See Ben Affleck, Matt Damon Bring Jimmy Kimmel’s Childhood Comic to Life
Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, J.J. Abrams and other stars compiled a goofy short film to celebrate Jimmy Kimmel‘s 50th birthday.
The inspiration for the amusing gift was The Terrific Ten, a comic book that Kimmel drew when he was a boy. The story is full of made-up heroes like “Color Kid.” “Color Kid was the best because he had all the powers of the rainbow, which are really none,” Kimmel joked. “The characters really spoke to me, and they demanded to be brought to life,” Abrams said. “I took this exact book [as a script]; I didn’t change a word.”
The resulting clip is a testament to Kimmel’s star reach: The Terrible Ten includes Affleck, Zach Galifianakis, Shaquille O’Neal, Will Arnett, Jon Hamm, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Aniston. Damon shows up as their the evil, melodramatic nemesis, Dr. Bolt.
The segment also demonstrates how easy it is to poke fun at the grandiose dialogue and self-important approach of many superhero movies. In contrast, The Terrible Ten and Damon spend so much time complaining about their lack of powers and embarrassing outfits that they forget to fight each other. “We all suck,” Damon concludes. “We were created by a weird, sad kid who grew to later become a weird, fat man.”
After Abrams and Affleck debuted their project, Kimmel called it “the best gift I ever got.” Affleck’s other movie, the superhero-traffic-jam Justice League, opens on Friday.