The words "Shared Cinematic Universe" overused these days?

I've ranted about this before but it just really get's to me... Directors like Zack Snyder, even the guys doing Star Wars and the most annoying, Bryan Singer always talk about how they want to "expand" their universe like Marvel. Singer's bs about how he wants to expand his universe bugs me in 3 different ways,

1. His universe is F'd up as it is
2. I'm not sure if anyone else agrees but it just seems that everybody at FOX are doing this for the money
3. Singer just strolls back into the franchise full-time AFTER the success over at Marvel

These are just my opinions so take it as you wish. When directors say they want to have a large movie-universe it just get's old. As I stated in one of my posts earlier, it's hard to fully enjoy a superhero movie these days because it seems as if they stem from the success of Avengers - this includes Iron Man 3. Personally, I enjoyed the film but after the numbers came in for the Box Office it was clear the movie's success was connected to Avengers (which was expected I guess). The Wolverine was made just to kill time until X-Men DOFP (kinda like IM2) and it seemed as if the movie just tortured us for 2 hours until we could get a glimpse of the next "Shared Universe" film. Man of Steel was great as well but after I left the theatre I felt as if it was another unnecessary reboot like Spider-Man except MOS was made to create... A Shared Universe, *sigh*... This sort of applies to Michael Bay too, he literally said he was DONE with the Transformers Franchise after Dark of the Moon but after Avengers, Transformers 4 is announced.

Anyway I dunno, it just seems as if whenever someone mentions those 2/3 words it pisses me off :P Even "spin-offs" is annoying. Thoughts?

no

I think you're kind of meshing "shared universe" with "sequel" such as the Transformers comparison. Sequels have been a hot commodity in Hollywood for the past 15 years now. And I dont see it changing anytime soon. Shared universes has nothing to do with that.

You do have a valid point though. I think "shared universes" can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it is totally becoming a cash grab. FOX has had rights to multiple comic book IPs for over a decade, and now all of a sudden they want a shared universe? What a load of crap.

On the other hand, it is kind of amazing what it has produced. The Avengers was an ambitious project. Tying together 4 different movies over the course of 5 years? I love it. And you cant forget that when Marvel decided to do it, they had no clue how big it was going to get. Not saying they werent financially motivated, but at least it was an original idea.

Only until after Avengers got the €€€s. You cant criticize the iron man films as Marvel invented the shared cinematic universe and it was new and not a cashing in on a fad.

@redlantern23: Your acting like Marvels shared universe wasn't done for the cash as well, you think they make these films out of the good of there heart?

#4 Edited by MaccyD (431 posts) - 1 hour, 18 minutes ago - Show Bio

Only until after Avengers got the €€€s. You cant criticize the iron man films as Marvel invented the shared cinematic universe and it was new and not a cashing in on a fad.

This!! They had the vision to attempt to make the movies intertwined like the books and it paid off BIG!

I'm not sure if anyone else agrees but it just seems that everybody at FOX are doing this for the money

lol. Yeah, because all other movie studios are just making these movies for fun.....not money.

/sarcasm.

Of course all the other studios do these movies for money, I mean't FOX's/Singer's/Mark Millar's recent actions make me think that they are ONLY doing it for the money - For example I mentioned Michael Bay in my OP, he's probably just doing Transformers 4 for the money. Like I said, he was literally done with the franchise he said so himself but after 2012's exploding Box Office hits he immediately hurls up another meaningless idea about more robots and explosions. FOX has kind of done the same thing. First Class wasn't necessarily meaningless but it seemed as if FOX created it to get back on their feet after the horrifying X-Men The Last Stand and Origins.

The Wolverine was completely pointless, doesn't even count as a redemption for X-Men Origins, it was more of a money mill for their 2013 budget - they could have adapted ANY other X-film or they could have just waited until Days of Future Past came out but they decided that since everyone loves Hugh Jackman they should just make another pointless film about him. Fox is just unreliable on all qualities, unfortunately.

@captain_beyond: Well to his credit. Bay did not want to do Transformers, he was sorta forced because, in order to get Pain and Gain made, he had to agree to make another one. Also, not just FOX, but all studios are in it for money. I do feel that, Marvel benefits with having actual comic fans or atleast people familiar with the material though. As for the whole "Shared Universe" thing; I like it.

Gives us a chance to see characters we may never have gotten a chance to. Like the Falcon, who saw that coming? I sure didn't. At the end it all comes down to who cares about making a Movie about a character. Or just making a movie period. Because even though Nolan made a hell of a movie, was it actually a Batman movie?

Of course. If Fox doesn't make a film every couple of years, they lose the rights to the characters, seeing as comic book films are a hot commodity these days, why wouldn't they make a film? I don't get your point.....you are complaining about Fox making movies for money....not because they "have to". You could say the same for every movie ever made. Especially Marvel films. Its pretty much a fact films like Captain America and Thor were rushed into production to build hype for Avengers.

@jonny_anonymous: read the last sentence of my post bro.....

an original idea? Like Aliens and Predator didn't do the shared universe before them?

@jonny_anonymous: Totally different scenario. Aliens vs Predator was an afterthought of the original two series. The Alien skull was shown in Predator 2, and the crossover didnt happen (on film) until a decade and a half later.

I'm not saying Marvel did the crossover first. But building up FOUR different franchises from the start with the goal of a shared universe as the number one priority? Yeah, thats a pretty original idea.

@jonny_anonymous: In fact I would say the only one who has come close as far as size and scope of a shared cinematic universe would be Tarintino with all of his films.

Well Avengers was a big change in film for 2012 alone, so of course other studios/directors would want to replicate what they did and that's not just FOX and DC/WB which is what you have to remember. I do agree though, fox and Singer are purely cash-grabbers but I also understand why... Don't they have to make at least 1 film every 10 years or else the rights revert back to Marvel? It's pretty simple but I hope that X-Men DOFP is the only film fox put's out this decade because I can't stand any other films than Marvel's and DC's, lol.

Depends, people need to understand the difference between a sequel and combining their universe.

I hate the idea of fads, so I can go half way on this, but "shared universe" is where all of this came from.

In the 60's, when Marvel started pumping out their heroes, they were all seperate until (wait for it) THE AVENGERS!

All of the big names were shoved into a book and they interacted on the same playing field, awkwardly as you may expect, bring different personalities, butting heads, the Hulk walks off, all because of the Marvel idea of a cohesive universe. IMO, I think it only makes sense that Marvel treats it's movie franchise like the source material. And it is far more interesting, too. And let's be honest. The scope of Marvel Studios is what makes it even more entertaining.

I will get behind the idea of shutting down the Transformers. How much more do they really have to say about the characters that they could not be bothered to give personalities to,anywayk?

But in general, if I like the characters and they have a legit journey to go on, then I want to be there with them.

P.S. If you are interested in movies that are not made for money, then get used to seeing movies that have no koney put into them. I like indie movies, too, but Avengers & Dark Knight would be very different movies if that was the case.