Poll The Future of Cinematic Universes

[Grendelsbayne]

With the ten year anniversary of the MCU still very recent, I've been thinking about its impact on the industry and the way so many other companies desire to emulate the shared cinematic universe strategy. A number of attempts have already crashed and burned at their first attempt (Ghostbusters, Universal Monsters), others are still forging ahead with arguably mixed results and there's no shortage of grand claims about plans for future entrants into this arena.

It makes me wonder about the future of the whole concept. Ten years from now, will there be a whole series of different but equally popular CUs to choose from? Will Marvel remain the only studio really capable of nailing the concept (at least in terms of sustained critical and financial success)? Or will they all be gone to the dustbin of history, with the general public simply having gotten bored of them or tired of the need to keep up with everything? What do you think the future of the concept will look like?

 

[Kibbin]

I'm not sure about Marvel. I think Infinity War is going to be a big thing and while I will put money on there being a spiderman movie etc some years from now I'm not sure how a shared universe will work for them post wiping out half the universe. Can you build from that? And if so can you do so for long (so yes they might get Galactus but while the comics can keep bringing him back every few years will the movies get away with the same without feeling old and tired.)
I think enough people are trying for cinematic universes that one will stick. Though I'm not convinced anyone will crack the formula for one that will go on for ever.
I.E I can even see a new Star Wars being made in ten, twenty and even fifty years from now and I think they would be wary of rebooting Star Wars (so be default it will be in the same continuity as TPM, ANH, TFA, etc) but I wouldn't call that a cinematic universe in the same way that Marvel has now.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I'm not sure about Marvel. I think Infinity War is going to be a big thing and while I will put money on there being a spiderman movie etc some years from now I'm not sure how a shared universe will work for them post wiping out half the universe. Can you build from that? And if so can you do so for long (so yes they might get Galactus but while the comics can keep bringing him back every few years will the movies get away with the same without feeling old and tired.)

I've never put much stock in the idea that each new villain has to dwarf everything that came before. I think marvel has plenty of places left to go post-Thanos, especially if the Fox deal goes through. That opens up not just Galactus, but also Doom, Kang, the F4, and most obviously the X-men with all of their many, many villains and stories.

The real questions, I think, to put to the future viability of the MCU are:

Will Avengers 4 cement the pay-off of the first three phases, or will it potentially disappoint everyone and deliver a major blow to the brand?
Will people still show up in the same numbers once Hemsworth, Downey and Evans are all gone?
How long is Feige still going to stick around in the same job he's already had for a decade and is there anyone who can really replace him without making serious mistakes?
And does Marvel Studios necessarily even want the MCU to continue forever? Or do they want to build up to a grand finale, then reboot to do something completely different?

I think enough people are trying for cinematic universes that one will stick. Though I'm not convinced anyone will crack the formula for one that will go on for ever.
I.E I can even see a new Star Wars being made in ten, twenty and even fifty years from now and I think they would be wary of rebooting Star Wars (so be default it will be in the same continuity as TPM, ANH, TFA, etc) but I wouldn't call that a cinematic universe in the same way that Marvel has now.

Yeah, I think Star Wars is only just barely on the edge of the CU idea even now. I include it because the narratively unrelated side stories do feature characters like Leia, Vader, Tarkin, etc, but so far they're really not doing anything with them other than filling in some background, and Solo's results may indicate that that whole approach isn't very solid. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the side stories fade away leaving just one line of star wars saga films.

I do question the extent to which any more new CUs will arise and be succesful. Maybe I'm not hearing the right buzz, but every example I've found of stories about potential new CUs seem to be focusing on properties that I just don't see ever being popular enough to maintain an entire universe. In fact, the only one I could even think of myself that I would expect would actually work (other than what already exists) would be a Harry Potter CU, but that's not even being tried yet, really, since Fantastic Beasts are almost completely separate from the original films. It's really just a prequel series with one character crossover.

 

[Kibbin]

I disagree about Marvel but only to level where we would be arguing semantics I think. I'm sure I read somewhere that they've said they are going to be trying to do something different post IW so maybe they will indeed just drop the whole CU aspect and just turn out more standalone flicks. Ironically just what DC is trying to do at the moment and getting mocked for.
Star Wars to me is like Ghostbusters. You watch the first. Say that it's popular, successful, profitable, etc and surely you could get a load of movies out of this with new casts writers and directors and yet neither the original talent nor new talent seem to be able to pull it off (I.M.O). It's strange.
I wonder if Potter will try and go CU after Fantastic Beasts. There are already bets being placed on them adapting cursed child into a movie. I wonder if they might then spin off from that with the older actors (and or others if we can't get Daniel, Rupert) as a wizard cops series while the younger cast carry on at Hogwarts for their own seven film series.

 

[Kane_Steel]

Marvel obviously.

Feige isn't going anywhere it seems, and his leadership and direction = quality.

Marvel is also getting back X-Men, Fantastic Four and all the Fox/Marvel properties with the upcoming merger, so they have more than enough juicy material to keep the MCU strong for the next decade.

They don't need Iron Man or Cap anymore. They can retire, and just do cameos from time to time.


Can't wait for Avengers VS X-Men, or Secret Wars. It's probably where Phase 4 is leading.



The DCEU is screwed, royally.

 

[OCD Geek]

As long as Feige's in charge of the MCU Marvel will be fine. There's no indication he's leaving anytime soon, and he's said he has plans through the 2020s.

Feige and Bob Iger have said that they plan to at the very least keep the Fox X-Men Universe Deadpool stuff going post-buy out as it's getting acclaim and making a ton of money. Feige probably has no MCU plans for the character either given how R-rated his exploits are. That gives us Deadpool 3 plus an X-Force trilogy, which probably gets us to ten years from now.

Star Wars and Star Trek will both still be going. They're two of our biggest and most popular genre franchises. Discounting them due to Discovery and Solo's failures is a folly. So will Doctor Who, although I don't know if you're counting that one due to it being entirely TV and audio play based without any (non-Peter Cushing/out-of-continuity) movies.

Wonder Woman aside, the DCEU is completely fucked. They say they have new leadership that will right the ship, but they already tried that ages ago. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

As long as Feige's in charge of the MCU Marvel will be fine. There's no indication he's leaving anytime soon, and he's said he has plans through the 2020s.

Feige and Bob Iger have said that they plan to at the very least keep the Fox X-Men Universe Deadpool stuff going post-buy out as it's getting acclaim and making a ton of money. Feige probably has no MCU plans for the character either given how R-rated his exploits are. That gives us Deadpool 3 plus an X-Force trilogy, which probably gets us to ten years from now.

Star Wars and Star Trek will both still be going. They're two of our biggest and most popular genre franchises. Discounting them due to Discovery and Solo's failures is a folly. So will Doctor Who, although I don't know if you're counting that one due to it being entirely TV and audio play based without any (non-Peter Cushing/out-of-continuity) movies.

Wonder Woman aside, the DCEU is completely fucked. They say they have new leadership that will right the ship, but they already tried that ages ago. I'll believe it when I see it.

I wasn't really counting anything from tv. It's the Cinema(tic) Universe that's the trend here. Tv shared universes have been fairly common for a long time, and I don't see any significant changes happening there right now either.

In terms of Trek, though, there is no shared universe currently. Disco and Kelvin are in different realities. Maybe if they actually go through with both Kelvin 4 and Tarantino trek, they might share a universe, but as you said about DC, I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[JD]

Marvel will definitely still be around, and I would like to think that by that time DC will have gotten their shit together and the DCEU will also still be around.
Despite some people saying Solo is the beginning of the end, I really can't see Star Wars going anywhere.
Star Trek will definitely still be around too. it looks like Discovery was enough to convince CBS to go all in on Trek, so unless something drastic happens I have a feeling we'll be back to getting new on screen Star Trek on regular basis for the foreseeable future.

 

[Venardhi]

Star Wars will be around in some shape or form, though maybe not as active as it is currently.

Marvel will definitely be around. They've got so much material to pull from it is a no brainer, even if the movies aren't making half as much as they are currently by then.

Fox's X-Men universe will die with them. Deadpool will probably cross over with a wink and a nod and the rest will be rebooted.

I expect a few series like Jurassic Park and The Fast and the Furious will make comebacks every few years until people stop enjoying cars and dinosaurs. No reason not to make them fit the existing universe. JP seems like it'll be ripe for a reboot in a decade or so though.

Someone will make the next Harry Potter by then, and for that matter I expect Rowling will keep finding ways to expand that universe for decades to come one way or another.

Star Trek will be around in some way shape or form. As a cinematic universe though. . . I'm iffy.

And I'm sure there will be many others.