8 Years Ago Today, South Park Simultaneously Slayed the MCU Movie Formula & Shamelessly Promoted a Video Game

Big franchises are constantly under attack because they’re an easy target. Not long after Star Wars’ original trilogy wrapped up, Spaceballs, a parody film that poked fun at every ridiculous aspect of a galaxy far, far away, hit theaters. While it’s taken four decades to get a follow-up greenlit, Spaceballs 2 is on the way, and it won’t only be throwing stones at Lucasfilm’s franchise. The film’s teaser mentions the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has lapped Star Wars many times in terms of the volume of content released. However, Spaceballs 2 will have to be careful when going after the MCU, because it’s far from the first to try it.

Back in October 2017, South Park finally decided to dedicate an entire episode to calling out Marvel Studios’ process. Season 21, Episode 4, “Franchise Prequel,” mostly went off without a hitch, making topical jokes about the entertainment industry and the role misinformation plays in the news cycle. “Franchise Prequel” didn’t end in typical South Park fashion, though, and that’s because it decided to take a page out of the Marvel playbook and promote one of its upcoming projects.

Cartman and Co. Want to Start Their Own Cinematic Universe in “Franchise Prequel”

The beginning of “Franchise Prequel” makes it seem like the episode will be more about DC than Marvel, as Jimmy starts the episode with a parody of the opening of The CW’s The Flash, explaining his superhero origin and powers. However, the show quickly shifts its focus to the MCU, revealing that Jimmy is auditioning to be part of the Coon and Friends cinematic universe. The hope is that, by putting together a three-phase content plan, a studio will give the boys the go-ahead to start their franchise. Their first call is to Netflix, which is greenlighting anything and everything, and it’s not a bad call, since Marvel found plenty of success on the platform with the Defenders Saga.

After the heroes’ arch-enemy Professor Chaos starts spreading lies online, though, no one wants to partner with Coon and Friends. The team then takes matters into its own hands and defeats not only Chaos but also his ally Mark Zuckerberg. The battle takes a heavy toll on the team, and when they get back to the meeting room, the vibe is different. Just as the MCU frequently pivots when times get tough, Coon and Friends try to find a new path forward. The powers that be fail to reach an agreement, so they declare that the civil war is here. But going through the South Park library won’t reveal a Captain America: Civil War-inspired entry, and that’s because the event takes place in a video game.

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Anyone who wants to know what happens after the two hero groups go their separate ways has to play South Park: The Fractured But Whole, which is a sequel to South Park: The Stick of Truth. The main character, New Kid, who has no presence in “Franchise Prequel,” finds themselves in the middle of the conflict, working for Cartman, who wants to learn all he can about the Freedom Pals and the plans for their superhero franchise. Of course, in typical South Park fashion, the plan blows up in Cartman’s face because the Freedom Pals are much more welcoming than him and don’t want to hog the spotlight.

The Fractured But Whole‘s story only gets wilder from there, with the kids learning to time-travel using their farts and going back to stop Cartman’s alter ego from ruining the town. While that may sound like a nonsensical plot that doesn’t fit the South Park mold, the game is actually a lot of fun and still receives praise to this day for its smart humor and engaging gameplay. It just goes to show that shameless promotion, even in the middle of an episode about a franchise that’s all about teasing the next thing and not focusing on the present, can sometimes be the smart play.

South Park is streaming on Paramount+.

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