Superhero comedy lampoons workplace culture

Wearing his underpants over a bodysuit and capable of flying at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per second, Wang Changhai appears, at first glance, to be a typical superhero straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Yet the new comedy film Keep Real turns that familiar image on its head, presenting a superhero who is both unconventional and strikingly relatable to Chinese audiences.

Starring Bai Jingting, the story follows Wang, a once-legendary hero who previously led a team of superpowered fighters to defeat an alien invasion. After returning to his hometown, however, he is assigned an unexpected mission: to establish a new local superhero squad. Despite possessing extraordinary abilities, including laser vision, Wang soon discovers that his greatest challenges come not from super villains but from bureaucratic red tape, workplace politics and the unwritten rules governing personal relationships.