‘MIB 23′: What We Know About The ’21 Jump Street’, ‘Men In Black’ Crossover So Far

Mashups are all the rage these days. With Marvel’s Civil War, DC’s Batman v Superman, and even 20th Century Fox’s massive box office smash Deadpool featuring several key X-Men characters, every studio, it seems, is pining for a crossover.

Which may explain the announcement from Sony earlier this week that two unlikely comedy properties, 21 Jump Street and Men In Black, will be coming to a crossover near you very soon.

The title of the latest movie mashup, MIB 23, as reported by Comic Book, was announced this past week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas with both Jump Street veterans Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum on board to reprise their roles. Aside from that, however, not much else is known – including who exactly will be donning the shades on the MIB side.

“Whether the Men in Black will be recast or whether they’ll bring back actors from previous films is, at this point, anybody’s guess. At least one report has said that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are definitely not coming back, although whether they’ll be replaced altogether or whether Sony will make a run at Josh Brolin to reprise his role as a younger Jones isn’t known.”

As for public sentiment about the film, it seems there are many industry sites in favor of the Men In Black, 21 Jump Street mashup.

“MIB 23 not only combines the names of the two franchises but takes a playful jab at Hollywood’s obsession with sequels,” Comic Book Resources writes shedding light on who will helm the director’s chair for the sequel as well.

“James Bobin will step behind the camera for the crossover, replacing ‘Jump Street’ directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who have their hands full with the ‘Star Wars’ Han Solo spinoff, among other projects (they will, however, stick around as producers).”

Men In Black first debuted in 1997 and starred the aforementioned Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as undercover, intergalactic agents whose very purpose is to shield the average joe from the alien threat that exists all around us. The original film grossed over $250 million worldwide and spawned an immediate sequel with Jones and Smith reprising their role as Agent J and K respectively. The third installment was released many years later in 2012 and enlisted Josh Brolin into the mix as a younger version of Tommy Lee Jones’ character.

21 Jump Street was originally a Fox TV series that proved to be a star-turning vehicle for its series lead Johnny Depp. It aired for five seasons, totaling 103 episodes and also featured Holly Robinson and Richard Grieco during its run. Relaunched as a film franchise in 2012, the movie version took a decidedly comedic turn with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum paired up in traditional buddy cop fashion but keeping the same timeline as the series. Depp, Robinson and co-star Peter DeLuise actually cameoed in the film as well.

21 Jump Street did well enough to spawn a sequel in 2014 called 22 Jump Street with Tatum and Hill back in the driver’s seat. From there, it’s murky as to where the idea for a Men In Black mashup originated from, but according to Slash Film, the concept was revealed to the public via the infamous Sony hack of 2014.

“One of the biggest surprises to come out of the 2014 Sony hack (at least for our purposes) was the news that the studio was considering merging two of its franchises, 21 Jump Street and Men in Black,” the article wrote, adding that it “seemed like a wild idea at the time.”

But wild no longer as MIB 23 is now officially in production.

What do you think? Is the Men In Black, 21 Jump Street crossover a good idea or bad idea?

[Image via Sony Pictures.]