Samaritan ending explained: Sylvester Stallone's real identity as Nemesis in the film can be spotted from miles away (Spoilers)

Directed by Julius Avery, Sylvester Stallone's latest flick Samaritan is about the return of a superhero who vanished 25 years ago. The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on August 26, 2022.

Samaritan is based on Mythos Comics' graphic novels of the same name, written by Bragi F. Schut, Marc Olivent, and Renzo Podesta. It follows the story of 13-year-old Sam Cleary, who believes that the superhero Samaritan is alive contrary to the public accounts of him and his brother dying in a fire at the power station.

Sylvester Stallone in the film (Image via IMDb)

The film is based in Granite City, which houses those that live on society's fringes. A school student with a mother who works at a hospital to earn a meager $5 income daily, Sam's belief in his superhero is as strong as the city's name.

It is validated through research papers and investigation charts that once adorned the walls of Sam's rooms. He returns to them after he is able to put his finger on another person who could potentially be the Samaritan - garbage man Joe Smith.

Read on to find out how the film ended.

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When did everyone realize that Joe Smith is actually Nemesis and not Samaritan?

A still from the Samaritan (Image via @m77oz/Twitter)

While the film gave away certain hints of Joe Smith being Nemesis, it was not until Smith declared himself to be the "bad guy" that even a die-fard Samaritan fan like Sam could spot the difference.

The scene unfolded at the same power station where brothers Nemesis and Samaritan fought. Cyrus, the gangster who is about to explode Granite City and unleash anarchy and chaos, captures Sam and brings him to the station.

Joe finds out about Sam from his mother, Tiffany, and is quick to jump into action. He crashes into the power station with a truck laden with gasoline, and the real superhero action begins. Joe takes down every man that comes to attack him, but the swarm of gun-armed men does not seem to stop.

Cyrus himself came down with Nemesis' hammer to kill Joe and addressed him as the good guy. To which Joe replied, "You keep calling me the 'good guy'. I'm not the good guy. I'm the bad guy."

The revelation was followed by mediocre action where Joe kills Cyrus and his men, who had donned the mask of Nemesis. Joe saved Sam and vanished before the police arrived, just like he had 25 years ago.

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When was Joe hinted to be the Nemesis?

For instance, when Joe saved Sam from being beaten up by Reza and his gang. Stallone's Joe punched the men which sent them into the air. All this while, Reza's men felt their knuckles against steel when they tried to counter. Moreover, Joe also distorted a knife with his bare hand.

While the men that got thrashed at Joe's hands could hardly decipher the superhuman abilities of this man with a visage of 60-year-old, a 13-year-old connected the dots like it was a cakewalk for him.

But the initial guess turned into confirmation only after Sam watched Joe resurrect after being hit by a car and regenerate his broken body. When Joe started steaming literally after the accident, that became the second clue to him being Nemesis for the viewers, not for Sam.

The first clue was when Sam broke into Joe's house to corroborate his guess, and found the latter's fridge laden with ice-cream. In addition, even though Nemesis is not explicitly connected to the fire in the film, the color orange represents him, and thus, bridges the gaps.

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What happened during the fire at the power station?

There are two incidents in the film, one at the beginning and the other at the end, which heightened the film's nerves and both took place at the city's power station.

The first was a fight between brothers - Samaritan and Nemesis, while the second was its recreation through the fight between Cyrus and Joe. To understand the latter, it is imperative that the first one is dissected.

Pilou Asbaek and Sylvester Stallone in the film (Image via IMDb)

Twenty-five years prior to the current event, Nemesis had lured his brother into a trap at the power station. A fight ensued between them while a fire started at the station. According to flashbacks, even though Samaritan won the fight against his brother, he lost his life in the fire after the floor underneath him gave away.

Nemesis, on the other hand, was saved either because he escaped or because the fire could not kill him. Nemesis watched his brother fall to death, and he could do nothing to save him.

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Viewers can catch Samaritan now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.