Hey guys, welcome back to my blog! Today I’m talking about cinematic universes whichch is definitely not the norm on my blog, but I had an itch to talk about them today and discuss them with you guys, so please let me know your thoughts in the comments!
What is a cinematic universe?
To my knowledge, a cinematic universe is where different movies or tv shows form to create a coherent story. Think Marvel (MCU), Godzilla/Kong or The Flash & Supergirl (DC CW shows in this vein).
I’m not totally sure about this but in my mind there’s also a difference between a franchise (Jurassic Park/World) and a cinematic universe (MCU, DCEU) but I’m not quite sure how to explain it coherently.
Franchise – same characters etc.
CU – characters from different movies teaming up and converging – basically a convergence of media to form one story.
Do cinematic universe actually work?
Marvel seems to be doing pretty well but they also adhere to a certain brand and not everyone loves all or any of the movies. For example, I’m not a fan of Doctor Strange and now he’s going to be a big character in the future movies so I’m not sure how much I’m going to love some of the future team-up movies in that universe.
Whereas, the DCEU is an actual mess at the moment. DC seems to be doing better with unrelated storylines rather than an actual cinematic universe. I mean, we all saw the mess that was Justice League, right? I would say that Aquaman and Wonder Woman both did well but a lot of the other movies like Justice League and Man of Steel have done really badly.
The only other universe I can think of that has actually succeeded is the Godzilla/Kong universe and I think this also only appeals to a certain type of viewer. I would also like to add, that these movies & the MCU movies are only successful because the majority of them are background movies that you can watch mindlessly because, for the most part, they’re not all that complicated and follow the same formulas.
How much is too much?
Over the past few years, we’ve seen the MCU do some amazing things but, they’re also now incorporating tv shows into their line up with the addition of a streaming service. So now, to be able to follow the “storyline” of the movies in each phase you will have to see roughly 4 movies a year (not something everyone can afford) and they will have to subscribe to a streaming service to access and watch the shows. I don’t know about you, but as someone who doesn’t watch a lot of tv and who has absolutely NO interest in certain characters, this sounds like a lot of work and I’m not keen on it. For example, I have no interest in the Falcon and The Winter Soldier so I’m sure I’ll be missing out on a few references and storylines in the future.
This might be okay for 1 universe, but what if the DCEU and Godzilla and others started doing the same thing. Would you be able to keep up? I certainly couldn’t, and I doubt I will be able to with just MCU.
Failed Cinematic Universes.
- That weird The Mummy Tom Cruise one i don;t know man it was weird and failed pretty quick
- Star Wars maybe? Some of the movies are genuinely good but damn, it went down the drain fast! (We stan Rogue One and The Mandalorian though)
This was kind of weird and new for me + I really didn’t have a point to make so why did I even publish this… but I just randomly felt the need to chat about cinematic universes and how I’m kind of burnt out with the MCU so here we are! π€·ββοΈ
What other cinematic universes do you like?
Do you think you can keep up with Marvel?
Are you a Godzilla/Kong fan?
an
allonsythornraxx 
This is such an interesting post! Personally, I define Cinematic Universes as a sort of franchise where the story is consistent or everything takes place in the same universe. So the movies/shows don’t have to be technically connected, but they all happen within the same canon.
I like cinematic universes in that way because it’s always fun to see crossovers and just a general sort of fun consistency across a number of films. Like the Disney TV show crossovers? Amazing!
But there are definitely loads of failed cinematic universes that I think were trying to capture the success of the MCU. DCEU is number one out there, those movies have no consistency and they should just give up and have them all be standalones π
Also I can’t believe you brought up that Mummy movie π« That was such a mess, I’m cringing from the memory of it. I actually really like the Star Wars universe though! I haven’t seen most of the movies, only the original 3, no prequels or any of the recent ones. But I’ve seen the shows, Star Wars Rebels and The Mandalorian, and I just love the established universe that they have!
Great post Ellyn! Sorry for the super long comment π
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While I love Superheroes movies, I just can’t get into superheroes TV show! I’ve tried both DC and Marvel and I just couldn’t get into any of them sooo Β―\_(γ)_/Β― I think some people already caught the superhero and cinematic universe exhaustion as we have to keep up with so many things and they can be pretty formulaic and therefore, boring.
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I agree! I’ve never finished a superhero tv show so I don’t have high hopes for the ones coming to Disney+! Yeah, I agree, I think a lot of people are tired of mcu and dceu movies and I’m definitely the same!
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I think the MCU leading up to Endgame is really cool but also there’s sOooOOoOO many and it can get a little annoying missing random references and not understanding everything because I’m not up to date on 23 movies… idk
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I agree, it was ana amazing effort with great pay off but, there are definitely mcu movies I don’t plan on seeing in cinemas (when they’re back open) like Black Widow just because I have no interest in it! It will definitely be hard to keep up with!!
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This is a super fun discussion! I’m not sure how I feel about cinematic universes β I like them to a degree, but I definitely think they can get over-done. Like with Marvel, tbh I’m so burnt out on the MCU for the most part. I kind of want to catch up and watch them all, but at the same time, do I care enough to do it? Questionable…
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Thank you! I agree! I like the idea of them but keeping up with them is totally different!
I agree, I’m pretty burnt out with the MCU too!
Honestly, I would stick with the movies with characters you like and then watch Endgame and keep it at that! (Skip Infinity War and then just watch the last 1/3 of Endgame because those movies are honestly kind of pointless)
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Oh noooo! Thank you for the heads up, though.
I just feel so meh about some of it! Like I adore Thor as a character (who doesn’t lol) but I can’t stand Natalie Portman, so she puts me off his solo films… sigh. lol
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Haha I understand! I would skip Thor 2 bc it doesn’t really effect the mcu and it’s god awful and I would go straight to Thor 3 bc it’s so much fun and I think you’d love it! If you want I can make you a list of mcu movies to watch or skip if you’d like! It’s a big commitment!
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I use to like superhero movies. Now I must prefer quiet standalone movies. It appears that a lot of people are burnt out on superhero movies.
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I can understand that! I haven’t watched a superhero movie in ages and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything!
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