What would you do if you could assemble your very own Avengers Initiative?
Better yet, what would Jason Mewes do?
Best known as Jay of Jay and Silent Bob fame, Mewes sat down with us while promoting his
new movie, Madness in the Method, which he both stars in and directed.
Now that Mewes is a full-fledged filmmaker who's been in charge of his own production,
we decided to step things up a notch and ask him what he'd do with more magnificent responsibilities.
To be specific, we asked the lifelong comic book fan what he would do if he were in the
Nick Fury role and had the opportunity to recruit his own team of Avengers from Marvel
Comics' vast pool of characters.
And we're not just talking about good guys, either.
Villains switch sides in comics all the time, sometimes for weird reasons.
Why wouldn't they do the same for a foul-mouthed stoner from New Jersey who's bold enough to
wield a bong-saber and brave enough to unload a machine gun at a nigh-unkillable angel?
For one, Mewes has been a comic book fan all his life, an affinity that's been reflected
in Kevin Smith's movies and the characters they play in them.
The drug-addled duo has appeared in both Smith's movies and real-life comic books as their
superhero alter egos Bluntman and Chronic.
They've also met and worked with Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee on multiple occasions — with
Lee having a cameo in Smith's Mallrats, and another cameo, decades later, in Mewes' Madness
in the Method.
These aren't just hat-tips to the nerd crowd; Mewes has an enthusiasm for comic books that's
downright infectious, and as an actor, he's even made appearances in the CW's Arrowverse.
"Get some free comics, read the comics, love and sniff the comics."
So now that you know his bona fides, the question remains: What would Jason Mewes' team of Avengers
look like?
Though the Avengers' roster has grown post-Endgame to include what feels like hundreds of people
from all around the universe — including sorcerers, Asgardians, and even Howard the
Duck — the first Avengers movie showed the promise of the shared Marvel universe with
just six heroes.
So, we'll go with six.
Like many would, Mewes started off his selection with three major powerhouses: the incredible
Hulk, the adamantium-infused mutant Wolverine, and the immensely-overpowered Spider-Man.
But after that, things got interesting.
"It could be villains too, right?"
Mewes indeed went for the villains, but didn't waste time with the lower-level likes of Crossbones,
Bullseye, or some New York City bank robbers.
He went straight for the god-tier.
"So should we say Thanos?
Apocalypse?"
With three slots to go, Mewes picked both, instantly making his team one of the most
formidable forces of destruction in the entire universe.
Not very heroic, maybe, but hey, they'll get the job done — at least, so long as there's
someone a little more level-headed in charge.
It takes more than pure power to make a good team.
If only to give great motivational speeches, every would-be band of superheroes needs a
leader — and no, neither Bluntman nor Chronic are up for the picking.
"You need a team leader, right?
I feel like you almost need Cap.
Iron Man or Captain America.
[...] Or, you know what?
Cyclops."
Poaching the frequent leader of the X-Men is a bold move, and it inspired Mewes to make
some other changes to his roster before locking it in.
"I love Spider-Man, but I feel like I was just thinking about Magneto.
I mean the powerhouses.
I feel like [my team's] too powerful, but I think it would be pretty crazy, and great."
We'll hand it to him — Magneto subbing in for Spider-Man to stand alongside Apocalypse,
Wolverine, and Cyclops is pretty great, even if it's not as crazy as imagining Spider-Man
and Thanos teaming up — especially after what happened in the movies.
Mewes ended up sending Spider-Man to the curb, instead settling on Cyclops as a leader of
the team.
With that, he locked in his own personal squad of New Jersey Avengers.
We already have the Hulk.
And then we have Thanos, Apocalypse, Magneto, Cyclops is the leader, and Wolverine.
So that's six I believe [...] unless I said Wolverine twice again.
With a team half made up of heroes and half of slightly-less-heroic figures, Jason Mewes
assembled a strange configuration of Avengers, heavy on the X-Men and the heavy-hitters.
It's the kind of squad that makes you wonder how the team would really work together.
Thanos, Apocalypse, or Magneto turning face to play nice with the good guys is something
that makes sense… on an individual basis.
But imagining all three of them working together for a common cause without infighting?
That's a little harder to figure.
We don't care how cool it is — Mewes' team wouldn't last six issues before they all tried
to kill each other.
Despite that potential problem, Mewes shared only one regret about the constitution of
his superhero squad: the fact that he didn't have any room on there for someone who runs
really, really fast.
"I should have had a Speedster.
Again, it’s tough.
Quicksilver would be awesome.
But I'm going to stick with that.
So there's my team."
On top of checking out his directorial debut Madness in the Method, you can catch Jason
Mewes in the upcoming film Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, touring the United States in a
roadshow format starting October 15.
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