01x19 - Astonishing Austin

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] At Marvel,
our stories and our superheroes

are inspired by real-life heroes.

So, the editors
of some of our best-known comics

have come together
to work on a special project:

to find and tell the stories of kids
doing the extraordinary,

helping communities near and far,
and changing the world.

These are the kids who will inspire
our stories for years to come.

I want to teach people how to grow
other things. Makes me feel good.

He took an empty lot and turned
it into a vibrant place of community,

where anybody could get something to eat
for free.

Austin is already a hero.

Now, we bring his story to the world
with the surprise of a lifetime:

making him into a Marvel superhero,

immortalized in his very own comic,
as a member of Marvel's Hero Project.

They're everyday kids...

Who have accomplished the amazing.

Now, their true stories...

will reveal the heroes that live among us.

This is Marvel's Hero Project.

[Sana] Feeding the hungry.

That is probably the most heroic thing
possible, right?

-And this kid, Austin--
-[Stephen] Austin, yeah.

He lives in an area in Indianapolis

that is considered something called
a food desert.

Which is, basically, people don't
have enough access to healthy food.

They're far from supermarkets.
And his family really struggled.

And what he did was make a garden
of his own.

He wants to make sure
he's providing for his family.

And now he's providing for the community
around him.

As a person who tries to grow things
in my own apartment,

-it is not that easy.
-[laughs]

So, it's amazing
that he's gotten so good at it.

I could not think of a kid
that's more Marvel.

-He's this hometown hero, right?
-Yeah.

And that just has echoes of, like,
Luke Cage and Iron Fist.

And Daredevil or even a Jessica Jones.

But also in the world of X-Men
you have Ororo, right?

-Yes.
-Storm. Before she was officially Storm.

Before she was an X-Man,

she lived in Egypt
and she helped people grow crops.

-Oh, that's right.
-Yeah. Yeah.

And, you know, she helped people
when they had droughts and stuff.

-That's great.
-She was there to help them

with her nature powers.

-Yeah.
-Joe mentioned empathy before,

and I went right to Groot...

-Yes.
-...who's just all heart.

Well, he's, like,
stretching so much of himself

and bringing people in
and giving them so much sustenance.

I feel like that's exactly
what Groot does.

-[Stephen] Yeah.
-And does it so quietly.

That, sort of, grassroots approach
to what he does, just spectacular.

This is broccoli and this is cauliflower.

And when they get bigger, you can
just put this whole pot in the dirt.

[woman] Austin felt, like,
"If I can grow this and feed my family...

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

...if I grow enough, somebody else
can just take some and feed their family."

I'm pruning it right now.

I just don't have scissors.

I would love to start a garden
in all 50 states, if I could.

-That's this flower on this side.
-Here's all the herbs.

[Austin] I want that one. This one.

When I was little,
we actually had to move out of our house.

And we were actually homeless.

Here.

Oregano. Get two.

-Here.
-What's this? Parsley.

And since May we was homeless.

I mean, like, sleeping in the car. Hotels.

Street style, like, we was homeless.

So, when we cut off the top,
we stick it down in the dirt to regrow it.

Which one?

[Dorothea] We moved here when he was four.

We spent three months in the shelter.

And from that point on...
I've never been homeless.

Okay, so which side do I do this on again?

-Wait, is this the top of the carrot?
-Yes.

You're supposed to cut it
shorter than that.

Okay, my bad.

The grocery stores is very far and few.

Few. Few.

I like gardening
off of what he done taught me.

You messed up, so...

He's quiet, so you gotta watch him.

So, what I'm doing here is I'm cutting
the tops or the roots off the vegetables,

and then I'm putting the water
into these circular things.

When they get roots,
I'm going to plant them in the ground.

[Dorothea] I have five children.
We definitely stick in together.

My brother is the Young Urban Gardener.

Hello, my name is Austin,
the Young Urban Gardener.

Imma put this in here like this.

I want to teach people
how to grow other things.

Makes me feel good.

Look. Look at that pineapple.

It's not ready yet.
It's gonna be ready in two years.

But look!

-See you later.
-Bye.

-[man] You know I love a good radish.
-[Austin] Yeah.

[Dorothea] We are blessed.

He normally grows stuff he eats.

He will grow stuff Imma cook with.

It's helped.

[Austin] It was the middle of the summer.
We were out of school.

We didn't have any breakfast or lunch.

So, then...

[Dorothea] Oh, man, 2014 was terrible.

I worked two jobs.

That wasn't enough.

Still paid bills.

Couldn't get food stamps,
because I worked two jobs.

So...

When I took my mama's beans
out of the, um, cabinet

because we didn't have much to eat.

Then I threw it in the ground.

It was, like, a very small bag of beans,
not enough to feed everybody,

so I had to make enough.

[Lori] He just wanted to be a help
to the family, to his family.

He wanted to make that change
and be a part of a solution.

[Austin] At school they taught
a little bit about gardening.

They taught me that you need water,
you need soil and sunshine.

That's all I knew at the time.

Right here is my pepper garden.
Here I have raspberry.

[Dorothea] He needed food.
He had friends that needed food.

He said he was going to start
a bigger garden

but this time for everybody.

I said, "Well, how you gonna do that?"

"We'll find some way."

That boy was bound and determined
to do that community garden.

Bound and determined.

[Justin] I live in Austin's neighborhood.

He took an empty, deserted lot,

and turned it into a vibrant place
of community

where anybody could get
something to eat for free.

I see a lot of people without food.
So, I wanted to start that.

[Justin] It not only made the neighborhood
prettier with vegetation and life,

uh, but also added
some vibrancy of community.

You ain't gotta pay
to grow anything on it.

I'll grow it. You'll pick it.

We grow it, they pick it.
Okay, so we went with that plan.

-[sighs]
-[reporter] Tonight,

the ambitious 12-year-old boy
who's trying to feed his community

is facing a devastating setback.

That's because someone vandalized
Austin's community garden

on the Near Eastside.

[Spryng]
Somebody tore up all Austin's stuff.

Our peppers, our strawberries,
our blueberries.

Just destroyed it.

My heart is broken.

Because I did something so good
and then... gone.

[Lori] You could tell he was hurt.
He was hurt by it.

But never a negative moment about that,
even after it was vandalized.

This garden is a community garden built to
feed people who are hungry and need food.

I wasn't mad at them. It was just... why?

I mean, I have no reason to be mad
when I can literally do it anywhere.

It made me realize that he truly loved
what he was doing.

Because even though he went through
all of that,

he still wanted to do it.

[Dorothea] All he told me is,
"This is solvable."

He said he was going to find a new place.

[Lori] He was right on it.

"Grandma Lori!
I seen this spot right across the street."

[Dorothea] We found a vacant lot.
Austin knocked on the door.

He opened it with a little peek.
Said, "Can I help you?"

Austin said, "Hi, sir.
My name is the Young Urban Gardener,

I would like to put a garden on your lot
over there. Can we talk?"

He said, "Do whatever you want!"
And closed the door.

Austin, his face outside the door was...

"Well, he said yes, so!" And there we are.

-[Dorothea] Austin.
-Coming.

Those people. A lot of people.

I'm more of a quiet person.
I don't like being up-front of anything.

I'm your sister.
Act like I'm a whole different person.

That's kinda hard,
'cause I'm actually looking at your face.

"How important is the community gardens
to you?"

It's really important.

If anything really bad happens
to the community garden,

I will literally do whatever I can
to help it.

That's how important it is.

"And how do you feel when you
provide food for other people?"

It makes me feel great
that what I'm doing is actually working,

and my plan is going great.

One last question, though.

No, 'cause we-- I gotta go.

I'm Austin and I'm 12 years old and--

[Dorothea] No, you're not. You're 13.

Well, I'm 13, but I was 12, like,
a couple months ago.

So, I'm still kinda getting used
to being 13.

[laughs]

He did good. Nervous, but he did good.

I'm also-- This is scary.

Yes. It-- I understand. I understand.

But you got to hold your head up high
with confidence, okay?

Okay.

If you need a tractor...

-I do.
-...and a rototiller...

-I actually do need a tractor.
-...I will bring one to your place.

-[Jon] Peppers.
-[Dorothea] He just gotta--

[man] And he knows
about the nitrogen cycle.

-Okay?
-[Jon] Oh, you do?

-Hmm?
-You know about nitrogen cycles? Okay.

[Spryng] My brother's gonna be making
a garden over there.

And some helpers are gonna be coming too.

And we're gonna make lots of food.

Yes, I am excited.

I want to feed people that are hungry and
that doesn't have access to healthy food.

He smiles when he talks about it.
It's from ear to ear.

-You jump across.
-I'm not jumping over.

But me, I'm like, ''But how we gonna do
it?'' "Don't worry, we got this, Mama.''

''Austin, Austin, are you--"
''Mama. What you trippin' for?''

[Lori] I don't think he realized, today,
that it was gonna be so big.

But I'm so proud of him.

-Yay!
-[Spryng] You're growing fast.

-[chuckles] Look at you, baby!
-[Spryng] What?

Somebody dropped some flyers off there.

-And I saw the flyer there...
-Well, there...

-...that's why I got...
-...there's gonna be a lot. Thank you.

And I'm really happy and really excited
'cause he's here.

Told him to quit calling himself
a gardener.

He's earned the title "farmer."

I plan on bringing him out to the farm
a lot this summer,

to see the bigger production stuff.

Mm-hmm.

-It's gonna be awesome.
-Excited?

[Jon] Okay, put your seat belt on.
Turn the key.

At our last garden,
we just did it all by hand.

This time, we're doing it by a tractor.

You're never gonna see this
from another kid

-unless their mom says they can.
-[Jon] Austin, stop! Austin, stop!

Lot of trees in front of him,
but it's not gonna stop him.

[Jon] Austin has the grit to be a farmer.

You don't need thousands of acres
to have a huge harvest, you know.

With what he has here,
he can grow a lot of food.

[Austin] It made me feel good

because I know some people
wanna help me help other people.

Grab some dirt,
crumble it on top of the hole.

So, break that down on top of the hole.

Also, make sure it's flat.

[Lori] What you've got--
This is gonna take a lot of work.

-You've gotta work real hard, you know.
-Mm-hmm.

[Lori] You have to really get out,
and really, really work hard out here.

A kid like Austin could inspire another
farmer to say, ''I'm gonna take ten acres,

and I'm gonna make sure this goes to help
feed the community.''

[Austin] It makes me feel good,
great and awesome.

Because I actually got it done.

[Austin] Um, hi. I have a community farm,

and I'm passing out flyers
to the neighbors.

Okay, so we're inviting you
to my brother's new garden.

It's right over there,

-you can kinda see it.
-Over there? Okay.

What I'm hoping is that people around here
see it growing

and they wanna come out
and do a part to help.

It's pretty unique
that he is planting a garden

for just-- not just his family,
for the whole community.

[Jon] The issue with hunger can be
resolved by American farmers, like Austin,

on a half an acre.

He's learning what responsibility is.
Period, point blank.

[Justin] Are you selling these?

-[Austin] I prefer not to.
-Right.

[Austin] I prefer to not sell them
right now. Just give them away.

But a lot of people really think
they can't do stuff like this,

but this will prove, like, differently.

I can help, and if other people can help,
it would really make a difference.

A lot of people say

-that they wanna solve world hunger.
-Yeah.

When Austin says it, I believe it.

I believe it too. He's very convincing.

He's so convincing.

-We wanna help spread his message.
-Mm-hmm.

That's why making his very special
Astonishing Austin comic

-was so important to us.
-Mm-hmm.

We started with the initial incident that,

sort of his origin story,
where his garden got destroyed.

But then he, rather than get angry
and lash out, he rose above that.

That's why we gave him
the power of flight.

So, not only metaphorically rising above,
but also literally rising above...

-Yeah.
-...so he can bring rain

to nourish his garden.

Yeah, and that's actually-- I love that we
gave him the power of flight

and to be able to manipulate the water.

That's actually something he wanted to do,
which I had no idea.

-Hopefully he'll be very excited about it.
-[Jen] Yeah.

I love the fact that, you know,

he is able to do the things in this comic
that he is actually doing.

Like, we're showing a little bit more
of a supernatural element to it.

-But this is what Austin is doing.
-[Jen] Mm-hmm.

-I just love this last shot of him...
-Yeah.

...just kinda soaring above.

I'm actually very, very excited to be able
to show this comic for the first time.

-[Jen] Me too.
-Bringing him back to his garden

where he thinks he's just gonna have
a routine harvest.

-But he's gonna have a toolshed...
-Yes.

-...and a farm stand...
-I know.

...to go along with his amazing comic.

Surrounded by his, uh, mentor,
his friends, his family,

we really feel like it's going
to be a pretty special moment

showing him the hero that I feel like
he's already been for so long.

Now he can be the hero
for so many other people.

[gasps] Oh, my gosh!

[mutters]

-[Austin's cousin] There he is.
-[boy] What up, dude?

-[Austin's cousin] Hey, Austin.
-[applause]

Hey, baby, how you doing?

-Nana.
-Hi, sweetie. [kisses]

Now go look at that. Look at that.

[Austin] That's awesome.

[Lori] It is awesome!

I feel real great. That's awesome.

It is. I'm so proud of you.

Your big daddy would be so proud of you.

You know he would be. [chuckles]

Every day, three times a day,
everyone needs a farmer.

With you invoking down that road
to serve people,

including your community, that is huge.

That's the number one public service
anyone can do.

And that's being a farmer.
You wanna check this out inside?

-Yes, I do.
-[Spryng] Yeah.

-[Austin] Oh!
-[Dorothea] All right.

-[Jon] There's tools.
-[Spryng] Looks like a tiny house.

Oh! [shrieks]

[Jon] Your mom has a letter
she wants to read to you.

Does that say Marvel? I love Marvel.

"You are a hero
to all of these people here.

You helped your family through
a difficult time.

When you saw that your neighbors didn't
have enough to eat, you fed them."

"But we, at Marvel,

recognize that what you also nurture
is inspiration, love and compassion.

You, like Groot...

...are a gentle giant.

You use your powers with nature
to help those around you.

Those in need, those in your community.

Austin, these are the trademarks
of Marvel superheroes.

To show you how inspired we are
by your accomplishments,

we'd like to invite you
to be a part of an extraordinary team.

We call it the Marvel Hero Project.''

-Ooh!
-[man laughs]

-I'm in Marvel?
-You in Marvel.

-[Lori] You're a superhero.
-I know.

-I'm a superhero.
-You are.

[Lori] Nice.

And I love you. You're my superhero.

I'm a Marvel superhero.

You a Marvel superhero.

-I'm a superhero.
-Yeah.

[woman] You're a superhero.

You know, but you ain't got a cape.
You real-life.

-I'm still a Marvel superhero.
-Yeah!

-[Lori] But you got a...
-Marvel's my favorite.

-I know.
-I'm a Marvel superhero.

Yeah.

"There's a special box for you.
Look inside."

[man] What's in the box?

-[Dorothea] Take a look inside!
-[laughs]

-[Austin] Oh!
-[Lori] Whoo!

-You do have a cape.
-[Dorothea] "Take out this custom jacket.

-It was made just for you.
-[Lori] Wow!

Put it on and feel like
an amazing superhero."

I'm feelin' lucky. I'm feelin' hot.

Oh, that's hot. That's hot.

Amazing.

"That's not all.
We want to help your garden grow,

so we'd like to make a donation,
in your honor,

to an organization that provides
nutritious food

to those in need
in the amount of $10,000."

-Ooh!
-[woman] Go.

"Now that you're an official Marvel Hero,

the fabulous artists
in the mighty Marvel Bullpen

wanted to make sure your story lives on.

So, inside the box
you'll find a collector's item classic:

a comic book starring you!"

-[woman] Wow!
-[man] Wow!

-Look at this.
-[Dorothea gasps]

[laughs]

[laughing continues]

Yes! You see this?

[laughing continues]

"We hope that inside these pages

you see yourself
as the superhero you truly are."

-I'm an OG hero!
-And a OG superhero! Marvel style.

I'm amazed.

Had no expectations,
didn't know what to expect.

I just knew I was blessed

because other people get to see
how special my babies are.

Oh, my God! Look at the writing!

Oh, look it's, it's say "Oh, Austin.
Your garden! All of your hard work."

-Who is that? That look like--
-That's you.

-Is that me?
-Yes.

-That me?
-[laughs]

Ay, look at your curly hair.
Ay, your fro match your fro!

[laughs]

He just always been giving
and it's just in his nature.

I'm so proud of Austin.
I really, really am.

It says, "I'm not going to waste my energy
on hate,

I'm going to use that energy

to make the garden even better
than it was before."

-"Fast-food."
-He got up in the sky.

He is up in the sky being a superhero.

I wasn't expecting to be a hero as a kid.

Maybe this comic book and this jacket
will inspire other people.

It makes me feel great.