By any measure, Godzilla is one of the most famous movie monsters ever. Since 1954's Gojira made its way to American shores in 1956 in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla has been a household name who has appeared in dozens of movies, TV shows and comic books, and he's made plenty of famous friends and enemies along the way. While the King of the Monsters is about to have his long-awaited rematch with King Kong in Godzilla vs. Kong, Godzilla had his strangest crossover in the '90s. A few years before the Looney Toons teamed up with Michael Jordan for Space Jam, a massive ad Nike campaign brought Godzilla together with NBA superstar Charles Barkley.

In 1992, attention-grabbing crossovers were a big part of comic books and commercials. At the apex of this trend, Nike release a television ad featuring the then NBA superstar Charles Barkley facing off against a wraparound-glasses-sporting Godzilla in downtown Tokyo. While Godzilla rampages through the streets, an equally massive Barkley approaches with the ball already in hand. Godzilla tries to take the ball with a sneaky tail strike, but Barkley is ready and pushes past the monster to slam the ball through a makeshift rim behind him. After being dunked on, Godzilla joins Barkley for a walk into the sunset, being assured that there might be a home for him on the Lakers.

As surprising as that commercial and the posters and shirts that supported it were, Dark Horse Comics released a follow-up comic book in 1993, Godzilla vs. Barkley, which took the over-the-top premise even further.

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Godzilla vs Barkley

Written by Mike Baron and featuring art from Jeff Butler and Keith Aiken, 1993's Charles Barkley versus Godzilla began with the titular superstar walking along the beach with his handlers before coming across Matt, a young boy who implores him to stop the approaching Godzilla. Playing on Barkley's then-controversial reputation, he fires his handlers in order to help Matt and take to the city.

There Matt gives Barkley his grandfather's lucky silver dollar, which magically transforms him into a towering version of himself. Barkley heads off to confront Godzilla, offering to take their fight to the court. As Charles Barkley jokes that "Godzilla is a sucker for b-ball," Godzilla is eager to take on the challenge.

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Godzilla vs Barkley 1

The two head to an old military base, where the scaffolding from an old space shuttle launch becomes repurposed for a hoop. Godzilla is surprisingly quick on his feet, but the King of the Monster doesn't stand a chance of scoring more than a handful of points against one of the greatest players of all time. With a crowd cheering him on, Barkley mops the court with Godzilla. Defeated, Godzilla is forced to agree to the terms of the deal, which apparently included the monster spending a century practicing his game in a remote area of Utah.

Outfitted with size 13,000 EEE Nikes, Godzilla is instructed to shoot one million layups which Barkley will be checking up on periodically. It might not be the most embarrassing defeats that Godzilla has suffered, but it is absolutely one of the most unforgettable.

Unfortunately, Godzilla's basketball skills probably won't come into play in his upcoming fight with King Kong. But if Godzilla followed Barkley's instructions to practice, the monster might be just be the big man the Tune Squad needs in Space Jam: A New Legacy later this year.

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