After listing eight great mashups a few weeks ago, my fellow TYF staff member Tyler Christian and I are back again with more of our very favorite genre-bending movie and television show mashups! We’ll start off Tyler’s picks with an epic crossover.
Worlds Collide: Avengers vs. Justice League
Although this “vs.” movie would never happen in real life (hence why it was uploaded on April Fools’ Day), at least it can be fantasized about for one minute. Surely this is a movie that many people, including myself, would buy tickets to in a heartbeat. However, one could only imagine the social media firestorm it would ignite between Marvel and DC fans. All I know is that if this were ever real, I’d never read another IMDB message board for as long as I live. Hey, at least we can all be friends on how extraordinary that Hulk vs. Wonder Woman fight would be.
Disney/Pixar’s Captain America: Civil War
Honesty hour: We’ve all, at some point, envisioned our own fan-fiction of characters from different Pixar movies meeting one another. Set to the sounds of the second trailer of Captain America: Civil War, we see a lot of those fan favorites (namely from the Toy Story franchise) square off against one another. The choice of the “Bucky” character in the mashup is extremely clever, and also ironically the one non-Pixar affiliated animated character in the preview. Finally since Captain America: Civil War is popularly known as Avengers 2.5, then the Disney/Pixar version should henceforth be known as Toy Story 3.5, The Incredibles 1.5, Big Hero 6 1.5, etc.
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Mad Cars (Mad Max: Fury Road x Cars)
If you weren’t a fan of Cars but loved Mad Max: Fury Road, then this mashup might be the one time you have a fondness for the former. Both movies possess sufficient variety in the designs of their vehicles, which is why a movie as lighthearted as Cars works surprisingly well when set to the adrenaline-fueled zaniness of the Fury Road trailer. Most of all this mashup makes me wish there could be a spin-off Mad Max movie that anthropomorphizes the emotions of the vehicles featured in the franchise’s madcap action.
Star Wars: Days of Future Past
X-Men Days of Future Past took the X-Men film franchise to a new level by combining the past and present versions of key characters into the same film. If I could pick one other franchise for this setup to be implemented, it would be Star Wars. Set to the audio in the Days of Future Past trailer, this mashup gives a glorious glimpse into what if the original and prequel trilogies crossed over with each other. Say what you want about the prequels, but the fantasy of Luke Skywalker meeting both young Obi Wan and father Anakin would generate uncontrollable tears of joys for the most die-hard fans.
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Wes Anderson’s The Shining
If you combine the classic foreboding tone of The Shining with the whimsicality of a Wes Anderson movie, you would think there’s no possible way the two can mix together. This mashup is an exception by finding middle ground in its smart pairing of the abnormal traits exhibited by both The Overlook and Grand Budapest Hotel. By color correcting scenes from The Shining to match the look of Anderson’s style shown in The Grand Budapest Hotel, this precisely edited trailer is a hoot for how two totally different films can somehow coexist to provide eccentric entertainment. Also if you place yourself in Danny Torrance’s shoes in the trailer, you may ponder which Room 237 experience was more traumatizing.
See Alana’s picks after the cut!
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Kung Fu Panda x Deadpool
Hear me out on this one: While Kung Fu Panda is a children’s movie and Deadpool is, well, not, laying the latter’s trailer audio over the Jack Black-led animated flick is hilarious and just goofy enough to still be totally awesome. Had this crossover been a reality rather than just a fan-made fantasy, I’m almost positive it would be a box-office success. It’s got all the natural humor and underdog-ness both Po and Wade Wilson possess, imbued with an unexpected badassery that’s both undeniable and infectious.
Inception x Holiday Comedy
Let’s be real here, who hasn’t wanted to see Leonardo DiCaprio in a Love Actually-reminiscent holiday rom-com? What’s truly impressive here is the fact that 2010’s Inception already had such an incredible, memorable trailer, and that the film itself was a highly conceptual masterpiece, but with a lot of smart editing, someone crafted a believable trailer for a film that feels entirely different than its source. This is the definition of genre-bending, and I half wish this cheeky, twee version of Inception existed as well.
Game of Thrones (Xena: Warrior Princess/Hercules Style)
This ’90s version of Game of Thrones is total geek fuel and may result in spontaneous combustion. Mixing the iconic television series, based on the actual novels by George R.R. Martin written in the ’90s, with the (arguably cheesy) stylings of Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys results in a mashup I never knew I wanted or needed, but now wish so badly was real. (Side note: RIP Ned Stark. What’s dead may never die.)
Wes Anderson’s Full Metal Jacket
Another Wes Anderson-spun trailer equally as awesome as the first one. Though admittedly not flawlessly Anderson, this take on the 1987 war flick is clever as hell and completely transforms Full Metal Jacket. And the cast credits? Such a witty nod to the band of actors usually associated with Anderson’s films. Bill Murray would be the perfect Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.
The Lord of the Rings x Suicide Squad
Most of my picks this round were a little silly and a whole lot seemingly-improbable. This one, however, is perhaps the most of each category. When the J.R.R. Tolkien-adapted classic is blended with one of this summer’s most anticipated anti-hero films, you get something that isn’t traditionally “cool” per se, but is utterly incredible in the realm of geekdom. The rad battle scenes are made next-level with Queen’s most beloved song and the cheeky humor that already exists in LoTR pairs perfectly with the punchy trailer backtrack. For my part, I know I’d be among the first to catch Ring Squad on opening night.
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