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Radical Emmet Xtreme Machete Ninja Star “Rex” Dangervest (formerly Emmet Joseph Brickowski) is the final antagonist of The LEGO Movie franchise, serving as one of the two main antagonists (alongside Finn and Bianca’s Mother) of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.
He was a galaxy-defender, archaeologist, cowboy and raptor trainer, who appeared to be a benevolent ally, but was later revealed to be an antagonistic counterpart of Emmet Brickowski from the future. His true intention was to bring the "Armamageddon" upon all of his kind, as revenge for being abandoned and forgotten, in a way of ceasing his pain under the dryer.
Much like Emmet Brickowski, he was also voiced by Chris Pratt with the difference that he gave Rex a deeper voice to reflect his personality.
Biography[]
The LEGO Movie[]
Though Rex does not appear in The LEGO movie, he is currently responsible for events of the film, despite being unseen.
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part[]
Beginning[]
After General Mayhem abducted Emmet's friends, Emmet went to go and try saving them. Unfortunately, he crashed his spaceship into an asteroid and wound up under the dryer in the real world. After seeing all his friends continue to go on after his supposed death, Emmet became filled with hate and grew resentful towards them by trusting in only himself, changed his clothes, and name. Now named "Rex Dangervest," he built a time machine so he could travel back in time and ensure the "Armamageddon" occurred. He tamed Dinosaurs with a Tennis Ball.
Meeting Emmet[]
Rex saved Emmet as he was about to crash into an asteroid and teamed up with his past self to venture to the Systar System to save his friends from the DUPLO Invaders. As they continued to the Systar System, Emmet began to take on several of Rex's mannerisms, hoping to impress Lucy. When they arrived, they evaded capture from the Plantimals and several "brainwashed" Systarians.
Once they escaped from the DUPLO Brickyard, Emmet is reunited with Lucy and they embrace each other. Rex tells Lucy that Emmet has managed to master his abilities, considering him tough. They made up a plan which involved switching off the pop music that was "brainwashing" the others, while Emmet would destroy the cake to stop the wedding between Batman and Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi. However, Rex and Emmet are shocked when Lucy reveals her original hair to them, suspecting her to be brainwashed. Lucy affirmed that she was not brainwashed and helped them form a plan.
Armamageddon[]
Before Emmet could follow the plan, Rex gives him his vest, and Emmet thanks him for helping him, without knowing yet his true intentions. Despite Lucy's warning after she knows the real intentions of the DUPLO people, Emmet destroys the reception cake at the wedding between Batman and the Queen of the DUPLO Aliens, Watevra Wa'Nabi. Emmet soon realizes after learning that the DUPLO Invaders only wanted peace between themselves and Bricksburg and seeing a hole in the universe appear in the wake of the cake's destruction. The cake being destroyed is mirrored in the real world by Finn angrily destroying Bianca's LEGO creations, causing their mother to scold them and tell them to put their toys away. Meanwhile, the LEGO universe Crumbles And gets Destroyed And the LEGO characters, including Batman, Wa'Nabi, and several known others Fall Into The Storage Bin, with the exceptions of Emmet and Rex.
After Finn and Bianca put away their LEGOs in a storage bin, Emmet tries to stop them but is prevented by Rex revealing his true colors as Emmet's future self and reveals that he travelled back in time to ensure the "Armamageddon" would happen.
Final Battle[]
Emmet and his embittered future self begin to fight as Rex revealed that He is opposing Emmet to change because he didn't want to be erased from existence because He is Emmet's future self who grew out of childish things and became a grown man, including talking About the Matrix. Completely scared for his own life and thinking that Emmet is going to erase him from existence and make him angry at the same time, Rex banishes Emmet to the clothes dryer with his ship's big slingshot so that he will continue to exist by beating Emmet up. However, Despite Rex's Plans to not getting his timeline erased along with him, Emmet is still determined to not become what Rex did, Emmet is returned into the LEGO world when Lucy, having rallied the other LEGO characters into successfully escaping from the storage bin, arrives in front of Rex and they both embrace. Despite being amazed for the fact that Lucy came back for Emmet, Rex thinks they are too late and attempts to go back in time, but Lucy manages to trick Rex into punching a cute sentient heart, triggering an explosion, destroying the piece that is part of his time machine and Rex topples in defeat of how non-existed he is.
Lucy then tells Rex that Emmet will not become as Rex did, but Rex can be like Emmet as they ask him to join them, but Rex denies since he realizes that Emmet being saved by Lucy means he didn't end up becoming what Rex did, erasing his timeline and causing the deluded time-traveller to begin disappearing limb by limb as he failed to continue his existence. Accepting his fate, Rex tells Emmet to always be upbeat and thanks to Lucy for saving both of them, saying his last words: "Besides, this is a pretty righteous way to go out, no regrets! Except again not trademarking "No regrets", that was a mistake, one love!" before fading completely from existence right to his head. Now, Rex has lost everything.
Rex's ultimate fate is unknown. Although he may have "died" in the narrative of the LEGO Universe, it must be taken into account that Rex's motivations were all just a figment of Finn's imagination, which mirrored his real-life altercations with his sister. His existence as a physical LEGO mini-figure is likely still intact in the human world, as the rate of decay when he died in the LEGO universe was greatly over-exaggerated.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Rex Dangervest has stubble dots on his face and has similar construction worker vests and patterns compared to Emmet Brickowski but in different colors. Emmet's vest is bright orange and very light gray, while Rex’s is Earth blue and dark stone grey and has a light green R on his vest. They both have blue undershirts and (Emmet’s is brighter and Rex’s is darker) share the same quiff in their hair. Rex wears dark blue gloves and wristbands. They both also have brown hair, but Rex’s is less combed and darker than Emmets. He has a chiselled jawline. He is also seen in a blue/green spacesuit with a grey Jet-pack on his back when he saved Emmet from a huge asteroid.
Personality[]
At first, it looks like Rex is just a pastiche of a typical 80s/90s anti-hero. He is later shown to be a cocky, arrogant, heartless, hateful, rude, bitter, traitorous, manipulative, thrill-seeking loner who, at first, appears to genuinely care for and even admire Emmet. He tries to act like a mentor to Emmet and teach him how to be more tough and "grown-up".
However, later on in the movie, it is revealed that Rex is a version of Emmet from the future where he tried to save his friends but got stuck under the dryer for years. Because his friends were too busy having fun in the Systar System without realizing that he has to be rescued. Emmet took this as a sign that it was time for him to evolve, causing him to become resentful, arrogant and spiteful in the process. He went back in time to manipulate his younger self into causing Armamageddon and when Emmet refused to become like him, Rex put him under the dryer in a desperate attempt to emotionally and physically break him.
Rex appears to be more aware that the events of the movie are just a story made up by Finn and Bianca than any other LEGO character.
At the end of the movie, Lucy comes to rescue Emmet, which surprises Rex. After Emmet decides that he will never become like Rex, Rex starts to disappear out of existence, but before doing so, he tells Emmet that he's proud of him and thanks to Lucy for coming back for them.
Trivia[]
- Rex's name is an acronym for Radical Emmet Xtreme.
- Rex is considered one of the most evil and darkest villains of LEGO history, given what his goals are.
- Whereas most of the previous antagonists have sympathetic aspects to their personality, Rex's ultimate end goal is destructive on a larger scale (getting the Systarians and Apocalypseburg citizens locked into storage) but motivated by a petty reason (revenge on his friends for abandoning him).
- Lord Business wanted to be seen as "special", The Joker wanted Batman to finally see him as his arch-enemy, while Lord Garmadon wants to have a good relationship with his son but has a hard time letting go of being the villain.
- Rex is the first villain to perish in a movie from The LEGO Movie franchise.
- Rex's final scene went through a lot of evolution. According to DVD commentary, Warner Bros had grown fond of Rex as a character early in development and this lead to the bittersweet realization of his mistake to bring about Armamageddon at the end of the movie.
- Following the theme of Finn trying to resolve these two different sides of himself, the writers had also considered a scene in which Rex and Emmet merged together. It had meant to be a reflection on the best of both attributes they carried, but ultimately this concept was scrapped due to how disturbing it might translate to onscreen.
- Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi and General Sweet Mayhem were marketed as the main antagonists of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. However, it was revealed that Rex would be the main antagonist, even though he appeared as a supporting character and ally, but his true intentions were hidden in all promotional and marketing material.
- Rex's attributes mirror those of Chris Pratt's characters. These include
- Galaxy defender: Guardians of the Galaxy's Peter Quill/Star-Lord, who also appears in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame;
- Archeologist: rumors that he might act in a new Indiana Jones movie;
- Cowboy: The Magnificent Seven's Joshua Faraday (2016);
- Raptor trainer: Jurassic World's Owen Grady (2015).[1]
- In Rex's backstory, Surfer Dave (aka. Chainsaw Dave) calling Rex a "Hufflepuff" can be heard.
- The name of one of Rex's Velociraptors (The Other One) may be a reference to "The Big One" from the first Jurassic Park movie, seeing as how they are both Velociraptors and their names both start with the words 'The' and end with 'One'.
- All the other raptors have names that could be references to science-fiction movies (except for Sharon). Ripley might be named after Ellen Ripley, the heroine in the Alien series and Connor could be named after Sarah Connor, the Resistance member in the Terminator franchise. Cobra is the character from the movie of the same name, while Quaid is the protagonist of Total Recall.
- He tells his raptors to use "Rex-wing fighters" to intercept the Lego and Duplo characters during the third act of the movie, a reference to "X-wing fighters" from the Star Wars franchise.
- Rex is one of the few characters who break the fourth wall. He mentions movies like Matrix as well as Back to the Future before he dies.
- There are a few hints that foreshadow his nature.
- According to Rex himself, his occupations also include Social Media Influencer, First Baseman, Man of the Soil and Script Doctor.
- He mentions these occupations when introducing himself to Lucy.
- He states that his middle name is "Machete Ninja Star".
- One of his quotes, "It's time to put away childish things", is possibly a reference to 1 Corinthians 13:11. "When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child; I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me".
- Besides his occupations, he also likes building furniture and busting heads.
- Ironically, he is a "Master Breaker" despite claiming that he builds furniture, whereas Emmet is a "Master Builder". Another ironic thing is that he said he is a script doctor, but also likes to bust off heads.
- Rex explains how he has a chiseled Jawline hidden under baby fat, which is a reference to Chris Pratt's career before his breakthrough in 2014, where he was significantly overweight. He lost this weight while undergoing intense training for his role as Peter Quill/Star-lord in Guardians of the Galaxy.
- He is a foil to Emmet. While Emmet is happy with a normal life and is a kindhearted person, Rex operates on the rule of cool and likes to show off.
- Emmet and Rex share similar vest patterns but in different colors (Emmet's in bright orange and very light grey, and Rex's in earth blue and dark stone grey; opposite sides of the color wheel). They both don a bright blue undershirt and share the same quiff in their hair.
- Interestingly, in DVD commentary, the term 'deconstruction worker' had been used in reference to Rex in an earlier version of the script to parallel with Emmet.
- Rex's surname, "Dangervest", is a reference to the fact that Emmet, who is a complete opposite of him, wears a safety vest.
- When Rex and Emmet are being "attacked" by Plantimals in the forest, Rex shouts "Pew!" each time he fires, likely a reference to The LEGO Batman Movie.
- His ship, the Rexcelsior, is shaped like a clenched fist.
- His ship is probably a cameo to Stan Lee's catchphrase.
- Rex makes his own energy drinks. This is seen on the branded cans as well as mentioned in DVD commentary.
- Rex dubbed himself a 'Masterbreaker,' which had initially been a gang of individuals that Rex had been a part of before it was scrapped in later versions of the script.
- He also had a vest for the hat that he lost during production.
- Rex made a cameo appearance in a Turkish Airlines Safety Video promoting the film.
- He refers Emmet, saying that he stood up to Lord Business, and also says that they would all be Kragled if Emmet didn't follow his instructions.
- In earlier drafted storyboards[2], Rex had been far more ruthless; not only had he been colder to Emmet in terms of personality (claiming he never even liked vests in the first place), but he sought to break apart Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi to knowingly trigger a chain of events that would get everyone thrown in the Bin of Storajj.
- According to this same storyboard, Rex was on Undar for four years.
- Rex may be suffering an existensial crisis. His throwaway line about 'the death of imagination' in his final showdown with Emmet was explored further in this draft. Disturbed by the outside world during his time in the Dryar System, he wanted to put everyone and everything in the Bin of Storajj so that the humans would never be able to toy with them again.
- In another set of storyboards[3], he had originally been scripted to not just save Emmet, but the original movie cast.
- Along with his raptors, he also had a sidekick named "Bionicle" who resembled Takanuva, the toa of light.
- Since Rex is Emmet from the future, this means that all events leading up to the asteroid crash are his history. His timeline branches from that point in that he didn't have a future self to save him, and wound up in the Dryar System.
- Rex has more than a passing similarity to the Sith Master Darth Krayt from the Legacy comics, regarding their goals to corrupt the protagonist of their respective setting to becoming like another version of themselves, and how both once were heroes.
- His haircut may be based on Akira Fūdo, the protagonist of the Manga series Devilman created by Gō Nagai.
- Had he ripped Emmet's body apart in their fight, Rex would have ceased to exist anyway.
- He had claimed to be a galaxy-defender, ironically being the whole reason that Armamageddon occurred.
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