49

The Avengers is taking 4 separate movie franchises (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America) and combining them all into one huge movie with all the main characters from each movie.

Doing some preliminary research, I have not found anything in cinema history that has been attempted like this before (however in other media like comics, TV, literature, it seems it has).

My question is simply, is this the first movie to attempt a major crossover of cinema franchises? If not, what was the first movie to accomplish this? What was the success of this movie (sales, overall critic/public opinion)? And what were the franchises that it combined?

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    You'll be interested in this TVTropes page: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrossOver
    – artlung
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 19:42
  • 2
    Ah TVTropes. I wish it was kept more upto date as the site can be interesting; example: "Marvel Films has publicly stated that it's working its way up to an Avengers movie."
    – Tablemaker
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 19:46
  • 3
    All TVTropes links should come with a consumer product warning about the dangers of starving to death while following links.
    – KutuluMike
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 21:37
  • 2
    While they all have separate movies, I would say your example is not a good example, as they all share the same universe and in that universe, all have appeared in the same book. After all, you (hopefully) wouldn't call the Batman movie with both the Penguin and the Riddler a crossover. What they have done that is unique (as far as I can see) is a multi-movie setup. Setting up a "spinoff" movie across multiple movies. I can't say what was the first movie to do this, but would find it unsuprising if it was released before 1900.
    – user1148
    Commented Apr 11, 2012 at 3:40

7 Answers 7

Reset to default
49

French gentleman thief Arsène Lupin battles the English detective Sherlock Holmes in the 1910 German drama film serial Arsène Lupin contra Sherlock Holmes.

Wikipedia says:

A contemporary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941) was the creator of the character of gentleman thief Arsène Lupin who, in Francophone countries, has enjoyed a popularity as long-lasting and considerable as Sherlock Holmes in the English-speaking world.

There had been individual Arsène Lupin and Sherlock Holmes films before this, the first appearing in 1908 and 1900 respectively.

Improve this answer
1
  • 5
    wow That is definitely early in history.
    – Tablemaker
    Commented May 2, 2012 at 18:59
32

Since your question asks What is the first crossover movie? I'll submit two of the earliest I have found, depending on your definition of "crossover".

For movie horror/sci-fi franchises, there is Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).

But I think the earliest could be Laurel and Hardy's appearance in the Our Gang comedy short Wild Poses (1933). Both Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy are separate movie franchises.

Improve this answer
1
  • I think this may be what I'm looking for, as that is getting close to the birth of cinema as a whole
    – Tablemaker
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 17:08
21

I would think Alien vs. Predator would be an example of combining franchises, which was released in 2004.

While not a critical success (garnered only 22% Tomatometer), it did gross $80.2 million. It even spawned a sequel, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem in 2007.

Improve this answer
2
  • How did I not think of this -.- Though, I wonder if there is something earlier than AVP.
    – Tablemaker
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 13:56
  • 3
    Freddy vs Jason :) i am pretty sure it came later than AVP thought it might be a good fit for the genre. Edit: It actually came prior to AVP.
    – Dredd
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 14:31
14

If we're not talking public domain characters, then my mind immediately turns to Japanese monster movies. There are several monsters with their own movies, but on occasion they would appear together in a "Vs." movie. Earliest one I could find is King Kong vs. Godzilla, which was release in 1962.

Improve this answer
1
  • Don't think public domain matters, though it wouldn't be as much of a challenge as there's no licensing to jump hoops through.
    – Tablemaker
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 17:04
12

Are you asking specifically about comic book franchises? There have been no shortage of public domain crossovers, or crossovers between a branded character set and public domain characters. (For example, The Three Stooges Meet Frankenstein (1948), The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962), The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976, and has Sherlock Holmes meet Sigmund Freud). King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) is another example. There's really no shortage of this sort of thing.

Improve this answer
5
  • Not comic book specific. More towards movie franchises in general so a poor example would be League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as this is more of a movie crossover of literary characters wheras @LarsTech answer is a crossover of movie franchises, which is what I'm looking for.
    – Tablemaker
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 14:01
  • 2
    Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and King King vs. Godzilla (1962) , then. There are also countless examples on television.
    – Michael Stern
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 14:13
  • Television is not what I'm looking for however, as I've seen there are plenty of examples.
    – Tablemaker
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 14:19
  • 3
    Who Framed Roger Rabbit featured Daffy Duck and Donald Duck in the same scene.
    – ghoppe
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 16:37
  • Interesting @TylerShads - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen actually started out in comics as a blending of characters from novels and pulps: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_League_of_Extraordinary_Gentlemen - it has covered several different eras in fiction and brings in James Bond, The Invisible Man, and many others into their comic universe. You might further be interested in Tommy Westphall's Mind: home.vicnet.net.au/~kwgow/crossovers.html - an effort to unify very nearly ALL television into one coherent narrative universe.
    – artlung
    Commented Apr 10, 2012 at 19:40
1

“Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein” features:

  • Dracula
  • Frankenstein
  • The Wolf Man
  • The Invisible Man (cameo)

and of course...

  • Abbot and Costello

All of the above had had their own independent movies (at least one, some more) beforehand. That’s five different franchises meeting up in one movie, making it quite comparable to the Avengers in the sense you’re describing.

Improve this answer
1

I would submit "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" as the first film to crossover the the most franchises...

Including characters from :

  • Disney Warner Bros.,
  • Fleischer Studios,
  • King Features Syndicate,
  • Felix the Cat Productions,
  • Turner Entertainment, and
  • Universal Pictures/Walter Lantz Productions
  • Paramount Pictures
  • Columbia Pictures
  • 20th Century

The entire character list too long to post. But includes well over 50 characters,

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .