Ben Affleck revisits one of his most iconic movies, Good Will Hunting, in a new Super Bowl commercial. Alongside movie trailers, the big game frequently gets major stars revisiting past roles in weird, surprising, and humorous ways, and that’s exactly what we get in the new advert featuring commercial, which sends up the actor’s well documented (and much memed) love of Dunkin’ Donuts.
The commercial is a throwback to the 1990s, and just not for the play on Good Will Hunting (this is, of course, called Good Will Dunkin’). It claims to be from 1995, and states: “Before the movie, a much better version of Good Will Hunting was made as a sitcom with a real genius in the lead… and some other actors.” Check it out below:
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Playing as the lost pilot episode of a sitcom, it sees Affleck star as Will, who works at Dunkin’ Donuts, and also features several classic sitcom stars, including: Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Jason Alexander, Ted Danson, Alfonso Ribeiro, Jaleel White and Jasmine Guy.
The Good Will Dunkin’ Commercial Continues Two Trends
Set, where else, in Massachusetts, the commercial sees Will inadvertently invent Dunkin’s iced coffee, but it’s much more so an exercise in nostalgia. It sees him interacting with, and riffing on, characters from shows like Friends, Seinfeld, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, A Different World, and Cheers, and mostly seems to exist to have Affleck say some classic sitcom catchphrases, along with the familiar actors returning (with some rather questionable technology used to do so).
There’s a lot going on in the advert, but what might be the most surprising is that it doesn’t include Affleck’s friend and Good Will Hunting co-star, Matt Damon. However, this is simply Affleck evening the scores, as Damon reprised the role for an SNL skit back in 2018, appearing as a Good Will Hunting Christmas tree ornament. Additionally, the pair both reprised their roles for a fake parody sequel in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, when that duo is chased through a movie lot. Damon and Affleck were pitched Good Will Hunting 2 for real, but rejected the idea [via Variety].
Affleck’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last actor to reprise an iconic role in a Super Bowl commercial. This year also included Jurassic Park‘s original cast coming back in an Xfinity ad directed by Taika Waititi, and last year Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan riffed on When Harry Met Sally for Hellmann’s mayonnaise, to name but two examples.
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