James Mangold’s views on multi-movie universe-building have sparked conversations within the film industry. The director, renowned for his work on films like The Wolverine, Logan, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, brings a unique perspective to franchise filmmaking.
Mangold’s Standalone Approach to Franchises
Mangold firmly believes in treating each of his projects as stand-alone entries rather than interconnected pieces in a larger puzzle. As he stated in an interview with Rolling Stone, I don’t do multiverses… It’s the enemy of storytelling. The death of storytelling.
His commitment to focusing on the uniqueness of each film is evident throughout his career.
The Bob Dylan Biopic and Franchise Crossover Hopes
With Timothée Chalamet taking the lead as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, some fans anticipated a cameo from Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as Johnny Cash from Walk the Line. Instead, Mangold cast Boyd Holbrook as Cash, emphasizing his disinterest in creating crossovers between distinct narratives. He bluntly stated, It’s more interesting to people the way the Legos connect than the way the story works in front of us.
Mangold’s Perspective on Universe-Building
Mangold made it clear that he values emotional resonance over intellectual stimulation through Easter eggs or fan service. He pointed out that The amount of lore and Easter eggs and fan service starts to become antithetical to any of this stuff at a certain point. It isn’t storytelling anymore. It’s large-scale advertising.
Diving into Standalone Projects
Despite his stance against multiverses, Mangold remains open to working within established franchises if given creative freedom. His upcoming involvement in a new standalone Star Wars movie serves as a testament to this.
In Mangold’s words:You want the movie to work on an emotional level.
