Crossovers are all the rage these days. Growing up as a fan of comic books, the idea of a crossover isn't that uncommon to me, but seeing the mainstream get behind the concept has been bizarre. From the upcoming Waner Brothers' MultiVersus game—where players can make Shaggy throw hands with Arya Stark—to Spider-Man: No Way Home, crossovers are the gimmick that just won't quit.
I cast the blame on our media-saturated culture. Americans have become so addicted to entertainment that pure, uncut diversions we first fell in love with need to be laced with something else to make the hit worthwhile. It's enough to make you want to return to the halcyon days of televison, where playfully dysfunctional families brought studio audiences with them wherever they went, and quirky detectives solved murders between Grey Poupon ads. It makes me wanna put on some Columbo.
However, after a few episodes, I start to think, "Dude, Columbo is such a boss. He can solve anything. I bet if you put him in Death Note, he'd knock it out in 40 minutes plus commercial." And then I'm right back where I started. I'm right back in the crossover.
Gianni Matragrano, a meme YouTuber, obviously heard my cries and brought the odd crossover to fruition on his channel. Matragrano's channel is oddly replete with videos of Columbo in different franchises (including Star Wars) and they all work. Why do they all work? When will the crossovers end?
