In Hollywood's ceaseless current quest to form cinematic universes galore, there is one glaring genre omission in the film trend — a comedy-centered cinematic universe. Sure, studios have crossed over comedic properties with other franchises in the past (looking at you, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein), but the closest thing the film world has to a comedic cinematic universe at present has to be the giant pool of funny talent linked by the movies of Judd Apatow.

Apatow has given so many up-and-coming class clowns their big breakthrough in film that it only makes sense to center a prospective comedic collective around him, so why don't we go ahead and call it the Apatow Cinematic Universe?

The very prospect of a comedic cinematic universe feels like grounds for the next great Scary Movie-type genre spoof (“Cinematic Universe Movie” perhaps?). But the Apatow Cinematic Universe, or ACU, would be something deeper than that. It would take the linking of its characters from one movie to the next as a serious venture in building its comedic mythology.

At present, the only cinematic worlds Judd Apatow has genuinely connected through his films are that of “Knocked Up” and it's quasi-sequel “This is 40,” but these alone tie together many of the biggest names in comedy. (Yes, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek are also connected, but this one is messier — and I'll get to why shortly).

Paul Rudd (a bit of a stand-in for Judd himself) would have to be considered the most natural choice for the Iron-Man of this universe as his Knocked Up character Pete (yes I know Paul Rudd is also Ant-Man and this metaphor could get confusing but just stick with it!).

Then, Apatow's real-life wife Leslie Mann who plays Debbie in Knocked Up and This is 40, is of course the Pepper Potts to Pete's Iron-Man.

From there, we have to start taking some creative liberties with the ACU, so get ready for a big asterisk, but just look at how many of today's top comedians we could connect if only the characters they played in Knocked Up or This is 40 could be considered the same characters in their subsequent expansion across the ACU. We could have a whole Apatow-ian Avengers squad if just for fudging a few details!

The Apatow Cinematic Universe (or ACU)

Seth Rogen

While Paul Rudd is a stand-in for Apatow, Seth Rogen has to be his muse, having been with Judd Apatow from his cult-classic television days on Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. But it has to be Knocked Up that represents the apex of their collaboration together, so let's call Ben Stone his official character in the ACU.

If only Ben Stone had worked in an electronics store with Steve Carrell (instead of Cal) before he knocked up Katherine Heigl, his timeline could really extend across a wide swath of the ACU. Because after he gets his act together in Knocked Up, he could have decided to become a comedian and had Adam Sandler take him under his wing in Funny People, another film which adds an impressive array of branches to the Apatow universe.

Jason Segel

Segel played Seth Rogen's friend Jason in Knocked Up, and then appeared again as Debbie's trainer in This is 40, but this Segel character is only a hop, skip and jump away from his Peter character in another Apatow classic, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I could believe that Jason from Knocked Up cleaned up his act, quit personal training and decided to pursue his passion for television music composing while dating the show's star, Sarah Marshall.

Although he ends up happily together with Mila Kunis at the end of that film, I could further believe that Jason then went on to have a Five-Year Engagement with Emily Blunt. You see how many possibilities it would open up for our APU if lovable shlub Jason Segel just didn't change his name?

Jonah Hill

Although that's not to say that the ACU doesn't have its discrepancies. Probably at the center of the biggest one is Jonah Hill, who has a major identity crisis if we scratch just below the Apatow-vian surface. Jonah Hill has a secondary role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a hotel waiter and aspiring musician, Matthew, obsessed with rock star Aldous Snow (played by Russell Brand).

It would only make sense then that in the Forgetting Sarah Marshall quasi-sequel, sort-of-spinoff Get Him to the Greek that Hill reprises his role, now as an up-and-coming music biz climber attempting to get Aldous Snow to the Greek Theatre in time for his concert. But alas, no, Hill plays a similar but slightly more grounded character named Aaron Green in Get Him to the Greek, which really complicates his place in the ACU.

Perhaps in light of the disturbing personal allegations against Jonah Hill and Russell Brand of late, they should be stricken from the ACU anyway (much like Jonathan Majors‘ recent ouster from the MCU).

Kristen Wiig

Wiig has a memorable cameo in Knocked Up playing vapid Hollywood executive Jill. If she had just a smidge more likability and decided to pivot to become a struggling midwest baker after this, she could have also been Maya Rudolph's complicated best friend and maid of honor in the breakout hit Bridesmaids.

Bridesmaids opens up a whole new extensive series of branches in the Apatow universe, which would be tantalizing to link to the Knocked Up base camp, but alas, Wiig plays Annie Walker (not Jill), so no dice.

Kathryn Hahn

Hahn is another Apatow favorite (actually, she's an everyone favorite at this point — equally adept at both comedy and drama, and everything in between). She's been in many Apatow-produced films, but probably her most memorable role in the ACU is in Step Brothers, which feels like it might not have a direct tie-in to the current discussion except for the presence of her Step Brothers douche of a husband character played to perfection by…

Adam Scott

Adam Scott is another beloved fan-favorite with an impressive resume, but for now let's focus on his bit part as Samuel, a put-upon male nurse and victim of Ken Jeong's doctor-splaining diatribes in Knocked Up. It seems fitting that after being subjected to Jeong for a number of years, Samuel snapped, drove across the country blasting Sweet Child O' Mine from the speakers, and became an obnoxious real estate agent and awful big brother in a loveless marriage to Kathryn Hahn in Step Brothers.

But once again, we're out of luck because Scott actually plays frickin' Derek, who's just the worst — not just for his behavior to Will Ferrell's Brennan and John C. Reilly's Dale — but because he denies us another opportunity to branch out the ACU.

We could go on and on like this, but the point is thus — Hollywood needs a comedic cinematic universe. If Judd Apatow had chosen to center one around his impressive coterie of quirky characters, his Apatow Cinematic Universe could have more inter-connectedness than the MCU, DC Extended Universe, and MonsterVerse combined. And it'd be a whole lot funnier.