Alright. There’s no easy way to say this, so let’s just get to it. In the video below, Loki crucifies Iron Man while Chumbawamba’s 1997 hit “Tubthumping” plays in the background. If you don’t want to see this, don’t push play. Nobody would blame you. But that is what happens.
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This part of Endgame was so sad pic.twitter.com/ugt8BSdVuK
— Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) April 23, 2022
It is just one of many pop culture passion plays put together by the team at Church of the Rock, an interdenominational multi-site church in Winnipeg, Canada. Most of the videos can only be streamed from the church itself around Easter Sunday but for the past few years, the church has been staging elaborate live action productions of famous movies, turned into musicals, with an Easter theme. In addition to the Avengers movies, Toy Story, Back to the Future and Pirates of the Caribbean have all gotten the treatment, and most of them do seem to involve some sort of crucifixion scene, whether the victim is Doc Brown, Jack Sparrow or Simba.
Back to the Future (1985) pic.twitter.com/8JjDgAxqJE
— Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) April 23, 2022
— Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) April 22, 2022
Most of these videos were uncovered by Jenny Nicholson, a professional gamer and video maker.
Of course, Christian riffs on pop culture totems aren’t exactly new. If you’ve spent much time around evangelical churches, you know how many them are fiends for seizing on piece of art in the discourse that a clever pastor can build a sermon series around (or, failing that, a T-shirt company can build a merch line around). But it is rarely done with this level of, let’s say, pizzazz.
For example this year’s Lion King of Judah production not only involved a cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You” and an impressive Rafiki impersonation but — again, there’s no easy way to say this — what appears to be a Kellogg’s Froot Loops Toucan Sam costume.
Indeed, this church’s crucifixion audacity in matched only by their musical prowess. You might think there’s no way to bring a sanctified cover of “Uptown Funk” into a Christian Back to the Future parody, but that’s just because you’re not thinking big enough.
— Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) April 26, 2022
“Well,” you’re probably saying. “Now I’ve seen everything.” But that’s just because you haven’t been paying attention. You have no idea what you haven’t seen. For example, you have not seen the cast of Toy Story lamenting the crucifixion with an Imagine Dragons cover. Not yet you haven’t.
how I’m feeling pic.twitter.com/M7kC4PMLHF
— kate (@bb_kate_art) April 25, 2022
Based on some clues from the church’s social media, it appears there have been some past productions that involved the likes of Tombstone, Star Wars, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Boyz N the Hood. For better or worse, we could not dig any of those videos up for this post.
You can head over to the church’s YouTube page and check out some sermons by Pastor Mark Hughes.
