PTE95: Masters of the Universe

[Neon Ignition]

Ever the contentious subject, we've reached a point where the Cinematic Universe is a tagline for big money. This is despite only one CU arguably being off the ground. None the less we're in a position where the networks and studios have decided that this is the future and this is where they're going to be funnelling all their attention for the next 10-15 years. As a part of that we have been offered line ups which give us more insight into the coming years than studios have ever given before.

In this PTE we're going to look at what we're facing in the coming years, starting with a breakdown of just what that actually includes:

MCU: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Currently the reference point for everyone and the only one to include TV projects. We currently have:
Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter and Daredevil
With the incoming:
Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Spiderman: The New Avenger, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Infinity War Part 2, Inhumans, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage and The Defenders

DCU: DC Cinematic Universe
One of the few to have its first film out in the market and set to ramp up quickly. Currently:
Man of Steel
With the upcoming:
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League: Part 1, The Flash, Aquaman, Shazam, Justice League: Part 2, Cyborg and Green Lantern with rumours of an eventual Man of Steel 2 and stand alone Batman entry

TCU: Transformers Cinematic Universe
Existing films are out but this one is one of the series retroactively being rolled into a shared universe. Currently:
Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon and Transformers: Age of Extinction
With the upcoming:
Transformers 5, Transformers 6, Transformers 7 with rumours of a Combiners movie taking the lead on the first tie-in entry.

JCU: Jump Street Cinematic Universe
An unlikely thought but one that seems to be on the way. Despite the movie culture mocking, this comedy series seems to be headed towards cash cow status as Sony looks to cash in on its properties. Currently:
21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street
With the upcoming:
23 Jump Street, rumoured female led Jump Street and rumoured Jump Street and Men in Black crossover entry.

GCU: Ghostbusters Cinematic Universe
Probably Sony's most aggressively planned CU since Spiderman imploded on them. Plans are to have at least one film per year out. No films exist in the planned universe as Sony has opted to ignore the two films already out. It will currently be based on:
The upcoming:
Ghostbusters reboot, Ghostbusters tatum buddy copesque entry, Ghostbusters prequel and Ghostbusters Tatum and female cast crossover

SCU: Star Wars Cinematic Universe
Likely the easiest one to start given that the parent company has experience now with it and the franchise and tie-ins have always operated in a similar fashion. The biggest change up here is the expansion on films and the severing of existing content as of 2015. Currently:
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Rebels
With the upcoming:
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Episode VIII, Star Wars Episode IX, Star Wars Anthologies I: Rogue One, Star Wars Anthologies II, Star Wars Anthologies III (one of which rumoured to focus on Boba Fett) and rumours of Star Wars Episode X

UCU: Universal Monsters Cinematic Universe
A throwback to what is possibly the original CU. Universal is setting in motion its plans to set up its own cinematic universe, not on Fast and Furious as you might expect, but on its old Monsters pantheon. A number of films are initially planned with Charles Dances elder vampire the connecting thread like Nick Fury was in the early Marvel films. Currently:
Dracula Untold
With the upcoming:
The Mummy, Untitled Monster Entry, The Wolfman, Val Helsing

XCU: X-Men Cinematic Universe
It might not have started out as one per se but it's kind of been the grandad of this current wave even if it's taken its time organising itself as a CU as they've become. Currently:
X-Men, X-Men 2: Unite, X-Men 3: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past
With the upcoming:
Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine 3, Gambit, X-Men: The New Mutants and still rumoured X-Force

VCU: Valiant Cinematic Universe
Currently the most vague of all planned CU's. Valiant Comics have only so far confirmed a deal with the chinese company that backed Iron Man 3 to bring its characters to the big screen in multiple films that will span its own CU. So far no films have been set but the first should be within the year assuming the deal doesn't turn sour.

KCU: King Kong Cinematic Universe
Another one as Legendary Pictures looks to establish its own CU. This time based on King Kong and his fellow creatures. The first film will be a prequel to the classic King Kong story covering the discovery of Skull Island. Legendary hopes it will flesh out in various era tales over time but are also keeping the door open on retroactively including Godzilla for a face off down the line. Currently:
Possibly Godzilla
With the upcoming:
Skull Island, rumoured King Kong reboot and possibly Godzilla 2

UWCU: Underworld Cinematic Universe
As part of plans to resuscitate the vampire series plans are to retroactively turn it into a CU with various projects to expand the scope of its timeline. Currently:
Underworld, Underworld II: Evolution, Underworld III: Rise of the Lycans and Underworld IV: Awakening
With the upcoming:
Underworld V, Underworld new generation spin-off and rumoured Underworld TV series

RCU: Robin Hood Cinematic Universe
No word yet on whether this is a definite thing but Sony was said to be bidding for the rights for a Robin Hood CU which would see films based on individual characters from the classic tale with team up entries all toned like Avengers/Fast and Furious films.

LCU: Lego Cinematic Universe
The success of the first film led Warners to very quickly nail down the Lego movie rights and to fill its schedules quickly with projects. The same plan as Ghostbusters exists here to have a film out at least once per year with various shared universe nods and spins. Currently:
The Lego Movie
With the upcoming:
Ninjago, The Lego Batman Movie, The Lego Movie Sequel and rumoured Ninjago 2


Even without other films and sequels and reboots etc, it's an immense amount of releases with no end in sight. But for some the birth of the cinematic universe is also a dream come true, allowing their favourite characters to finally interact.

What are your thoughts on the trend and which ones (in this multi-option selectable poll) are you in favour of?

[Dogg Thang]

Out of all these, there is only about two that actually exist so far, and really only one that has done it properly. The rest is your OCD about putting CU after every movie announcement!

So for me, Marvel trump all because they are the only ones to actually do it. The rest either haven't happened yet and may never happen or they are actually just a bunch of sequels or prequels rather than a united universe among many different movies.

[QualityChimp]

That must've taken ages to write! I appreciate your efforts!

I'm not against cinematic universes, but they all seem a bit "me-too".

90% of these are going to fall on their arses as soon as one film doesn't do well at the box office.

[bash]

I think/hope the DC cinematic universe is on the right track. Loved MOS and BvS is looking to be going in the right direction. Suicide Squad Im 50/50 over but I prefer WBs tone.

Fox have a bad track record when it comes to the X-men cinematic timeline making sense but now its rebooted in a sense so will be interesting to see how they move forward. They've been so reliant on Hugh Jackman that they ignored the possibilities of seperate Cable/X-Force/Deadpool movies to have crossovers until now. Although I reckon Deadpool will be out of the cinematic universe anyway.

The rest is nonsense and will get binned, Dracula Untold for instance was awful. The star wars universe will always make sh1tloads of money. At least Jump Street will be self referential and know the absurdity of what they're doing. the comedy pair feel right together and can do at least 2 more movies without outstaying their welcome IMHO

I really like Godzilla 2014 but dont want a kong crossover. Not even sure I want a kong prequel although my younger self would've sh1t his pants at the thought of all this.

I cant believe Thundercats or He-man isnt being made sooner, I'd fooking love a Skeletor movie if done well and he has a camp voice

[Asura]

Voted for MCU and nothing else, though I do see the DCU as legitimate.

Most of the other ones are pointless, and I refuse to use the term to describe them.

Marvel works because it descends from a bunch of seperate things that have grown together, like the comics upon which it is based. Ditto for DC.

Something like Ghostbusters is ridiculous. Ditto for Transformers. Transformers could justify it if they were to merge, I dunno, GI Joe, Transformers and something like StarCOM.

Star Wars isn't a CU because it's just Star Wars. That's how it works.

[Neon Ignition]

I think the concerning aspect about cinematic universes is the definition that most studios seem to have of them. It's true that in several instances above that the films planned could effectively just be considered sequels and spin-offs such as with Transformers and Ghostbusters, but studios seem to using the term as almost a greenlight to spam audiences with releases.

Traditionally, Marvel and DC would probably be the only ones considered as CU's but 8 of on the list are already officially considered so by their studio despite how early on they are. 2016 to 2018 alone is going to see a torrent of films come out.

Whilst I've never bought into the hollywood killed room for smaller films angle, it's certainly not hard to imagine if this all works as there won't really be room for anything to get exposure, especially with Marvel and DC alone increasing their output from 2018

[Dogg Thang]

All it will take is a few big name flops to have most studios reverse this strategy. And there will be big name flops. There always are. This is why I genuinely don't think most of these will ever end up as a cinematic experience universe in the way the Marvel one is. My feeling is that Star Wars will do it but that's because it's always what Star Wars has done, just not exclusive to cinema. But it will be more movies and spin-offs (Ewok movies...) rather than Marvel's way of making each movie important in its own right.

The only interesting one to watch for me will be DC because I suspect that Superman vs Batman will do massive numbers but I have a feeling that they'll see a massive drop off in other films and they won't be able to achieve what Marvel has done. I wouldn't be surprised if the outcome ends up being just a series of new Batman movies.

[kryss]

So...no Masters of the Universe movie? Aww...