Logan Director Thinks Cinematic Universes Are the “Death of Storytelling”

Director James Mangold (Logan, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) thinks that cinematic universes haven’t been a good thing for the movie business. In fact, Mangold is going so far as to say that era of building big blockbuster-sized interconnected franchise universes is the “death of storytelling” as we know it! 

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Mangold – the man who directed two Wolverine movies in Fox’s X-Men Universe, and an Indiana Jones film – made it clear that “I don’t do multiverses.” 

“It’s weird that I’ve even worked in the world of IP entertainment because I don’t like multi-movie universe-building,” Mangold explained. “I think it’s the enemy of storytelling. The death of storytelling. It’s more interesting to people the way the Legos connect than the way the story works in front of us.

Admittedly, Mangold isn’t saying anything that we haven’t heard before. Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe became a billion-dollar phenomenon there were writers, directors and others in Hollywood (and beyond) who said that the larger franchise universe saga would could at the expense of ever individual project being able to tell a complete story. In the last five years, as movie universes have expanded to include streaming and TV content, that particular criticism has only grown, with even dedicated fans often claiming to feel unsatisfied with their viewing experiences. The lack of consistency has also been a major issue, as the parts have increasingly failed to add up to a cohesive whole. 

Mangold understands that frustration –  However, the filmmaker claims that his approach is telling a standalone story – one that can affect the audience:

“For me, the goal becomes, always, ‘What is unique about this film, and these characters?’ Not making you think about some other movie or some Easter egg or something else, which is all an intellectual act, not an emotional act. You want the movie to work on an emotional level.”

As he says that, James Mangold also finds himself taking on some new cinematic universe projects. Mangold has been tapped to make a Star Wars movie about the beginning of the Jedi Order, as well as a Swamp Thing movie in James Gunn’s new DC Universe franchise. Both are projects that should allow Mangold to have amount of autonomy while still playing ina franchise universe sandbox – much like his fan-favorite film Logan, which told the final story for the X-Men Universe’s Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). To its credit, Logan has been revealed as such a heartfelt and powerful story that even Marvel Studios’ new Deadpool & Wolverine film honors it as something above and beyond so many other “chapters” of the franchise. 

[NOTE: Mangold’s comments were regarding whether his Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line could make a cameo crossover with his new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, which will hit theaters late this year.]