Around this time last month, Ben Schwartz, who you probably know as Jean Ralphio from Parks and Recreation, proposed a theory in a web-only short from The Late Late Show with James Corden: In a cinematic universe crossover for the ages, Steve Harrington from Stranger Things is Jean Ralphio’s real father.
He postulates that Steve and Nancy got together shortly after the events of the first season—they did look pretty cozy on the couch near the end of the finale, after Nancy gave Jonathan Byers that new camera—and bore Jean Ralphio, who came out of the womb with “way too much hair” and quickly “got run over by an ambulance to make money.”
To add more credence to this theory, Schwartz and Joe Keery (who plays Steve) got together to apparently pal around in matching outfits for an afternoon, and now, we can basically confirm that the two voluminously-haired actors are related.
Begin with the first video clip, which Schwartz has captioned, “Dad and son meet because the Internet.”
Keery did take the time to teach his son how to shave, so we’re hoping they didn’t apply shaving cream to their oh-so-similar face just for a photo op.
Did a lot of growing up today with @uncle_jezzy. A photo posted by Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) on
Maybe Schwartz stars in the second season of Stranger Things, and time travel is somehow involved to reconcile the fact that Jean Ralphio is older than his father?
Most excitingly, Schwartz followed up these posts with a tweet broadcasting more to come: “Full length video w/Â @joe_keery coming soon. Questions will be answered. Theories will be tested. Two lives will forever be changed.”
Fill up our comment section with your own theories!
Featured image: @rejectedjokes/Instagram
