Remember Barbenheimer? It was the feel-good hit movie of the summer of 2023, blending one doll’s journey of self-discovery with the life story of the physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons. The feature existed only in the imaginations of poster designers but took on a life of its own.
I’m delighted to see that the movie mashup poster trend is being kept alive in 2024. The latest unlikely double bill matches Gladiator II with Wicked, which seems particularly apt considering the existing Wicked poster controversy Behold, the marvel that is Glicked… or Wickiator, if you prefer.
The artist and designer Kadir Ozan, founder of @PosterEscape has decided that the release of Gladiator II and Wicked just a week apart from each other merited a design mashup. The result is a fictional poster design for a film called Glicked (although some have suggested alternative portmanteau titles), combining elements of the posters for the two real movies.
Considering how upset actress Cynthia Erivo was about fans editing the Wicked poster to obscure her face, I’m not sure she’ll appreciate people replacing her with Paul Mescal, the star of Gladiator II. But some fans seem to be keen on the concept.
“That sounds like the most intense crossover ever! Imagine the soundtrack alone – goosebumps!,” one person responded on X (see our pick of the best X alternatives). “Both are sequels we never asked for or wanted,” someone else wrote.
Some aren’t so sure. “I know there’s nothing at all similar between Oppenheimer and Barbie but I feel like Barbenheimer just made sense. Glicked is just… strange,” one person wrote.
Gladiator II will be released on 14 November and Wicked on 21 November. For more inspiration, see our pick of the best film posters of all time.
