The Marvel Cinematic Universe proved to Hollywood that cinematic universes were a source of major profit, leading to a craze in the 2010s of studios attempting to recapture the MCU’s success. Some, like Warner Bros.’ DCU and Legendary’s MonsterVerse, were able to pull this off, successfully creating a franchise of linked movies, TV shows, and spinoffs.
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However, some franchises weren’t so lucky. Not all cinematic universes are created equal, and far more fail than succeed. So, here are seven of the weirdest cinematic universes that Hollywood has attempted.
7) The 1000 AE Cinematic Universe
2013’s After Earth is often considered to be one of the worst major studio releases of all time, which was bad news for Will Smith’s ambitions for the franchise. Originally, Smith wanted After Earth to launch a multimedia franchise that would be called 1000 AE (via ScreenRant). Outside of sequels, the franchise would have also featured spinoffs, a TV show, an animated series, comics, video games, and even a NASA educational program. However, these plans were abandoned after the film’s critical and commercial failure, meaning that fans had to wait until Glass to see a M. Night Shyamalan cinematic universe.
6) The Valiant Comics Cinematic Universe
The MCU and the DCU are the two biggest cinematic universes, but there was the possibility of a third comic book cinematic universe based on Valiant Comics. In 2020, Bloodshot was released, starring Vin Diesel as the titular Valiant character. Originally, Bloodshot was supposed to be followed by a sequel, two Harbinger movies, and then a crossover with Bloodshot titled Harbinger Wars (via THR).
A Bloodshot sequel was in development throughout 2020, but nothing has been heard about it in years. The first Bloodshot was a box office failure and received mixed reviews, meaning that these other projects probably won’t be happening.
5) The Robin Hood Cinematic Universe
One of the strangest cinematic universes to have spent time in development is one based on Robin Hood. Sony’s plans were announced in 2014, with the project starting as a pitch by Cory Goodman and Jeremy Lott (via ScreenRant). Sony hoped to make the original Robin Hood movie for only $1 or $2 million, before moving on to make films about supporting characters like Little John, Friar Tuck, and more. Eventually, a crossover movie would have brought all the characters together.
Obviously, the Robin Hood Cinematic Universe never happened. The first movie from Goodman and Lott’s pitch was never made, although it has never been explained why.
4) The King Arthur Cinematic Universe
Another character of myths and legends that almost got its own cinematic universe was King Arthur. Guy Ritchie’s 2017 film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was an attempt to make an action-packed epic focused on the classic stories. The film was meant to be the first in a six-movie saga, with each of the later movies focusing on other Knights of the Round Table before a crossover movie ended the series (via Film Stories). However, the 2017 film was a box office flop, making only $148.7 million against a budget of $175 million.
3) The Dark Tower Cinematic Universe
The Dark Tower book series was Stephen King’s attempt to connect many of his previous works via the Multiverse, and during the cinematic universe craze, this seemed like the perfect pick for a film adaptation. 2017’s The Dark Tower was meant to start a Dark Tower cinematic universe, with movie sequels and TV spinoffs (via Looper). However, The Dark Tower was a critical and commercial flop, ending any plans for a Stephen King Cinematic Universe.
2) The Dark Universe
Universal Monsters were kind of a cinematic universe back in the day, so Universal decided to take another swing at it in the early 2010s. 2014’s Dracula Untold was meant to be a soft launch, but after that film failed, the Dark Universe distanced itself from it. So, 2017’s The Mummy properly started the Dark Universe, and it was supposed to be followed by movies titled Frankenstein, Wolf Man, Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Van Helsing, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
This franchise obviously never happened after The Mummy‘s failure, with Universal deciding to focus on artist-driven standalone monster films in the future. What makes this so odd is how much was already planned out and announced, with actors like Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp being cast but never used.
1) Sony’s Spider-Man Universe
A cinematic universe focused on Spider-Man villains being treated like superheroes without the involvement of Spider-Man at all seems like an awful idea. However, it actually happened. Despite failure after failure, Sony kept releasing movies like Venom, Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter, even though nobody really liked them. Plans were always shifting, with projects like El Muerto being announced and canceled frequently.
After years of movies that nobody was asking for, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe seems to finally be over, going out with a whimper from Kraven the Hunter. This franchise is the worst cinematic universe that Hollywood had to offer, and it even infected the MCU, as can be seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s post-credits scene.
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