There was a time when the Emerald City had real-life superheroes on the streets protecting the people and defending right from wrong.
Or there was a time when Seattle had unregulated vigilantes looking for trouble and getting in the way of police activities.
Either way, this was the time of Phoenix Jones and his band of self-styled superheroes.
Bayan Joonam (QAnon: The Search for Q) brings us the good, the bad, the tragic, and the hyperbolic in the documentary Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero.
The story of Phoenix Jones, whose civilian alias is Benjamin Fodor, begins in 2010 when he decided to take direct action against the street crime he saw in Seattle and surrounding communities. Jones soon attracted other like-minded individuals, and the Rain City Superhero Movement was born.
Fodor says that he got the idea to intervene more directly in street crime after his son was injured by glass surrounding his car after it was broken into. Fodor also made claims that he was orphaned and lived in an orphanage until he was eleven years old. This and many other claims by Fodor are examined and fact-checked by interviewing others involved in his life from before the Phoenix Jones days.
Much of the Phoenix Jones origin story bears little resemblance to the reality of the life of Ben Fodor. But Fodor’s outgoing and friendly nature knew that selling the persona worked better with a compelling backstory. Fodor was adopted, but at birth, and he grew up in a loving and stable home. His exaggerations to sell the Jones persona seemed harmless to Fodor but were also indicative of how he crafted many of the stories of his life.
For a while the superhero business was good.
Jones and the Rain City Superhero Movement routinely patrolled the Bell Town area Seattle where many nightclubs and drunken fights occur. But by 2014 everything had fallen apart. Jones had been injured, arrested for assault (but later released when video showed there was no assault), and revealed his true identity.
He left street crime fighting and was providing security for a local club. It was at this point that the fall part of the story takes place. Fodor was arrested for selling drugs, a stark juxtaposition from his previous videos harassing street dealers.
Joonam interviews Fodor about his days as Jones and many of the Rain City Superhero Movement members about their activities and memories of Jones. But some of the most poignant interviews come from Jones’ brother and fellow Mixed Martial Arts fighter, Caros Fodor. It is from these interviews that you see behind the mask to the person Fodor was before Phoenix Jones came into the picture.
With Fodor focusing on stabilizing his life, Phoenix Jones has entered the history and mythology of Seattle. There are still a few costumed vigilantes patrolling the streets, but none have the flamboyant visibility of Phoenix Jones.
Rating: 8/10
Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real Life Superhero screened at the 2026 SIFF.
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Produced by Claire Chubbuck,
Marlowe Blue, Duncan Dickerson
Written and Directed by Bayan Joonam
Starring Phoenix Jones, Rainn Wilson,
Jon Ronson, Sol Rosenberg, Freedom Fodor
