It was with an unexpected bit of arrogance that I first viewed HowItShouldHaveEnded.com’s new video for Iron Man 3. After all, just this week I had made yet another list of jokes about Iron Man 3, which was itself a follow-up to a prior list of 8 things which were a bit wonky in Iron Man 3. Julianne and I had discussed, both lovingly and jokingly, the movie so much on the site and in general conversation surely there was nothing we had missed. Heck, we still get a kick out of randomly working into conversation our respective impressions of Ben Kingsley’s oddly pronounced “You’ll never see me coming.” So, do your best, oh dear internet video. Show me what I missed, if you can:
Well, shut my mouth. I missed a lot, particularly the similarities between the Guy Pearce villain in Iron Man 3 to that of the villain in The Incredibles. I admit to being especially delighted with Thor’s reaction to the news about Tony Stark having blown up all his suits. Also, having the Justin Bieber haircut kid (actual character name is Harley, actor name Ty Simpkins) wear a shirt which reads “Target Demographic” is genius.
The people at How It Should Have Ended have been doing this since 2005. It started when two friends turned a joking conversation about alternate endings of a film they had just seen into an animated short video acting out their parodic ending. In other word, they took something that a lot of us do for fun – joke about movies – and turned it into a career. Their videos gained national attention and garnered multiple awards, ultimately leading to a partnership with Starz Digital Media in 2009 to allow them to release one new video every month.
The shorts typically range in length from 2 to 4 minutes, and they do occasionally branch out from films to mock video games as well. If this is your first exposure to them, the stuff with Superman and Batman at the end of the Iron Man 3 short might require explanation. There is a running gag going way, way back in their videos of Superman and Batman talking to one another in a diner. This allows them to have the two poke fun at one another, or converse with whatever new comic book superhero is popular at the time, like Tony Stark right now or The Avengers last year. They have taken Batman’s odd proclivity for dramatically pronouncing, “I’m Batman!” in his films, and hilariously made it their cartoon version’s sole defining characteristic, i.e., his answer to most problems is, “I’m Batman!” as if that is sufficient to solve everything. So, Batman and Tony Stark debating at the end of the video (“I’m Batman!”/”I’m Iron Man!”) is a joke a long time coming.
If you want to see a detailed explanation as to why they chose the gags they did for the video, check out their blog. It turns out the bit involving Harley and Tony was based upon an idea suggested by one of their Facebook fans. You can check out their website at HowItShouldHaveEnded.com.
Below are two of my all-time favorite videos of their’s.
First, a truly stellar take on how Charles Xavier should have reacted to Magneto’s odd choice to make a dramatic point while Xavier clearly needed medical attention at the end of X-Men: First Class:
Last, a mash-up I wish I thought of – Terminator meets Back to the Future:
What do you think? Any other favorite HowItShouldHaveEnded videos? Any other funny alternate endings for films you’ve always joked about? Don’t keep it to yourself. Share. Go on. It’s okay. We won’t judge you. There’s a comment section just right down there. Don’t be shy. That’s right. Go ahead. Type away.
