Someone has to stop Ready Player One. The trailers have already told us what we need to know: It's a sci-fi action movie about a dystopian hellscape where the only refuge is a virtual world filled with decades of pop culture. From the handful of footage that's already out there, we can already tell RPO will be jam-packed with easter eggs carefully designed to tickle that one part of your brain that takes joy in recognizing something you kind of liked, once. The movie might be directed by Steven Spielberg, but it's tough to shake the feeling that Ready Player One will be anything more than a collection of brands and franchises referencing themselves for references' sake. It looks like a two-hour dream sequence set inside the mind of a character from The Big Bang Theory.
The newly-released Ready Player One "homage" posters collected by Slash Film do nothing to dispel that notion. Initially found on the streets of Santa Monica, these ads take classic posters and swap in RPO's protagonists. They are, in a word, upsetting.
Pasting these unfamiliar characters over iconic images of Harrison Ford and David Bowie just feels wrong, like a complete stranger butting into your conversation and pretending to laugh at your private in-jokes. It takes a lot for someone who works at a website called "Dorkly" to feel ashamed about what nerd culture has come to, but here we are.
Twitter users were already a little skeptical of Ready Player One, but seeing these off-putting Photoshops has put many over the edge. Case in point:
Ready Player One is a fun reminder that everything I've ever loved is garbage and I'm garbage and the world would be better if people like me didn't exist -- Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) March 6, 2018
Ready Player One is a fun reminder that everything I've ever loved is garbage and I'm garbage and the world would be better if people like me didn't exist
these make me want to quit liking anythingthese posters have made it officially absolutely uncool to like literally anything -- tim rogers (@108) March 6, 2018
these make me want to quit liking anythingthese posters have made it officially absolutely uncool to like literally anything
how fucking dARE YOU pic.twitter.com/llFy21IRQC -- Wow, Bob Mackey! (@bobservo) March 6, 2018
how fucking dARE YOU pic.twitter.com/llFy21IRQC
I've said it before but I'm pretty sure READY PLAYER ONE is Spielberg's revenge on everyone who slept on THE BFG and BRIDGE OF SPIES -- priscilla page (@BBW_BFF) March 6, 2018
I've said it before but I'm pretty sure READY PLAYER ONE is Spielberg's revenge on everyone who slept on THE BFG and BRIDGE OF SPIES
pretty sure Ready Player One is not real and you are all playing a prank on me -- 9 V O L T (@9_volt88) March 6, 2018
pretty sure Ready Player One is not real and you are all playing a prank on me
i duno even on top of everything else it bothers me a lot that Ready Player One's marketing consistently points out The Iron Giant in a big combat scene given that The Iron Giant as a film centered entirely around antiwar themes and roundly condemning mindless violence -- Moom (@MOOMANiBE) March 6, 2018
i duno even on top of everything else it bothers me a lot that Ready Player One's marketing consistently points out The Iron Giant in a big combat scene given that The Iron Giant as a film centered entirely around antiwar themes and roundly condemning mindless violence
the Ready Player One posters are perfect because just like the book/movie they are impoverished versions of shit you actually liked -- Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) March 6, 2018
the Ready Player One posters are perfect because just like the book/movie they are impoverished versions of shit you actually liked
people are pretty cynical about READY PLAYER ONE, but i personally can't wait to watch junket footage of wide-eyed journalists asking Steven Spielberg about his favorite level from Banjo-Kazooie or whatever the fuck. -- david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) March 6, 2018
people are pretty cynical about READY PLAYER ONE, but i personally can't wait to watch junket footage of wide-eyed journalists asking Steven Spielberg about his favorite level from Banjo-Kazooie or whatever the fuck.
these Ready Player One posters are a disgrace pic.twitter.com/XjAgaErMIs -- Mel Stone (@melstonemusic) March 6, 2018
these Ready Player One posters are a disgrace pic.twitter.com/XjAgaErMIs
alternate "Ready Player One" tagline:DO YOU LIKE THE 1980S?WELL, NOT FOR LONG. -- Smarch Smadness (@SuicidePass) March 6, 2018
alternate "Ready Player One" tagline:DO YOU LIKE THE 1980S?WELL, NOT FOR LONG.
I used to dream about the day somebody would write fanfiction about stuff I wrote but I feel like if anything I wrote had been written into Ready Player One I would feel kind of dirty -- Mara "Get Rid of the Nazis" Wilson (@MaraWilson) March 6, 2018
I used to dream about the day somebody would write fanfiction about stuff I wrote but I feel like if anything I wrote had been written into Ready Player One I would feel kind of dirty
This Ready Player One movie is nostalgia for people who never had nostalgia before. -- Joe Fourhman (@fourhman) March 6, 2018
This Ready Player One movie is nostalgia for people who never had nostalgia before.
READY PLAYER ONE (2018)Dir: Steven Spielberg pic.twitter.com/CZ3qQYTOyj -- Stuart Wellington (@flophousecat) March 6, 2018
READY PLAYER ONE (2018)Dir: Steven Spielberg pic.twitter.com/CZ3qQYTOyj
Anyway I can't wait for this summer's biggest hit pic.twitter.com/miuXRp5Z86 -- Kate Leth ??? (@kateleth) March 6, 2018
Anyway I can't wait for this summer's biggest hit pic.twitter.com/miuXRp5Z86
I have what I call the "Casablanca rule", after a terrible MST3K'd "overdrawn at the memory bank" in which the main character briefly watches "Casablanca":A movie should *never* do anything to remind you of another movie which the viewer might realize they'd rather be watching https://t.co/KqlLYekvAG -- mcc (@mcclure111) March 6, 2018
I have what I call the "Casablanca rule", after a terrible MST3K'd "overdrawn at the memory bank" in which the main character briefly watches "Casablanca":A movie should *never* do anything to remind you of another movie which the viewer might realize they'd rather be watching https://t.co/KqlLYekvAG
pic.twitter.com/5NyvtxN1Jk -- darth? (@darth) March 6, 2018
pic.twitter.com/5NyvtxN1Jk
In this era of extensive political, cultural, and social tensions, it's really heartwarming to see that the entire spectrum of geek and nerd fandoms have come together in pure, undiluted hatred of "Ready Player One". -- Charlotte Clymer???? (@cmclymer) March 6, 2018
In this era of extensive political, cultural, and social tensions, it's really heartwarming to see that the entire spectrum of geek and nerd fandoms have come together in pure, undiluted hatred of "Ready Player One".