But then, Jake is inducted into the tribe, and Tsu shows up at the last minute to join the big ceremony and support him. Now the moment when Tsu touches him along with the rest of the village is actually meaningful. Similarly, when Jake is exposed for “betraying” the tribe, and Tsu punches him, the “brother, noooo” is more than just a throwaway.
In the actual movie, Jake wins back the tribe by taming the big dragon, which is a little cheap. He’s basically just exploiting their religious superstitions. But if Jake and Tsu have a backstory with the dragon, the redemption makes more dramatic sense. Now Jake wins them back through Tsu, and him being allowed back into the tribe also symbolizes the bromance being restored. Tsu’s sacrifice at the end of the movie would hit harder (or hit at all) now that both Jake and the viewer know the guy better. Cameron could have even used the emotional death scene he shot and cut from the movie, presumably because he realized no one had any reason to care about this character.
The final piece of evidence that this movie would have been far superior if Jake and Tsu were friends is the fact that the latter is played by Laz Alonso, M.M. from The Boys, a badass and charismatic actor who was totally wasted playing Generic Asshole Romantic Rival (But Big And Blue). Something to think about when you inevitably start George Lucas’ing these movies, Mr. Cameron.
Follow Maxwell Yezpitelok‘s heroic effort to read and comment on every ’90s Superman comic at Superman86to99.tumblr.com.
Thumbnail: 20th Century Studios