Is there any possible connection between Michael Myers, the killer in Halloween, and Mike Myers, the actor behind Austin Powers and Shrek? The new Halloween is a direct sequel to the 1978 classic John Carpenter movie, seeing Jamie Lee Curtis return as Laurie Strode for a final showdown with killer Michael Myers. A lot has changed in the intervening 40 years, not least the meaning of the name "Michael Myers".
Halloween is one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time, with Michael Myers its bloody core. The original movie tells of how Michael Myers was committed to a sanatorium as a child for murdering his sister, escaping as an adult to stalk and kill the teenage babysitters of Haddonfield, Illinois on October 31. He would be injured or killed many more times across multiple Halloween continuities (including the release of this latest Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green, the franchise consists of eleven films, with Michael the main antagonist in all of them except one). In the latest movie (which ignores all but the original) Michael Myers once again escapes custody and is determined to find and kill Laurie, who is now a grandmother and suffering from anxiety attacks owing to her troubled past. Nick Castle, who originally played Michael Myers, reprises his role for Halloween.
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In a rather stark contrast, Mike Myers is a Canadian actor, most famed for his comedy movie roles. He's played many iconic characters, including Wayne in the Wayne's World franchise and Shrek for all four of the main movies in the franchise, as well as many shorts. Myers is perhaps most noted for playing Austin Powers, Doctor Evil and Fat Bastard in the Austin Powers franchise, coining catchphrases such as "Groovy baby," and "Oh behave."
So, in case you were wondering, there is no connection: Michael Myers, fictional killer from the Halloween series, and Mike Myers, actor, are not the same person. The entire situation is a massive coincidence; Mike was born in 1963, 15 years before Halloween made his name infamous. It may be that his shorter professional name is a way to distinguish him.
While Mike Myers himself hasn't really addressed the similarities between himself and the Halloween killer, that hasn't stopped fans from enjoying it. There are mashups of Halloween with Austin Powers quotes, Robot Chicken skits where it's Mike Myers under the William Shatner mask, and in last year's Baby Driver, this exact confusion led to robbers wearing Austin Powers masks during a heist. Evidently, it's not just Laurie Strode who's had their life unwillingly linked to The Shape. And, no, the new Halloween does not include a groovy Mike Myers cameo.
