Director J.J. Abrams celebrated TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s 50th birthday by recruiting Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Jennifer Aniston to turn the comedian’s childhood comic book into a movie trailer.
Affleck was a guest on Monday night’s (13Nov17) Jimmy Kimmel Live! show to promote his new blockbuster Justice League, in which he portrays Bruce Wayne and his alter ego Batman, when he began discussing a new project he had recently undertaken.
“I was able to start this really, really exciting superhero project,” he shared. “That’s my next thing.”
Ben then introduced J.J. to the stage, who brought with him The Terrific Ten comic book Kimmel had created when he was around 10 years old.
“I’ve got to say, I got my hands on this… and the characters really spoke to me, and they demanded to be brought to life,” the Star Wars: The Force Awakens filmmaker said. “So I took this exact book, I didn’t change a word, and we spent $250 million to make this trailer.”
Preview footage for The Terrific Ten then aired, featuring Affleck as Muscle Man, Billy Crudup as Color Kid, and Zach Galifianakis as Super Duck.
Jason Bateman appeared as Bendolite, Mad Men star Jon Hamm took on the role of Lucky Lad, Jennifer Aniston joined the line-up as Laser Lass, and basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal played Spire, God of Weapons.
Actors Ty Burrell and Will Arnett were also cast in the fake film, while Kimmel’s longtime ‘foe’, Damon, portrayed the villain, Dr. Bolt, with comedienne Wanda Sykes as his sidekick, The Bleach Master.
The trailer featured Muscle Man and his gang facing off with Dr. Bolt, before the characters began questioning one another’s super powers.
The trailer ended as Dr. Bolt interrupted and declared, “We all suck! And do you know why? We were created by a weird, sad kid who grew to later become a weird, fat man. F**king Kimmel!”
The birthday show also featured stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian, Halle Berry, and Amy Schumer taking part in Kimmel’s regular Mean Tweets segment, during which the stars read out social media insults all aimed at the late night host.
