What if Woody Allen directed The Wolverine? That’s the question comedian Ben Stadler answers with the hilarious clip above. He not only imagines Logan in Manhattan, plagued by neuroses and self-defeating insecurities; he imagines him as Woody Allen. In "Wolverine: A Film By Woody Allen," Logan is pursuing a beautiful young woman named Rogue (Carrie McCrossen). He’s attracted to her menswear style and streak of white hair, but he fears that a physical relationship with her would literally destroy him. At first he seeks guidance from his analyst, Professor Charles Xavier (Joe Galan). But when all else fails, he turns to his sunglasses-sporting pal Cyclops (Darren Miller), and declares, where he sums up his issues thusly, "You know I’m supposed to be this hero, but everyone hates me because I’m a mutant. Try being a mutant Jew! Nobody hates me more than myself."
While Stalder’s Allen voice could use some work, this vid deftly weaves the X-Men into Allen’s film world. The Official Comedy crew moves The Wolverine from the islands of Japan to the island of Manhattan, and switches the genre from Western to art house comedy. It’s actually a pretty fitting change-up considering both The Wolverine and many of Allen’s protagonists’ biggest battle is their own inner demons. Also, this clip nails the self-deprecating humor Allen’s known for, and threads in a cool but aloof love interest—in this case Rogue meets Annie Hall. Topped off with the kind of jaunty instrumental Allen favors for his films, this comedic short is nearly pitch perfect.
We shouldn’t really be too surprised. Official Comedy is earning a rep for their mashups, like their recent "It’s Always Sunny in Pacific Rim," which you can revisit below:
Actually, the vid up top is so delightful it almost makes us wish Hugh Jackman and Woody Allen would team up! Until we remembered they did, and it was terrible.
Yup, Allen had the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Wolverine (Jackman) in a movie together, and it was one of the most critically scorned of his career. While we’re unlikely to ever see Allen tackle a superhero movie, we’re at least lucky enough to have a truly entertaining Wolverine adventure out as the same time as one of Allen’s best comedies in ages, the critically revered Blue Jasmine. So, we’re content to leave Allen’s X-Men movie as the stuff of fever dreams and viral videos.
