In the Marvel era, movies have lost some of their originality. It’s all about existing IP, which means we rarely get a surprise – especially in the summer. This year has given me a bit of hope, though. From Everything Everywhere All At Once to last week’s featured movie, Bullet Train, it seems like this sort of filmmaking is on the rebound. We’re not talking Oscar bait, but rather the kind of entertainment where you can shut off your brain and ram popcorn fiercely into your face. That’s what Secret Headquarters, the latest film from Henry Joost and Ariel (Rel) Schulman (of Catfish fame), is all about.
It’s a modern day childhood adventure movie, almost in the mold of The Goonies, that follows a group of teenagers faced with a wild life-altering encounter when one of them, Charlie (played by Walker Scobell from The Adam Project), discovers that his father (played by Owen Wilson) is secretly a superhero. He learns this by stumbling upon his father’s secret lair in the basement of their house. Outside of flaunting an Iron Man-esque super suit, Wilson’s character, Jack Kincaid aka The Guard, happens to be wearing classic vintage chronograph replica watches for sale with a curious bezel situation.
Why We’re Watching
Today marks release day on Paramount+ for this unlikely film. Why is it unlikely? Well, never in my wildest imagination would I have expected to see a movie in this genre with a watch – actually multiple AAA UK fake watches – worthy of writing about. But here we are. In the process of that discovery, I had a chance to speak to the directors as well as Carlton DeWoody, who served as a horological advisor of sorts. You might remember him from the recent launch of the Maurice de Mauriac Racquet Limited Edition Rallymaster watch from earlier this summer. Needless to say, the three are true watch guys, and they brought that passion into this film.
Joost was wearing a stainless steel AP Royal Oak for our conversation, Schulman gold luxury replica Rolex Datejust watches on a brown leather strap, and DeWoody sported the pink Rallymaster. (In case you were wondering, I came correct with my Batman.)
The watch worn by The Guard is top fake TAG Heuer Autavia Ref. 2446c, a vintage chrono from the 1960s. A curious choice for a film like this, but it came from a very real place and one close to Joost: His own wrist. That’s right, Joost provided his own vintage Heuer for Wilson to wear in his portrayal of this superhero. Nobody really thought this would be a big issue. “I thought when I gave it to him, ‘Okay, well, he’s not really doing that many stunts,'” Joost says. But then something happened that nobody expected.
“We were in the woods in the middle of the night in Georgia shooting the opening scene where he discovers a UFO and [SPOILER ALERT] there’s a huge explosion and he gets thrown back,” Joost says. “And I think in being thrown back onto a mat, the bezel just popped off.”
It wasn’t until the next day during shooting that anyone noticed something was amiss. “I was looking at the monitor and I was like, ‘That’s not the watch. It looks weird,'” Joost says. “And I walked up to him and I was like, ‘Can I see the watch for a second? And there was just no bezel. So we put out an all-crew bulletin.”
Ultimately, it was never found, and so if you watch the film closely you’ll notice some scenes where the best copy watches has the bezel on, and others where it doesn’t.
The Swiss made replica TAG Heuer Autavia 2446C watches is an interesting reference because it follows in the footsteps of famous screw-down caseback Autavias of old. The caseback is actually controlled by the surrounding water pressure, wherein the gaskets tighten to ensure water resistance up to 100 meters. Nifty stuff. It also features a great reverse panda-dial configuration in matte black.
But is it cheap super clone watches fit for a superhero? Well, according to Joost, it was fit for Wilson’s character, and that’s what he told Wilson. “I was like, ‘Here’s this vintage Heuer. In my mind, it was a gift from your character’s father,'” Joost says. “And it kind of fits the character because it was designed to be this land, sea, and air watch.” And that’s true of the hero that Wilson portrays, because, like Iron Man he fights – and flies – in all environments.
The movie has other fake watches wholesale shop, too. The big bad, Ansel Argon, played by Michael Peña, wears an Urwerk (the UR100 black). Jesse Williams’ character, Sean Irons, wears a Maurice de Mauriac (Chrono Modern Diver Time Traveller), Kezii Curtis’ Big Mac wears a G-Shock GA900 4A, and the character of Maya (played by Momona Tamada) wears a military-style Timex which fits her “military brat” character. It’s a horological party in this one.
When We’re Watching
Toward the tail-end, when Charlie is facing off against the bad guys in The Guard’s secret lair, The Guard comes to their aid and finds himself face to face with a gun-toting villain. In order to stop her, he generates a power vortex to take her out. As he shoots this energy out [01:10:05], we get a brief glimpse of the Heuer on his wrist. A reminder that vintage replica watches for men don’t have to be babied, even when you’re conducting electricity through your palms.
Before the credits roll, we find The Guard with his son Charlie, camping and grilling some hot dogs. We watch as they look optimistically at the view of the mountains around them. As The Guard reaches his hands into the fire, putting the finishing touches on the dogs [01:36:02], we get a nice shot of him wearing the 1:1 China replica TAG Heuer watches, which pairs well with his plaid shirt. Turns out, it’s quite the versatile watch both for civilian grilling and superhero vortex manifestation.