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I understand that the movies are meant to be external to the flow of the main narrative, but the development of Izuku and Rody’s friendship could so easily have been used as a guide for the ‘save the Villains’ narrative to resolve more effectively. To demonstrate what I mean, here’s a breakdown of their relationship arc as well as I can remember it:

I - First Impressions

Izuku initially attempted to arrest Rody for assisting a jewel heist, only to be called out for acting outside the law (bc they’re in a country where Izuku does not have jurisdiction as a hero).

He nevertheless demands to search Rody’s briefcase which is, again, illegal regardless of whether Rody actually stole anything (he did, though the briefcases being swapped makes it look like Izuku was mistaken). Izuku is acting as a vigilante here while still expecting his position as a hero student to cover his ass.

Despite this, when Otheon police arrive with a show of grossly excessive force and no regard for due process, Izuku’s priority immediately becomes saving Rody. The legal authorities are in the wrong, the system cannot be trusted, so Izuku very publicly opposes them.

Naturally, this decision places Izuku firmly outside the protection of the law, and he is punished by being framed for the murder of 12 civilians by a government under the extensive influence of a quirkist - in this case, anti-Quirk - cult, Humarise (which could be seen as a parallel to the HPSC’s corruption/shadowy assassin operations).

II - Thesis & Antithesis

Later, while on the run, Izuku and Rody engage in a dialogue in which Rody critiques Izuku’s black-and-white moral dichotomy: Izuku claims that they can’t return the briefcase of encrypted evil-scheme documents to Humarise because they’re Villains, and Rody snaps back that not everyone has the luxury to be so righteous.

(Rody’s backstory has pretty obvious parallels to Twice’s: being denied honest work and alienated from society for reasons outside his control, leaving crime the only viable way to make a living. He also parallels Hawks in that this alienation is a consequence of his father’s crimes, in addition to the ‘Otheon gov’t under Humarise = HPSC’ idea.)

Izuku does not stubbornly argue Rody’s point but instead switches to the more pragmatic argument that a big, shady organization like Humarise wouldn’t just let them walk away after handing over the papers; they would most likely kill them both to tie up loose ends. (He is proven right about this shortly after.)

III - Synthesis

And here we come to a turning point: Rody ignores Izuku’s instructions and sneaks out at night to deliver the briefcase to a Humarise agent who, as predicted, tries to kill him after obtaining it. But despite having been ‘betrayed,’ Izuku once again rushes to protect Rody from the threat he created (or rather, made immediate).

When Rody demands to know why Izuku would save him after what he did, Izuku responds simply that he’s trying to be a hero who saves people, and he doesn’t see why that should exclude someone like Rody. (Izuku references this worldview in the main storyline wrt Aoyama and Lady Nagant: “Doing something wrong doesn’t mean you’re a Villain forever.”)

This reintroduces their discussion of who has the privilege to behave heroically. Rody, like multiple other characters , assumes that Izuku has had an easy life thanks to his flashy, powerful, heroic Quirk. But unlike with, for example, Shinso or Monoma, Izuku directly refutes this and (without revealing OfA and his former quirklessness) talks about his own hard journey.

(Which is crazy because Izuku is not someone who does this. He is committed to becoming a Symbol like All Might and saving people with a smile, not letting them see his internal struggles. He doesn’t even take the hero mask off in front of his friends in 1-A: as early as the Sports Festival arc, he tells Shoto that he’s always had the support of others when this is transparently untrue.)

IV - Conclusion

In the end, Rody chooses to help the heroes stop Humarise and then, with his family history no longer hanging over his head in the same way, returns to legal work (bartending) with plans to pursue his dream job (piloting). This isn’t because Izuku managed to change his fundamental values/ethics: his priority is and has always been providing for his family and keeping them safe.

Izuku’s influence consists in the belief that there may be other ways to accomplish those things. And while Rody does have to take a leap of faith (not caving to the Humarise leader’s threats against his siblings because he trusts that he and Izuku working together can stop the cult before those threats are realized), his decision to ‘go legit’ is the result of material changes in his circumstances. He can now afford to act within the confines of the law.

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