborn.

[stageira.livejournal.com]

Am sort of wanting to read the comics. This is clearly all your fault cause I don't read comics!!!

I'm here for Clay (the world needs MOAR Clay/everyone!) and Jensen. Quite possibly together :) (Fine Jensen can have Cougar as well! LOL)

Go you!

[seiyaharris.livejournal.com]

(Fine Jensen can have Cougar as well! LOL) there's fic for that! *G*

[stageira.livejournal.com]

LOL There's fic for everything in this world I believe! :)

But there should be moar Clay/Jensen *g*

[zillah975]

'm here for Clay (the world needs MOAR Clay/everyone!) and Jensen. Quite possibly together :)

YES PLS. \o/

I could live with Cougar/Clay/Jensen, too. :)

[stageira.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! Totally!

Mmmmmmm Cougar/Clay/Jensen, oh yeah. Hey someone wrote that!

[celli]

*happy sigh*

[otherpervert.livejournal.com]

Could not ask for a better fandom Overview. You managed to use sweet, sweet words to verbalize the way I feel about this fandom which I often find hard to explain in a way that doesn't include me drawing pink sparkley hearts all over everything. Thank you!

[katemonkey.livejournal.com]

me drawing pink sparkley hearts all over everything

WHO SHOWED YOU MY FIRST DRAFT????????????

[beren-writes.livejournal.com]

Go Losers! I'm so there for Jensen/Cougar - what's not to love?
Great intro :)

[katemonkey.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Now, I dare you to write an epic skating AU. ;)

[nomelon.livejournal.com]

Dude. Everything you said... I AGREE.

[katemonkey.livejournal.com]

Woo-hoo!

[jenna_marianne]

Yay, great overview!

[katemonkey.livejournal.com]

Yay, thank you!

[twigged.livejournal.com]

I just watched this movie and it was lolzy. Thanks for the overview, and I have added a the losers tag for your use.

[katemonkey.livejournal.com]

♥!

And, yes, the sheer lolziness of it is awesome.

[anoncents.livejournal.com]

Yay! What an awesome intro. Time to check this all out again.

[katemonkey.livejournal.com]

Yay! You know you want to check it out. In long glorious detail.

[aprilvalentine.livejournal.com]

Awesome overview -- I've never seen (or previously heard of) the movie or comics but reading an excerpt from a rec today made me click on the fandom overview and now I want more. And when you said this universe is good for crossovers, I naturally thought of The Sentinel -- Jim Ellison is a former Army Ranger and he and his partner Blair are that combination of talkative and dorky with silent and smouldering that is always a fan winner. And I love your descriptions of the characters and their hottness. Off to check out the resources. Thanks!

[little-tristan.livejournal.com]

Great overview, great picks, great everything. I'd never heard of The Losers at all before you took it on the road, and now it's forever lodged in my brain. So much so that there's a post on my journal (http://little-tristan.livejournal.com/227737.html) about your awesome driving skills, if you want to come check it out. :)

[silver-spotted.livejournal.com]

just wanted to let you know I just got sucked into Losers fic and have really enjoyed all your recs! thank you :)

[katemonkey.livejournal.com]

Hurray! I'm glad you liked it, and I'm glad you're enjoying everything in my fandom!

[giglet.livejournal.com]

Yay! I just got hooked on The Losers, and I'm so so happy to find this post!

I will be pointing my flist here to gain converts! Thanks!