Bandai Namco Shares Sad Affleck Dark Souls 3 Video Mash-up

“Hello darkness, my old friend / I’m here to talk with you again.”

STATES CHRONICLE – Most of us have most likely been familiar with mash-ups or even cross-overs before we even heard the concept, let alone knew what it meant. This was in large part owed to brilliant writing and TV programming when we were kids, as we were introduced to cross-overs via shows like Hercules/Xena, The Animaniacs, and even Scooby Doo, when they brought in the occasional Batman or Globetrotters cameo.

Still, to this day, cross-overs and mash-ups are some of the most well-regarded episodes or works of fan-fictions, at least as long as they’re done well. And as contradictory as it sounds, the more obscure but still recognizable the reference, the more success the cross-over or mash-up will have.

Take for example the fan-made Batman vs. Superman edited trailer that came out a few months back, in which the trailer was transposed with the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia hit song “Dayman”. Even though It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia doesn’t have all that many viewers, the mash-up exploded all over the internet.

But fans aren’t the only ones to do such mash-ups. In fact, major companies occasionally like getting in on the action, mostly as a way to show that their fans can relate to them. And the mash-up I’m going to talk about once again involves Dawn of Justice, as well as some other references, some more obscure than others.

After Dawn of Justice came out, a clip surfaced on the internet in which Ben Affleck starts spacing out during an interview while Henry Cavill is talking about the movie’s bad reviews. A fan overlapped the video with Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’ and slowly zoomed in on Ben Affleck’s miserable look, spawning a meme known as Sad Affleck.

Few actually know that the video was a reference to the cult hit comedy show Arrested Development. One of the many brilliant recurring jokes in the show is that GOB Bluth, a failed magician, keeps making bad decisions which he then immediately recognizes as such. In the fourth season of the show, every time he made such a decision we’d get a slow zoom-in on his face accompanied by ‘The Sound of Silence’.

Of course, people could appreciate the joke without the backstory, but those who got the reference found it infinitely more amusing. And here’s where I’m going with this – sometimes, more references equal even more hilarity, and Bandai Namco seems to get that.

As part of their Dark Souls launch campaign, Bandai Namco shares Sad Affleck Dark Souls 3 video mash-up that almost broke the internet. The video is mostly the same as the original mash-up, only the interview question is related to how difficult the two actors found the first games.

While Henry Cavill begins talking, ‘The Sound of Silence’ starts being hear in the background as Ben Affleck starts spacing out. Only Bandai Namco one-upped the original by adding footage of someone dying over and over while playing the game, making it look like the devastated look on Affleck’s face was because of how poorly he played the game.

If you’re interested, you can go ahead and watch the video below.