I hate going to movies at Comic Con, because they play at night and cut right into my valuable drinking time. But this year there was one movie that made me forsake the bottle for a couple of hours: Superbad.
I don’t know how I lucked out to be alive in a year where I will be forced to debate which is better, Knocked Up or Superbad, but I am glad I am. The Pacific Gaslamp Theater where the screening was held was suffering an AC outage, meaning we were seated in a packed, hot and sweaty room, but the movie was so goddamned hilarious and wonderful that it didn’t even matter.
There was a Q&A after the screening with most of the cast, director Greg Mottola, co-writer Evan Goldberg and producer Judd Apatow. During the Q&A Judd mentioned how much he’d like to see a Superbad 2, and the audience roared. I took it as a joke, but little did I know that it was a case of major Oh Don Piano about to begin, for afterwards I found Goldberg in the lobby and told him how much I loved his other film, Pineapple Express. He was psyched – they knew everybody loved Superbad, but Pineapple – while almost finished – is a year out from release, and he was looking for feedback.
It was then that the Apatow mention of a Superbad 2 became ultra Oh Don Piano, as Goldberg told me that James Franco, who stars in Pineapple, wants to do a movie with Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who plays McLovin in Superbad… but he wants it to be a film starring their characters from both movies. A cross-over! Could this be the beginning of a Crisis on Infinite Apatow Films? A shared Apatowverse? It’ll likely never be more than a mad glint in James Franco’s eyes, but if it did happen… most of you guys have not seen either film, but the McLovin character would be amazing alongside Franco’s sweet-natured, dim-witted drug dealer from Pineapple Express. They have my ticket in advance.