New ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ Movie Reveals How They’re Still Teenagers in 2022
Beavis and Butt-Head have been absent from pop culture for over a decade since their 2011 MTV revival series. Creator Mike Judge announced plans for a new series in 2020, and later announced plans for a new movie to go along with it. Paramount+ has unveiled the title of the new Beavis and Butt-Head movie, and it explains how Beavis and Butt-Head could still be teenagers in 2022.
Paramount+ chief content officer, unscripted entertainment and adult animation Chris McCarthy made the announcements at a ViacomCBS Investors Event on Feb. 15. Paramount+ sent out a press release with the details on the new Beavis and Butt-Head movie.
Beavis and Butt-Head are still teenagers in 2022
From 1993 – 1997, Beavis and Butt-Head were the prototypical ’90s slacker teenagers. They remained 14 years old through five seasons, but that wasn’t a stretch considering The Simpsons have stayed the same age for over 30. Even the 2011 MTV series kept Beavis and Butt-Head the same age, though they existed in 2011 with MTV’s Teen Mom series and all.
Judge shared a sketch of Beavis and Butt-Head as middle aged men. This sparked speculation about whether his new series would address an older Beavis and Butt-Head. According to Paramount+’s Beavis and Butt-Head movie announcement, they’ll still be teenagers, complete with an explanation.
The new ‘Beavis and Butt-Head’ movie has a title in common with their first
In 1996, Paramount released Beavis and Butt-Head Do America at the height of the show’s popularity. The Beavis and Butt-Head movie saw the teenagers travel the country looking to score, and causing a terrorist crisis in the process.
The new Beavis and Butt-Head movie is called Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe. Once you’ve done America, what else are you going to do? The plot also contains a science fiction gimmick that will zap the teenagers into present day 2022.
Butts out of water
Paramount+ provided a synopsis of the new Beavis and Butt-Head movie:
In perhaps the dumbest space movie ever made, Beavis and Butt-Head are sentenced to Space Camp by a ‘creative’ judge in 1998. Their obsession with a docking simulator (huh huh) leads to a trip on the Space Shuttle, with predictably disastrous results. After going through a black hole, they reemerge in our time, where they look for love, misuse iPhones, and are hunted by the Deep State. Spoiler: They don’t score.
The date of 1998 is significant because it’s one year after the end of the original series. It appears Judge is picking up right where he left off. However, in time warping Beavis and Butt-Head, he’s creating a slightly different dynamic.
In the ‘90s, Beavis and Butt-Head were a product of MTV culture. They banged their heads to heavy metal and watched music videos all day. Even in the 2011 series, Judge portrayed Beavis and Butt-Head with a slightly nicer TV, and familiar with reality TV. Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe will be a fish out of water story.
Making Beavis and Butt-Head fish out of water in 2022 may give Judge more of a chance to satirize the modern world. Had Beavis and Butt-Head grown up with smartphones and social media, they’d be used to them. Besides, today’s generation of connected kids is entirely different from the ‘90s, and we wouldn’t want Beavis and Butt-Head to change. This Beavis and Butt-Head movie also tees up the new series to have the boys remain teenagers in modern day moving forward.