“Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero” at SXSW.

Director Bayan Joonam appeared with the documentary “Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero” at SXSW and shared the six-year project with an audience that, for the most part, has grown up on/with social media. Bayan is best known for partnering with actor Rainn Wilson to translate SoulPancake’s mission into digital video on sites such as YouTube.

As Head of Production for SoulPancake between 2012 – 2018, Bayan led the development and creation of award-winning original programming such as SoulPancake on OWN, Kid President, and My Last Days, which led to nearly a billion views, multi-season television franchises, and acquisition by Participant Media in 2016.

SYNOPSIS

 

With “Phoenix Jones,” Joonam tells us the story of Ben Fodor, born 5/25/1988, who, according to Director Joonam, as Superheroes go, “Phoenix Jones, to me, is the most legit of them all.””In 2010, reports began surfacing of a masked vigilante in a black-and-gold Superhero costume stopping crime on the streets of Seattle.  His name was Phoenix Jones. Armed with pepper spray, a taser, and a team of costumed crime fighters, Phoenix Jones quickly became an international media sensation. But when his true identity was exposed by the Seattle Police Department, the heroic image began to unravel and his team abandoned him.

During the Q&A following the film, Joonam acknowledged that he learned about Ben Fodor’s Phoenix Jones persona through Rainn Wilson, who starred in the 2010 superhero movie “Super.”Rainn portrayed a self-anointed vigilante known as the Crimson Bolt in the film. (“Super” did not do well financially, grossing only $593,933 against a budget of $2.5 million but it  has since become a cult classic, particularly among fans who appreciate its subversive and unconventional approach to the superhero genre.) Rainn Wilson makes a brief appearance in the documentary to state, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to put on a costume and jump into a dangerous situation.”

STORY ORIGIN

Bayan Joonam, Director of “Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero” at SXSW.

 

It is clear that Joonam, who learned of Phoenix Jones when working for Rainn Wilson (“The Office”) has given a lot of thought to creating this in-depth portrait of a troubled young man, whose biological parents gave him up for adoption. How much of his “abandoned at birth” story is real and how much is manufactured for effect is up for discussion.

What struck me was the charisma that Ben Fodor exudes  could have taken him to the top of so many endeavors. He was adopted soon after birth by two loving Moms, Margaret and Susan, who adopted other troubled youths. Ben  created an alternate version of his early life in which he spent 11 years in an orphanage. Director Joonam has also worked for Jay Z. It is not beyond the realm of the possible to think of a young man like Ben Fodor with such charisma utilizing it in a similar fashion as Jay-Z and becoming a shooting, rather than a falling, star,

His older (adopted) brother Caros Fodor quickly shot down Ben’s untruth about spending 11 years in an orphanage, and also physically fought him (and beat him) in an MMA cage match for money.  Ben Fodor in costume is an imposing presence, but this documentary makes it clear that he is a very troubled one, despite his charm and charisma.

FREEDOM FODOR

Perhaps the most sane and well-adjusted person to appear onscreen is Ben’s young son Freedom, whom Ben obviously loves very much.  Freedom says, of his father, “My dad is a person who really cares and is really damaged, and I saw that. Ben Fodor has extreme trauma.”

Son Freedom traced some of his father’s more recent trauma to the death of a young woman from a drive-by shooting that Phoenix Jones and his rag-tag band of vigilantes were attempting to police. They had gathered to fight crime in the streets of Seattle, headed  to 5th and Spring, the old federal courthouse, to “confront what was going on,,” when Nicole was shot. Phoenix said, “We just stood there and watched her die.”

The cinematographer documenting the superheroes fighting against crime, Ryan McNamell, filmed the exploits of Phoenix and his band of crime-fighters from 2011 to 2012 and called the death of the young woman “fucking terrifying.” (The film is dedicated to Ryan, who recently died.)

SUPERHEROES

The list of people—-“dorks all” according to one of them who called himself  “crime interventionist, Midnight Jack” (“I’m one step away from homeless”)—who have donned costumes and turned out to fight crime is lengthy:  The Watchman, Mr. Sticky, Knights of the Night (“The Office’s” Dwayne Schroot’s name for one), El Caballero, Purple Reign (who was married to Phoenix at one point) and L.A.’s Rock Hard. The list of superheroes—or poseurs pretending to be superheroes—would fill a novel; their stories are complicated and suggestive of severe, persistent mental illness.

Phoenix says, “I was fine before I did this. I’m not fine now.” He also admits “I think my life is just sort of out-of control.”

DENOUEMENT

Ben Fodor became the subject of an undercover police drug investigation  on November 5, 2019, which led to his arrest for selling Molly and cocaine (2 lbs.) to an undercover agent at the Silver Cloud Hotel.

Phoenix’s supporters from “the old days” of 2010-2013 are struck by the ultimate hypocrisy of his arrest, since Phoenix Jones frequently railed against drug dealers and drug dealing. On January 29, 2020, Fodor pleaded guilty in a Seattle court and was fined $500 and time served. He  retired from crime-fighting and announced that he was going to go to college to study criminal justice and business and then run for Mayor of Seattle. He did ask his attorney about the consequences if he didn’t pay the $500 fine.

His progress towards those lofty goals may be hindered by the fact that there are currently two warrants out for his arrest, for driving without a license and not paying the $500 fine handed down during the (furtively filmed) drug sentencing.

Director Bayan Joonam at midnight during the Q&A following the showing of “Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero” at SXSW on March 17, 2026.

This was a very thorough and thought-provoking film that made me aware, once again that some people are much better liars than others. (See “Chili Finger” review.) I couldn’t help but think of the wasted potential of a personality as magnetic as Ben Fodor’s. How much of his crime-fighting was about sincere  love for his community and how much was just someone desperately the limelight? Was it all just a focus on self-mythologizing and enjoying the spotlight that social media provides?

At this point, as reporter Jason Rentz said of Phoenix Jones, “People clearly do not trust you,” so there goes the political career—or does it? There are some personalities who lie repeatedly and their actions clearly contradict their words, yet devoted fans sycophantically continue to sing their praises in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. You won’t have to think very long or very hard to come up with a list that goes all the way to the top.

CONCLUSION

A thoroughly enjoyable 105-minute look at modern social media’s effects and the messed-up folks who live and die by it, as well as a thoughtful look at vigilante justice and the societal problems it presents.