Please, Hollywood, don’t push another shared universe on us

The Marvel Method of the shared universe

This has really come into fashion on the big screen since the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Beginning in 2008 with Iron Man, this particular shared universe has incorporated numerous other superheroes into its canon, all with common through-lines like the S.H.I.E.L.D. spy agency and the magical Infinity Stones.

The movies started by focusing primarily on origin stories, but they’ve gone on to craft tales that are increasingly dependent on each other for the plot, context, and character development. You can’t simply watch the Captain America flicks and expect to know what’s going on or why this character is here at this moment. This approach has obviously paid off, though, as Marvel’s shared universe has become the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.

Dawn of the copycats

Such success obviously catches other studios’ attention, which has led to scores of other blockbuster flicks attempting to establishing their own universes. This can either be the plan from the beginning or manifest as spin-offs of a pre-existing series.

More often than not, however, these attempts take the worst aspects of the Marvel formula and don’t even try to hide it. In that, the filmmakers purposely leave many parts of the movie open-ended and introduce elements intended solely to tell the characters (and viewers) about other individuals/stories they may meet in the future.

For example, does anyone remember that bit in Solo: A Star Wars Story where it’s revealed that the villain was working for Darth Maul, who takes Han Solo’s girlfriend under his wing for his future exploits? I guess not. No one saw that flick.

How about that part in Transformers: The Last Knight when we learn that the titular robots have been secretly operating in several time periods throughout history? Nonsense, right?