Marvel and DC: Are cinematic universes hurting cinema?

With Justice League’s underwhelming numbers, are cinematic universes hurting Marvel and DC?

With Justice League under-performing at the box office as of late, being the fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), I have to ask the question: are cinematic universes hurting cinema?

Marvel rocked the film industry with their own shared–universe, but what are they doing right that others like DC and Universal Pictures with their Dark Universe were doing wrong? Among the web space I keep hearing of a filmmaker-driven and producer-driven approach to world–building but there is more to it than that.

The problem is the salesman approach to film-making by studio executives and marketing strategists by announcing a shared–universe like a campaign.

Whatever approach for maintaining continuity within a franchise whether filmmaker-driven or producer–driven, each process has their pros and cons. The key elements are to have a writer’s room and all producers and directors to be unified and on the same page for their respective films and a consultant to bring a sense of consistency.

The difference between these methods: filmmaker-driven and producer–driven is simple. Producer–driven is approaching a cinematic universe much like a television series where a show-runner is in charge of the larger, grand scheme of things with a chart of this universe as a whole mapped. Not on an individual project. This is what Marvel Studios president and executive producer, Kevin Feige, has done.

Whereas, the heads at Warner Bros. have taken on the filmmaker-driven method, which is just that an auteur or director that has the keys to the kingdom and has control of each film in his/her creative process and rather than a broad focus on the larger universe, they work within the canon later without a superior overseeing the operation.

One thing I would agree is each method taken it has to be one or the other, it cannot be both, which Warner Bros. tried to do after the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in the DCEU.

Outside of Marvel and DC, a successful shared–universe are far and few in between. Like I mentioned before Universal Pictures’ Dark Universe; a modern re-imagining of the Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe, which is the granddaddy of shared–universes in motion picture form crumbled under its own weight after the release of this summer’s Alex Kurtzman (Transformers) helmed The Mummy back on June 9.

The architects of the Dark Universe, which included ace writer/producer, Chris Morgan (Fast & Furious, Wanted) envisioned remakes of Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame among others. On October 5, there was a report that Bride of Frankenstein was taken off the release schedule and then about a month later, producers Kurtzman and Morgan left the franchise.

The Mummy’s strengths were the performances from the likes of Sofia Boutella as Ahmanet, the princess that was cursed to become the titular character and Russell Crowe’s Dr. Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde and some of the action pieces; however the director sacrificed a strong narrative with a flock of writers for franchise–starting potential. This caused the tone, flow of the story and overall mise en scène to be inconsistent. Dr. Jekyll being a Nick Fury figure leading the S.H.I.E.L.D. type organization known as Prodigium that are dedicated to hunting monsters I got to say was an interesting take.

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Like The Mummy, King Arthur and Ghostbusters franchise-starters of yesteryear both failed. As The Guardian had vividly framed, cinematic–universes are becoming less connected between each film product and more standalone and the more studios retreat to old school, single movie film-making, the less likely more of this episodic format of films will happen.

The ones that are finally getting things right though are New Line Cinema’s The Conjuring Universe headed by James Wan, who had taken the producer-driven approach to such a franchise with The Conjuring series, the Annabelle series, and The Crooked Man and The Nun spin-offs. Another is Legendary Pictures’ MonstersVerse with the 2010s reboots of the King Kong and Godzilla franchises.

While some of the studios bask in the ambience of hitting their goldmine in having successfully created their own cinematic–universes, the other constant filmmakers and studio heads now must overcome is the cynicism of audiences of Hollywood remakes, sequels and high–concept films and inevitable franchise fatigue is something to talk about for another day.

But what of the industry Marvel and DC are known for that are now the secondary path to meeting characters like Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and Hulk? Well according to a piece from Movie Pilot, the comic book industry is on the brink of collapse, but publishers from DC Jim Lee and Dan DiDio have a plan to save it. While the sales are declining and there is a grand plan, the worse hit is the direct market and distribution i.e. comic shops. While comic-books may live on in digital form what could that mean for media franchises and the value of IP for independent publishers outside of the Big Two like Image Comics, Top Cow, Valiant and Dark Horse?

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Well, there is no secret that in terms of the market for cinemas, multiplexes and the like, it is on a steady decline and no VR or alternate technology are going to halt this anytime soon. If the quality for such franchises does not get to grips, then that sudden trend will disappear with other attempts at film adaptations from other publishers being hesitant to proceed into that shared–universe format.

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