Funko Pop Movie Could Be the First Marvel/DC Cinematic Crossover in History

Funko, the American toy company that takes all your favorite pop culture and adapts them into compulsively collectible little figurines, may have an animated movie from Warner Bros. in development. And because of its wide breadth of licensed pop culture, a theoretical Funko movie could mean the first official Marvel/DC crossover in years, and the first ever on the big screen.

On Sunday, regular franchise movie news leaker and Super Bro Movies writer Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) tweeted potential, visual evidence that Warner Bros. is producing a movie based on the Funko Pop! line of collectible vinyl toys. The various photos show a blackboard made up like a rough calendar, with printed logos of various properties such as Funko, Lego, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, The Jetsons, and an older DC Comics logo.

Richtman then tweeted some of the film’s many “confirmed” characters.

“Some characters already confirmed for the Funko movie: Darth Vader, Deadpool, Hellboy, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Care Bears, My Little Pony,” he wrote.

In another tweet, a pixelated image also “confirms” Baby Groot (from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2) and Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat video games. (The film/TV rights of Mortal Kombat belong to Warner Bros, while Groot is owned by Marvel’s parent company Disney.)

Inverse has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment, and we will update this post when we hear back.

Taking Richtman’s leaks at face value, many things are evident regarding Warner Bros.’ Funko movie. First, the apparent successes of the Lego movies, including 2014’s The Lego Movie, 2017’s The Lego Batman Movie, and now The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, all produced by Warner Bros., indicates that the studio has a keen interest in all-ages animated films based on recognizable toy lines.

Second, if Richtman’s leaks are true, then a Funko movie that has characters like Groot and Deadpool alongside Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman will be the first time DC (owned by Warner Bros.) and Marvel (owned by Disney) characters ever appeared in the same movie. However, it won’t be the first time Marvel and DC have publicly produced crossover work.

In the ‘90s, Marvel and DC created Amalgam Comics, a short-lived imprint that featured Marvel and DC concepts put together as one. Such example characters include Super-Soldier (Captain America and Superman), Deadeye (Deadshot and Bullseye), and Dark Claw (Batman and Wolverine).

Around the same time, the two companies also published DC vs. Marvel, a four-issue limited series that did exactly what its title suggested: DC characters like Batman, Superman, and The Flash are pitted against Marvel heroes like Hulk, Elektra, and Storm.

Later, between 2003 and 2004, the Marvel and DC co-published another crossover, JLA/Avengers, in which the Justice League of America teamed up with the Avengers. In 2009, DC film producer Bruce Timm expressed interest in adapting JLA/Avengers into an animated feature.

Throw Rick and Morty in there and the result might look something like this rumored Funk movie.

There is no official release date for the Funko movie.