Marvel Studios has definitely done something that hasn’t been done before with the way they’ve interconnected their films and that’s impressive by itself. But they’re also connecting to at least one TV series so far with Agents of SHIELD, even if the theatrical receipts aren’t translating to people watching at home going by last nights ratings for the critical and key episode. But the fact that they’re doing it and have the Netflix deal coming up that will add more characters and potentially the Agent Carter series as well, there’s a whole lot of interconnectedness going on.
Which has people asking Warner Bros. and DC Comics what’s going on with them, since fans obviously want the same out of those properties. Part of the problem is that there still isn’t a unifying visionary in that camp to really force it through by will and business acumen and the other is simply the corporate mentality of Warner Bros. itself compared to the mini-studio that is Marvel Studios, even within the larger Disney framework.
What Warner and DC Comics is doing right though, if you don’t care for the theatrical direction at the moment, is how they’re working the TV angle. They’ve done a whole lot right with Arrow and have the connected Flash series that should land in the fall alongside an unconnected(?) Gotham series to expand that world sans capes and the like. A lot of fans are hopeful that the actors and characters established here, which are largely doing grounded works that would fit in with the Marvel mentality, can make the leap to theatrical as well with the existing big boys that are being brought in. That was asked of Man of Steel screenwriter David S. Goyer recently and it’s apparently not something they’re looking at yet.
“I mean, it’s too early. I know that Warner Bros. would love to make their universe more cohesive. There have been a lot of general conversations about that, but it’s really, really early. I’m not sure. Marvel has had enormous success, but I’m not sure that everybody should try to emulate them either. It’s just been vague conversations so far.”
Would you want the two universes to connect and crossover?
