Hollywood Trend Watch: Movie Crossovers

Ah. The crossover. You all know what it is. Sometimes we just can't help but want to see all of our favorite characters, no matter the genre, interact on the same screen. Wikipedia defines a crossover as follows:

A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans.The crossover is nothing new. In fact, it is standard in most comic book franchises and there have been major crossovers in the cartoon universe. Crossovers are also abundant in video games too. A few that come to mind right off the top of my head include Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Kingdom Hearts.


In movies, crossovers have been a little sparse. Other than the Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (1987), until recently, there wasn't much to choose from. And technically, even though it is feature length, that crazy Hanna-Barbera Production still falls into the cartoon category.

Recently, however, the crossover has started to make a notable, yet pathetic, appearance in movies by merging some of the most beloved franchises in history. 2003 delivered the debut of Freddy vs. Jason. A crossover that should have been the slasher movie to end all slasher movies. Seriously, I was reading rumors about it in my Toy Fare Magazine back in 1997. Unfortunately, the "crap my pants" feeling I always had as a kid while viewing these two monsters was reduced to a laughing feeling that made those around me in the theater really angry. Then in 2004, we were presented with the film version of Alien vs. Predator, a project doomed from the start because idiots like Paul W.S. Anderson still manage to get work. The 2007 R-rated sequel wasn't much better (I am still waiting for Alien vs. Predator vs. Terminator).


So fast forward to the present summer which contained two Marvel Comics juggernauts in Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, both of which are the first to be produced in-house by Marvel's own production studios. Add a couple of big actors, one awesome director, and you have got 1.5 summer blockbusters on your hands. But what is so spectacular about these movies is that they are actually bringing the entire comic universe to life. At least The Avengers plot lines. If you were smart enough to stay after the credits for Iron Man, Sam Jackson shows up as Nick Fury. And right at the end of The Incredible Hulk, Robert Downey Jr. shows up as Tony Stark. And Marvel continues to build the bridges. Iron Man 2 in April 2010 will introduce Thor. That same June, Thor the movie is released. Skip ahead to the next Summer in May 2011 and The First Avenger: Captain America is released followed by The Avengers movie in July which is suppose to feature Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Nick Fury, and probably more. Throw on top of that the recent Spider-Man 4 rumors, and we may see it all.

But that is a natural progression, right? I mean, comics have always done this, and even though it took the movie medium so long to get it right, movies based on their comic source material should obviously merge the universes. So far, Marvel is getting it right.


But now there is talk about a possible Pineapple Express/Superbad Crossover. James Franco in a sort-a recent interview with MTV had this to say when asked about the possibility of a Pineapple Express sequel:

“Even before 'Superbad' came out, I think the studio was trying to get [Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg] to write a sequel, but they really didn’t want to write a sequel. I guess the kids would go to college or something like that [that was the studio's idea]. And so, an answer to that was to do a ‘Superbad’/'Pineapple Express’ crossover, an unprecedented crossover movie with two directors, Greg Motolla and David Gordon Green, each directing half of the movie and somehow these characters get together, which doesn’t make sense at all, but could work.”

Now, I love Superbad, and I just kind-a-like Pineapple Express. But really, do you think this is a good idea? The success of this may ring in a new era where pseudo sequels of two movies are combined into one complete story. What really worries me is that the story might suffer. We have all been saddened by sequels not living up to their predecessors. And, most of the time, a terrible story amounts to nothing more than a half-hearted attempt to keep the universe going in order to rake in the cash. But the thing about this is that Rogen, Goldberg, Franco, and Motolla are all smart, and their movies, for the most part, are well made. I don't know. I am just not buying it, and from the quote above, Franco isn't either. But he sounds like he would still be able to go through with it, and I am in agreement in that I would watch the movie if it became a reality.

But my question is this. Do we really want this? Do we want our favorite movies combined, and risk them being desecrated and stripped of all that made them good in the first place?

Sources:
Facts/ Wikipedia, MTV, Obsessed With Film
Pictures/ Something Awful, Screen Rant, Wikipedia, Paste Magazine, Filmonic