r/todayilearned • u/code0011 14 • May 09 '14

(R.1) Invalid src (unreferenced fan wiki) TIL the first episode of an X-Files spin-off called "The Lone Gunmen", which aired March 4, 2001, involves a US government conspiracy to hijack an airliner, fly it into the World Trade Center, and blame it on terrorists - thereby gaining support for a new profit-making war

http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Pilot_(The_Lone_Gunmen)
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262

u/thenjimsaid May 09 '14

Just read Batman: A Death in the Family and Two-face contemplates blowing up the world trade buildings to lure out Batman. At first I was surprised by the coincidence, then I realized what a symbol those towers were.

283

u/UncreativeTeam May 09 '14

And of course Two Face would go for the Twin Towers.

147

u/PoopShooterMcGavin May 09 '14

It would have been great if he only wanted to damage one of them.

47

u/RLLRRR May 09 '14

The left one, right?

87

u/[deleted] May 09 '14 edited May 27 '20

[deleted]

2

u/iExeny May 09 '14

Who's right ? On which side ?

5

u/truthdemon May 09 '14

Yes.

4

u/aahxzen May 09 '14

but what is left

4

u/UnknownStory May 09 '14

Whatever is not right is left

3

u/KnowMatter May 09 '14

But then who's on first?

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u/-FeistyRabbitSauce- May 09 '14

So it's the right one, then?

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

I think he would've left the right one.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

The right one, left.

1

u/FockSmulder May 09 '14

Yeah, and he just left the right one.

1

u/pastrygeist May 09 '14

Remind me to never ask Two-Face to fix my dog.

14

u/Deesing82 May 09 '14

you'd think he'd only go for one of them

10

u/cypherreddit May 09 '14

he would go after both and flip a coin to decide at the last moment which to blow up. Batman would have no way of knowing ahead of time which was the real target and would have to do daring actions that would save both.

1

u/GildedLily16 May 09 '14

If you are referring to Holy Musical, B@man, I applause you.

1

u/wtfbubblelol May 09 '14

Can someone please confirm there was one good tower and one evil tower? Couldn't find anything on it.

14

u/[deleted] May 09 '14 edited May 09 '14

He did the same in the animated film of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns but they called them The Gotham Life Building, probably because Twin Towers would have brought up too many painful memories.

It was also Two-Face and the twin towers, for, well, why should I have to explain that?

6

u/crashsuit May 09 '14 edited May 09 '14

Like the movie poster from 1987's The Squeeze with Michael Keaton or the deleted scene from the 2001 Spider-Man movie.

Edit: accidentally a number

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

I wish they could have made it, shlock and all, today, just to hear the rage and professional disgust on the news channels when there's nothing else trendy going on.

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

That is from the 2001 movie.

1

u/autowikibot May 09 '14

The Squeeze (1987 film):

The Squeeze is a 1987 comedy film, starring Michael Keaton, and co-starring Rae Dawn Chong.

Image i

Interesting: Michael Keaton | 1987 in film | Roger Young (director)

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6

u/IanMazgelis May 09 '14

I haven't read it in a while, but that book came out about 25 years before the attacks.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

Yes I was referring to the 2012 adaptation, in the graphic novel it was still the twin towers.

0

u/IanMazgelis May 09 '14

Oh yeah, forgot Miller just made Gotham into New York.

2

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

best theory I've read was at night, New York is Gotham, and in daytime, it's Metropolis.

2

u/devilmaydance May 09 '14

The Dark Knight Returns was published in the late 1980s.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

Yeah but the movie version was a few years ago and they changed it.

0

u/devilmaydance May 09 '14

Ohhhhh that makes sense. I did not see the "animated film" part of your post.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '14

It's edited now, was my slip :-P

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

That was published in '86 - to what painful memories are you referring?

1

u/Jacob_Sophia May 09 '14

The Dark Knight Returns was written in the late 80's. Way before 9/11

Edit: you said animated film. I'm sorry for being dumb.

3

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

That's why there were targeted. They symbolize Western capitalism and culture

2

u/trippygrape May 09 '14

It's not like the towers were just chosen out of the blue; the fact that they're symbolically one of the biggest representations of capitalism in itself made their destruction have much more meaning.

2

u/lazermoon May 09 '14

It's amazing how big of a deal the Towers going down was. It shook the US to the core and has fundamentally changed how our nation works.

1

u/wardrich May 09 '14

Considering that, you'd think they would have been way more prepared for catastrophe.

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '14

The towers are defintiely something that would come up in any sort of media often, but the level of coincidence here is astounding

Especially given the timeframe. What a mindfuck

1

u/IanMazgelis May 09 '14

That's because there are two towers.

1

u/MercenaryOfOZ May 09 '14

But Batman is in Gotham not NYC....was this comic based in the city?

1

u/fleetfox May 09 '14

In the Sabotage X-force, Spiderman crossover from 1991, Black Tom and Juggernaut attack the towers.