BD: Largo Winch takes pride in the environment and space

A little flashback. In the previous episode, the billionaire philanthropist was invited by one of his rivals, no less as wealthy as himself, Jarrod Manskind, for a little private trip among the stars. It’s a first for Largo, who has never seen anyone fly so high. But this first time in space was almost fatal: environmental activists from the organization “We Blue” took remote control of the device. In this new work of art, the two men narrowly escape, but soon realize that a major fraud is taking place around a mine containing rare ores… Gorgeous landscapes, battles, explosions, real bad guys who look like the good guys, beautiful women… everything that makes… Largo is successful.

“Caring for the environment has become essential today.”

A slight twist, though, in terms of substance: the character, now in the hands of screenwriter Eric Giacometti, a former journalist from Le Parisien, is more grounded than ever in the zeitgeist. As proof: Largo Winch is interested in the environment for the first time. “It is true that I draw a lot of inspiration from current events. Environmental concern has become essential today. Largo Winch heads a very powerful but very polluting group. So he decided to close a mine that threatens the ecosystem of an entire island in Indonesia. He could not be satisfied, as you do.” Many companies unfortunately Greenwashing. But be careful, it’s not about delivering messages or giving moral lessons. No one would believe him anyway. “Largo Winch is first and foremost a haven for readers,” explains the man who succeeded Jan Van Hamm, the creator, in 2017.

Another obvious source of inspiration for Eric Giacometti: Elon Musk, whom Jarrod Manskind’s character closely resembles. “The idea was to talk about these new billionaires, like Musk or Jeff Bezos. The very rich who don’t respect the rules, act like teenagers and who have the power of a czar. Compared to them, Largo is almost obsolete, because he first made billionaires in the ’90s.” , like Ms. Bettencourt, are outdated, for example. It is interesting to confront them, explains the screenwriter. Again, there are no lessons. But the observation is that only these men have the power to change the world today. If we are talking about the environment, it will be “It is enough for just one person to decide to do something strong for the planet. And others will follow… I don’t know if that will happen. But I don’t despair for the younger generations.”