The original “Deathlok” comics take place in a futuristic New York City that’s riddled with crime, poverty, corruption, and societal collapse. The gritty dystopia is basically a warzone populated by goons, cannibal gangs, and the various agents, soldiers, and cyborgs whose mission is to kill Deathlok. Similar themes would later find their way into John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York,” which also deals with a wronged hero in a futuristic world gone mad.
Released in 1981, “Escape from New York” portrays the Big Apple as a lawless prison in which all of the criminals are left to rot and fight amongst themselves. The setting echoes the New York wasteland in the “Deathlok” comics, albeit without the Marvel elements. Additionally, the protagonist of Carpenter’s film, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), is a rogue soldier who was also used as a pawn by military types, similar to Manning. Thematically, both stories are concerned with corruption, exploitation, and societal regression.
Like the early “Deathlok” comics, “Escape from New York” was a reaction to the Watergate scandal and the mood of American society at the time. Carpenter was also inspired by Michael Winner’s controversial “Death Wish” movie for the way it presented New York as a dangerous concrete jungle (per It Came From…). However, there’s no denying that “Deathlok’s” bleak vision of the future laid the foundations for movies like “Escape from New York” to build from.
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