What Free Guy Would Look Like In These Classic Games

The upcoming video game-centric film "Free Guy" has been generating a lot of buzz in the gaming scene, with elaborate references in the movie to popular gaming tropes and a premiere featuring a life-size Warthog from "Halo." Because the film takes place in a fictitious video game world that most resembles "Grand Theft Auto Online," 20th Century Studios released some parody promotional art imagining how the film might look when reimagined as one of several gaming classics.

The production company sent out the eight images on Twitter, which imagined Ryan Reynolds' blue-shirted protagonist Guy as the central figure in games that ranged from classics like "Street Fighter" to modern titles like "Animal Crossing: New Horizons." The central concept for each piece of fake cover art is relatively straightforward, with Guy standing in for a replacement for the image's main character, flanked by other characters in the film standing in for any background figures on the standard box art.

While the concept might be simple, the execution deserves praise, as the images take on not only beloved video games but iconic pieces of cover art. For instance, one of the worst video game covers of all time, "Mega Man," gets the "Free Guy" treatment, as Guy recreates the impossible leg pose famously featured on the cover while Molotov Girl (Jodie Comer) and Antwan (Taika Waititi) watch from the background. Here are the other games that 20th Century Studios reimagined in "Free Guy" style.

The new promo posters cast a wide net, and gamers can also see Guy in images inspired by "Super Mario 64," "Minecraft," and "Among Us." While the "Super Mario 64" and "Minecraft" images are pretty simple, with either game's respective art style reimagining Guy's basic look, the "Among Us" poster adds not only Molotov Girl and Antwan but also includes Guy's goldfish and Mouser (Utkarsh Ambudkar).

Two posters shared by 20th Century Studios were in the style of "Grand Theft Auto" and "Doom." These two images are especially relevant because the city that serves as the setting for "Free Guy," Free City, owes a substantial debt to the open-world playground of "Grand Theft Auto Online." In addition, the promotional poster makes excellent use of the art style associated with the franchise. Finally, the poster inspired by "Doom" not only makes excellent use of a recognizable design but casts the main character as another character often referred to as Guy — although fans like to call him Doomguy.

The film has put a lot of effort into building up its credibility with gamers, including seeking out big-name streamers such as Ninja and Jacksepticeye to appear in the movie. Early reactions from critics to "Free Guy" have been positive, and gamers can check out the film when it releases exclusively in theaters on August 13.