As you’ve probably figured out at this point, I am a huge fan of anything that involves superheroes. I am always on the look out for new information about Marvel or DC’s upcoming films, even though I have never been big fan of reading the comic books. Part of what makes these stories so interesting to me, is their ability to interpret a story line and bring it to life on the big screen. One of the things that has been standing out to me lately is the idea of a cinematic universe. Anyone who has been keeping up with Marvel’s upcoming films has probably at least heard of Marvel’s cinematic universe, and how it will unfold over several phases.
Now before we get further into it, let me try to explain first what I mean when I mention a cinematic universe. When most people think of a movie series, they probably think of self-contained story lines, or sequels that really only are relevant within it’s own films. Where universe’s come into play, is when you have separate film story lines that are not necessarily sequels or spinoffs, but they merely compliment other films within their universe. In a sense, within a cinematic universe, you don’t have to worry about the crossover between characters and how they fall within the story line of another film in the franchise. Instead, characters are able to share the same stage because they operate in the fluid story lines. Senior, Communications major, Nate Shugrue, who is a Marvel Comics fan has enjoyed the crossover between Marvel films. “It’s cool how they have had crossover where some characters appear in movies other than their own as supporting characters, and yet it still flows well.”
Let me give you one of my favorite examples. As shown in one of my earlier blog posts, Quentin Tarantino is one of my favorite directors, however many fans may have overlooked or were simply unaware of the cinematic universe he was creating within his own films. CSU graduate Jason Thue who minored in Media studies had the following to say about this universe, “Pulp Fiction for example, really stuck out to me with its use of “chapters,” where individual characters are given their shot at playing the protagonist, antagonist, or simply a supporting role.” Let me get my inner nerd on for a second to explain. In Tarantino’s 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs, he introduces the character of Victor Vega (otherwise known as Mr. Blonde). Two years later in his follow up film Pulp Fiction, the audience is introduced to Vincent Vega. While most people simply did not pay attention to the names or may have written it off to coincidence that Tarantino gave two guys from unrelated scripts the same name, the truth is that Tarantino created an easy to miss universe where these two seemingly unrelated characters were in fact brothers. He even went as far as to mention the potential film he had planned involving these brothers:
“I even had a title for it. It was called Double V Vega. It actually would have taken place during the time Vincent was in Amsterdam, when he was running one of Marcellus’ clubs in Amsterdam. And Vic goes to visit him,”
Without going much further into the theories of how Tarantino’s films are all connected, let’s get back to how this is relevant today. Even in the example of monster films, Universal Studios has began their run on this whole universe idea, with the release of Dracula Untold. Senior Mathematics major, Ben Santos likes the potential for future films, “I am a huge fan of Marvel movies, but it’s even exciting to see this style spilling over into other genres.” It seems as though the film industry might start taking note of what Marvel, DC, and now Universal has begun. Although it can be said that movies have been doing this for years dating back to the original Star Wars, it is exciting to see this kind of storytelling unfolding into major motion pictures.
movies in the making 