“Spaceballs” famously parodies the original “Star Wars” trilogy with a plot that features Bill Pullman as Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) expy Lone Starr, John Candy as a Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) parody called Barf, and Rick Moranis as a very familiar-looking, black-clad villain known as Dark Helmet. Much of the film revolves around how the main antagonist, President Skroob (Mel Brooks), has squandered his planet’s atmosphere and set his sights on another planet’s air.
Parody elements and the way the “Spaceballs” version of the Death Star turns into a giant maid with a vacuum cleaner aside, the air theft angle is indeed oddly similar to what happens in “The Marvels.” Of course, it’s worth noting that Brooks is a highly influential filmmaker who’s spoofed a great many genres, with dozens of projects under his belt. His “History of the World, Part I” alone has inspired other writers, and several of his works appear on our list of best comedy movies of all time.
With the sheer enormity of Brooks’ output, it was only to be expected that one major movie or another would eventually end up hitting some of the beats the comedy legend has already covered. As such, there’s every reason to think that the similarity between “Spaceballs” and “The Marvels” is coincidental. Unfortunately, this also means it’s unlikely that this trend will continue with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine re-enacting the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” dance scene of “Young Frankenstein” in “Deadpool 3” … though one can always live in hope.
