14 Sidekicks Who Became the Main Kick
Every once in a while, a cynical, market research-fueled attempt to sell plushies succeeds beyond a film executive’s wildest dreams.
Mork
A few episodes after Fonzie literally jumped the shark, Happy Days proved that it wasn’t done throwing Hail Marys. They introduced Robin Williams as Mork from Ork, and had a whole Fonzie versus Mork battle that maybe was, maybe wasn’t a dream. This one appearance was so popular that Williams got his own spin-off, Mork & Mindy.
Frasier Crane
Not many people know this, but the smash hit Paramount+ series Frasier is actually a revival and sequel of a sitcom from the ‘90s by the same name. That 11-season behemoth all sprang out of a small character from Cheers who cropped up in the third season, joined the main cast two seasons later and then never left.
Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw
The Fast and Furious franchise took a break from their overcooked naming conventions and gave Jason Statham and The Rock their own buddy comedy spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw, in 2019.
Aldous Snow
Russell Brand played, in retrospect, a remarkably watered-down version of himself in 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and reprised the dirtbag role as the lead in 2010’s Get Him to the Greek.
Peacemaker
James Gunn started working on this John Cena-led spin-off of The Suicide Squad while that film was still in development. The first season of Peacemaker got solid enough viewership that a second season is about to drop, and a spin-off of the spin-off, called Waller, is currently in development.
Saul Goodman
Tossing comedian Bob Odenkirk into the gritty, dusty, pallid crime drama Breaking Bad sounded like stunt casting at first, but he turned out to be so good at blending comedy with drama that he got his own wildly popular, six-season spin-off, Better Call Saul.
Pete and Debbie
Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd had such complicated, cheeky chemistry in Knocked Up that Judd Apatow gave them their own “sort-of sequel”. This Is 40 follows the couple as they navigate love and marriage while turning the ancient age of 40.
Evan Baxter
The antagonist of Bruce Almighty became a surprisingly popular character, largely thanks to that scene where Steve Carell spouts gibberish on-air. There was a seven-studio bidding war for a scripted titled The Passion of the Ark, and Sony and Universal recognized it as the perfect vehicle for a Carell spin-off. They jointly turned it into Evan Almighty.
Jesus Quintana
John Turturro took it upon himself to write, direct and star in a de facto sequel to The Big Lebowski, called The Jesus Rolls, over two decades after the cult hit came out. The Coen Brothers weren’t involved in the production, other than granting permission for Turturro to reprise the character, and the movie flopped big time.
Machete
Only Danny Trejo could helm a movie that’s simultaneously a spin-off of Spy Kids and Grindhouse. He played a character named Machete in 2001’s Spy Kids, and that character was then the star of a fake movie trailer released as promo for 2007’s Grindhouse. They made it real in 2010’s Machete and 2013’s Machete Kills.
The Scorpion King
The Rock was such a stand-out as the bad guy in 2001’s The Mummy Returns that they immediately turned around a Rock-centric prequel, 2002’s The Scorpion King. It had a record opening in theaters, which was enough to make producers ignore the 40-percent Rotten Tomatoes score and pump out four more Scorpion King movies.
The Minions
The little squeaky toy freaks that were designed in a marketing lab memed their way from sidekick in 2010’s Despicable Me to the subject of a two-part prequel series, 2015’s Minions and 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru. Not to mention their short films, web series and two distinct holiday specials.
The Lone Gunmen
The ironically named trio served as comic relief in The X-Files, providing conspiracy theorist takes that have become all too common in real life. They were popular enough to get their own 13-episode spin-off in 2001.
Jay and Silent Bob
These two are the only characters to have appeared in every single film in the Askewniverse. They have three different films with their names in the title, plus three video games and an Archie comic.
