Arguably the biggest and most influential role-playing property of all time, Dungeons & Dragons has inspired all manner of spinoffs, adaptations, homages, parodies and then some. Paramount is hoping to roll its way into box office success with the impending action-adventure Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, with fan-favorite stars like Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Regé-Jean Page as leads. But before the new flick could even hit theaters, co-writer and co-director John Francis Daley brilliantly cemented it as one of 2023’s most important releases, at least for fans of the canceled-way-too-soon cult classic TV dramedy Freaks and Geeks.
Daley starred as one of the titular geeks, Sam Weir, in the highly beloved high school comedy, which aired 12 of its 18 episodes before NBC canceled it and unwittingly kicked off huge careers for the majority of its young cast. For much of the past 23 years, creator Paul Feig, executive producer Judd Apatow, and the bulk of the cast have been asked about reunions and revivals, without much to show for those talks outside of the stellar 2004 DVD box set and PaleyFest panel in 2011. But now, with an unexpected heap of gratitude going towards Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, we now have an actual scripted “reunion” scene from Daley and former co-stars Samm Levine and Martin Starr. Check out the Twitter-shared video below and savor the bejesus out of it!
Time flies when you play D&D. #DnDMovie #FreaksandGeeks pic.twitter.com/iW8MqnP3PtMarch 28, 2023
From the first second, the video above pays homage to the original series and its own use of Dungeons & Dragons, from the music (which presumably didn't involve years of haggling over rights to use) to the dining room set to the immediate reference to "Carlos the Dwarf." As astute viewers will remember, Carlos is what James Franco's cool kid Daniel Desario named his character in the show's finale (fittingly named "Discos and Dragons") when joining the more studious characters for a campaign sesh. As much as fans definitely wanted Daniel to hang out with the nerdy peeps more often in a potential second season, it probably makes sense that he wasn't part of this mini-reunion. The holy trinity of Sam, Neil and Bill should never be broken or molded anew.
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Technically speaking, the reunion scene doesn't actually feel like it came out of a Freaks and Geeks episode directly, since it's overtly self-aware and referential in that respect. But that doesn't feel like a mark against in my eyes, since I'll watch these characters do anything, whether it's logical or not. Is my year that much better after seeing Samm Levine and Martin Starr acting confused about where their beards came from? Obviously. And yours should be, too.
Let's give these guys credit for pulling off what could have been a completely cornball and unamusing gag, by way of pointing out how ridiculous an idea it is for Dungeons & Dragons to ever get adapted into a movie. It helps that it really is a ridiculous idea, considering how deep and unwieldy the RPG universe's lore can be, while also being a medium that visually exists largely in players' imaginations and via rulebook covers.
But not only does the feature exist, but the Geeks vet is majorly responsible for its existence in its current form. Daley and filmmaking partner Jonathan Goldstein joined the project in 2019 as directors after vacating their post on The Flash, and it wasn't long before they'd completed their own draft of the screenplay to work from, with prior scribes Chris McKay and Michael Gilio getting story credits. Much like their other projects, from Horrible Bosses to Spider-Man: Homecoming to Vacation Friends, Honor Among Thieves will bring a hefty smattering of comedy to any and all hectic situations and action sequences, which is likely what Sam, Neil and Bill would have wanted from a D&D movie.
Be sure to check out Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves in theaters on Friday, March 31, to see if any Freaks and Geeks stars will be popping in for cameos. And let's all continue to clamor for even more reunion spots like this from the TV show's cast members. I'd love to see Ken and Nick walking into a dispensary for the first time...
