With Marvel Studios setting the precedent for shared universes regarding comic-book films, (and making good chunks of money in the process) it was a matter of time before the rest followed. Marvel Studios is relatively young, having their first film Iron Man make a great debut in 2008, it helped kick off what is now known as the massively successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. As of now it has released 9 films totaling
$6,374,676,540+. And with four more films with a release date already set it's only safe to assume that it will keep on adding towards it's total world box office gross.
Poster created by: DeviantDsigns
Warner Bros./DC is the only studio that owns and has absolute control of all of its super-hero and super-villain roster. Despite that, the only characters to have graced the silver screen on a titular role are Superman (7X), Batman(10X), Swamp Thing(2X), SuperGirl(1X), Steel(1X), CatWoman(1X), Jonah Hex(1X). and Green Lantern(1X). Although four different properties (Superman, Swamp Thing, SuperGirl, and Batman) totaling 7 films were realeased in a span of 9 years, there was never any indication that they all shared a universe. Except for the SuperGirl film which was a spinoff of the Superman film series.
Warner Bros./DC are currently in the works to setting their own cinematic universe by having two of its most iconic characters on a live-action film for the first time in history together in the newest film set to drop on May 6, 2016, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will work as a setup for a Justice League film. Therefore Finally creating a cinematic universe and opening the doors to more fan-favorite characters to grace the screen.
Sony Studios has the rights to Marvel's most popular superhero: Spider-Man. It released a trilogy between 2002-2007. It was successful until Spider-Man 3 came along. With it's overcrowding of villains it had little time to flesh out the characters the right way and it suffered because of it. Although there were plans to continue the series with a 4th Spider-man film, Sony decided to cancel that plan and reboot the franchise. Which it did in 2012 with the Amazing Spider-Man.
Sony also announced their plans to build a shared universe with the vast gallery of characters that are related to Spider-Man.
Their plans consist of a Sinister Six movie, a new Spider-Man film, and it is rumored that there is a possibility of a Venom film also being in the works.
Sinister Six Poster created by: Bweeks2
Now what about Fox Studios?
Fox holds the rights to Marvel's "First Family", the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. At one point Fox released three films in consecutive years, (Fantastic Four-2005, X-Men: The Last Stand-2006, and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer-2007). Yet they never made an attempt to acknowledge one another safe for a small deleted scene on the Fantastic Four film(2005), where while having a conversation with Sue about their relationship, Reed Richards manipulates his skin to look like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine from the X-Men films.
Like Sony, Fox made a trilogy of X-Men films and again, like Sony, the third film made a lot of money but failed to maintain the good momentum the series had been enjoying until that point. One more time, just like sony, they decided to reboot the franchise and start anew with X-Men: First Class. it brought a new breeze of fresh air to a property that was starting to lag.
Fox Studios can easily make a huge universe out of the X-Men property alone if it wanted to. given the abundance of characters that inhabit the mutant world, be it heroes or villains. Having all those characters can keep a franchise afloat by bringing in new fresh faces and keeping it from going stale when using the same characters over and over again. What's that you say? The characters from the original trilogy have joined the ones from the reboot to fix the plotholes in the previous trilogy by traveling back in time? And they succeeded in their goal of cleaning up timelines and making an awesome film? What's that now? The Fantastic Four are also getting a reboot? And it has already begun filming? Don't have much faith in that one huh? What if both films share a common writer? One that knows the story that is being worked on in each film and although he has claimed it might be complicated to merge them into a single universe, could make everything work. How? Well, with how it seems X-Men: Days of Future Past turns out, timeline wise, and given that the Fantastic Four are basically just coming into the world, it seems like these are two franchises that have just created a new beginning for the paths their stories will take. One that could very well see them cross paths down the line, maybe a small cameo here or there. Even a small reference that hints at the others existence.
With new beginnings comes new possibilities.
Then again, they could just go back to their formula of having the properties be self contained to their own universe and avoid any future continuity issues that might plague the films in the long run.
What are your thoughts on how Fox Studios could best take advantage of these two properties that have some very interesting characters that can move them forward in their development and stay afloat in the long run?
Would you keep them separate or make them crossover? How would you go about making a shared cinematic universe?