I'm not a fan of cinematic universes

[plastroncafe]

Wow, in-the-wild hipster opinions.
I didn't think there were people who actually felt that way.

Neat. Also sad, but still neat.

[TheSkeletonMan939]

I don't mind them per se but garbage like the Monster Movieverse that Universal is trying to do is the epitome of putting the cart before the horse. The Mummy film was marketed largely based on its part of a 'larger universe'. It flopped, big surprise.

[Wildcat]

No I like the idea universes.

I haven't seen the Marvel movies but I will sorta agree that having multiple superheroes in the same world makes things more convenient for them to win but then there is multiple villains too, right?

But no I like crossovers and team ups. Seeing forces join or fight each other is cool. They've always been around it's just called universes now.

This really does seem more like a rant though.

[snake]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

Wow, in-the-wild hipster opinions.
I didn't think there were people who actually felt that way.

Neat. Also sad, but still neat.

It's sad that I don't drink the cinematic kool-aid?

Good to know where your priorities are. I guess when you're 50+ there's not much else going on, but come on Plastron.

[AT-Man]

I f*cking love cinematic universes, when they're done right, like Marvel. MCU might be the only one, dunno lol.

[NinjaPug]

How many cinematic universes do we actually have?

Marvel
DC
Godzilla monsters
Star Wars (I guess...only because they started with the anthology movies)

All of these should be connected universes IMO.

They're planning them for Transformers, Sony Spidey and the Universal Monsters but that doesn't mean they'll actually happen.

Seems like a weird thing to complain about. I guess if you only watch "blockbusters" then it seems like the percentage of franchise movies is too high. That's easily correctable.

[ToTheNines]

I fail to see the problem with the concept. It just sucks that everyone other than Marvel is so bad at it. But to be fair, DC mastered the shared universe thing in comics and animation before they did.

[GoldMutant]

There's seemingly going to be another film franchise involving the Hanna-Barbara cartoons. It starts with a reboot of Scooby-Doo next year. So, five film universes together by then.

You could also count James Bond, but I don't. Depends on who you ask.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by GoldMutant

you could also count James Bond, but I don't. Depends on who you ask.

They certainly were aiming for it with that Halle Berry spin-off that mercifully never materialized

[Allio]

as many has said as long as it is done well it is alright. But if done poorly then it is really a waste.

[sdp]

I think most people here would agree with Panda Kahn, but apparently he edited his post? Because I don't understand the backlash he's been getting. I love continuity and have since I was a kid and always connected shows or tried to explain inconsistencies for example in the Hanna-Barbera universes and whatnot.

Even in film these shared universes existed and it was awesome when it happened but it wasn't until Marvel successfully pulled off the MCU that it became something all studios wanted and that's what the problem is, since all these studios are aiming for the universe for the $ without actually caring to build up their movies. People also praise Marvel when they were just as guilty as this, IM2/Cap1 and even Thor all felt like "get the origin out quickly to get to Avengers".

DC could've made it right, you didn't need to build up each movie, people already know Sups and bats and a JL movie could've just introduced everyone else and then they could've had their solo movies but whatever, and DC definitely wanted to make their own shared universe with GL but they played it as "no we won't". Similar Universal always said in interviews for the mosnterverse that they would make "single" movies and only connect were possible but all those were lies and they really shoved down this universe on us.

Fox with the X-Men it works fairly well and you can argue that they wanted to build this shared universe for a long time before Marvel with their "origins" films that were scrapped, so they were doing it before and are still doing it right. I always connected the previous Marvel films as "one" unvierse with Stan Lee as the "connector", it wasn't until more than a decade later that it became a reality.

So yeah, I love shared universes and continuity likely more than the average person here and while it's a dream that "shared universes" are a thing now, sadly most are approaching it in a bad way. This is nothing new, I remember more than a decade ago being in comic forums and most would complain that every comic had to be connected to the "event" and that there wasn't time for "single" stories with the heroes before going to the next big event.

[plastroncafe]

Originally Posted by snake

It's sad that I don't drink the cinematic kool-aid?

Good to know where your priorities are. I guess when you're 50+ there's not much else going on, but come on Plastron.

Originally Posted by snake

The culture that's sprung from these is just disgusting. Suddenly it's cool to be a "nerd", and you gotta flaunt it by showing off your latest Funko POP and Star Wars shirt.

I didn't call you a hipster for not liking poorly done cinematic universes. I called you out for being a hipster because of the sentiment in bold.

This is at least hipster rationale, and at worst gatekeeper wankery.
For years the whine from the geek communities was:
Why doesn't anyone like what I like?
I'm so alienated because no one likes the thing that I like!

And now it's:
THEY'RE LIKING IT WRONG!

So yeah, I do find that sad.
I found it sad when I was your age, and I'm sure I'll find it sad when I'm 50+

With regards to your comment about Westerns, however...
I submit the following Youtube Criticism.
Spoilers for Logan:

[ProactiveMan]

I think the shared universe concept is a good fit for comic book movies. The execution may not always work 100%, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. It’s all about intent at the end of the day, and if they’re making movies in a shared universe because it adds something to the audience’s enjoyment of the pictures then good work, have at it. If they’re doing it because the head of production overheard somebody talking about shared universes one evening at the racket club, and they want a piece of that sweet MCU pie, then they are taking their audience for granted and they’ll probably stuff it up. The good thing is that the people who are doing it right will make money and keep doing it, and the ones who are screwing up will go broke and do something else.

I’m a movie fan; I don’t want to see cinema turn into television, but I don’t think that is going to happen. People are still making loads of neat, self-contained movies, they’re just not making them about Batman at the moment.

[Spike Spiegel]

Not all cinematic universes are created equal. It's a little difficult to reconcile the greatness of Wonder Woman with the fact that it's a DCEU film.

It's not so bad to connect things, but forcing those connections makes it feel less organic in terms of storytelling.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Originally Posted by Spike Spiegel

Not all cinematic universes are created equal. It's a little difficult to reconcile the greatness of Wonder Woman with the fact that it's a DCEU film.

It's not so bad to connect things, but forcing those connections makes it feel less organic in terms of storytelling.

Wonder woman is the perfect object lesson in how you connect things; the only reference int the entire movie to the connection is Bruce Wayne's e-mail. The rest of it is Wonder Woman's story, without other heroes popping up.

[ToTheNines]

That was lame as hell. I'm glad the flashback was all her, but the bookend scenes should have done more tie in work.

[chrisdude]

These characters should be able to carry their own films. We don't need kids in the future looking back, wondering why we got a bunch of movies that can't be fully appreciated on their own.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by chrisdude

These characters should be able to carry their own films. We don't need kids in the future looking back, wondering why we got a bunch of movies that can't be fully appreciated on their own.

Many people would tell you that the greatest Batman story ever was Miller's TDKR. It heavily features Superman and other Leaguers. Don't recall anyone complaining about that.

[plastroncafe]

Future kids will then know what it's like to get in on a comic book franchise in the middle of a run.

Why would we want to deny them that?

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

That was lame as hell. I'm glad the flashback was all her, but the bookend scenes should have done more tie in work.

I guess this is where I disagree with everyone, I perfer when I go to see a movie about a character, it be about that character and their supporting cast. You don't need aquaman popping in to bring back a Kryptonite spear, or cyborg showing up in a TV report, or the flash just popping up, saying something cryptic, and running away. Smallville's first episode did it perfectly, when Lex's dad was reading a newspaper with the headline 'queen industries CEO missing', or Clark looking at an internet headline about a guy running at super speed.