The characters of Friends are some of the most beloved in pop culture as Monica, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, and Joey were all part of the uber-popular show. But did you know the cast of Friends appeared in the pages of DC Comics?
The NBC sitcom starred Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Matt Leblanc, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Lisa Kudrow and ran for 10 seasons on NBC. The show starred a group of friends as they navigate their lives in New York. Friends was a staple in pop culture, winning numerous awards and gaining a significant viewership for its entire run. The series streamed on Netflix for five years before it began being available on HBO Max - where the original cast will get back together for a reunion special. It should come as little surprise that when Friends was at the height of its popularity, DC Comics managed to sneak in a not-so-subtle cameo into the pages of Legionnaires.
In Legionnaires #60 by Roger Stern, Tom McCraw, Jeffrey Moy, W.C. Carani, and Pat Brousseau, the book opens with two different alien races being concerned that the serpent-like Sensor and shapeshifting Chameleon were seen together at a night club in Paris. The serpent race on Orando wants to see the princess punished, while the Durla Holy Council also wants to punish Chameleon. The scene then shifts to Metropolis, where a group of Legionnaires are talking about the Durlan shapeshifters. They discuss how they can turn into anything they desire, so technically even the table could be a Durlan! "Spooky isn't it? and I hate feeling that way!" a character who looks like Rachel from Friends says, while a Legionnaire who likes Monica agrees. That's when a Phoebe-lookalike explains that their original form is "so cute." Clearly, McCraw and Moy were bringing the world of Friends into the book.
The scene is obviously a riff on the characters from Friends, as from left to right you can see carbon-copies of Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, and Joey - with small changes to make them appear as Legionnaires. While the cameo doesn't really drive the plot or have any deeper meaning, it's a fun Easter Egg that proves that a version of Friends exists in Metropolis. Who could have guessed years later DC's movies and television shows would exist on HBO Max together? Superheroes and Friends apparently go quite well together - at least in this cameo.