The 7 Most Absurd Shared Universes in Hollywood History (& #1 Actually Happened)

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The success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe showed Hollywood that interconnected film franchises could be incredibly profitable. This sparked a trend in the 2010s where other studios tried to create similar universes. While not all succeeded, some, like Warner Bros.’ DC Universe and Legendary’s MonsterVerse, were able to build successful series of connected movies, TV shows, and related content.

Unfortunately, not every movie franchise takes off. While some cinematic universes thrive, many more fall flat. Here are seven of the most unusual attempts Hollywood has made at building one.

7) The 1000 AE Cinematic Universe

The 2013 film After Earth is widely considered a critical and commercial flop, derailing Will Smith’s plans for a large-scale franchise. Smith had envisioned After Earth as the starting point for 1000 AE, a multimedia universe that would include sequels, spin-offs, a television show, animated series, comics, video games, and even an educational program in partnership with NASA (according to ScreenRant). Unfortunately, the film’s poor reception led to the cancellation of these ambitious plans, and fans didn’t see a shared cinematic universe from M. Night Shyamalan until the release of Glass.

6) The Valiant Comics Cinematic Universe

While Marvel and DC dominate the superhero movie landscape, Valiant Comics once had plans for its own cinematic universe. The movie Bloodshot, starring Vin Diesel, came out in 2020 as the first step. The original idea, according to The Hollywood Reporter, was to continue with a Bloodshot sequel, then two Harbinger films, culminating in a crossover event called Harbinger Wars.

Although a follow-up to the movie Bloodshot was planned in 2020, there haven’t been any updates since. The original Bloodshot didn’t perform well in theaters and got only average reviews, so it’s unlikely that any sequels will be made.

5) The Robin Hood Cinematic Universe

A surprisingly unusual movie universe was once planned around the legend of Robin Hood. Sony announced the idea in 2014, starting with a pitch from Cory Goodman and Jeremy Lott (according to ScreenRant). Their initial plan was to create a Robin Hood film on a very small budget – just $1 or $2 million – and then spin it off into movies focusing on characters like Little John and Friar Tuck. The ultimate goal was to combine all these stories into one big crossover film.

It’s clear that a shared cinematic universe based on Robin Hood never came to fruition. While Goodman and Lott developed a pitch for the first film, it was never produced, and the reason for its cancellation remains unknown.

4) The King Arthur Cinematic Universe

King Arthur is another legendary figure who almost launched a full cinematic universe. In 2017, Guy Ritchie directed King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, aiming for an exciting, large-scale retelling of the classic stories. The plan was to create a six-movie series, with each film highlighting a different Knight of the Round Table, culminating in a team-up movie (according to Film Stories). Unfortunately, the first film didn’t do well in theaters, earning only $148.7 million worldwide despite costing $175 million to make.

3) The Dark Tower Cinematic Universe

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series aimed to tie together many of his earlier books using the concept of a multiverse. When interconnected cinematic universes were becoming popular, it seemed like a great idea for a movie adaptation. The 2017 film The Dark Tower was intended to launch a full cinematic universe with sequels and TV shows (according to Looper). Unfortunately, the film was a failure with both critics and audiences, effectively ending any hopes of a Stephen King-based cinematic universe.

2) The Dark Universe

Back in the early days of cinema, Universal created a series of interconnected monster movies. They tried to revive this idea in the early 2010s with a project called the Dark Universe. The 2014 film Dracula Untold was intended as a first step, but when it didn’t succeed, the studio moved away from that approach. The Mummy in 2017 officially launched the Dark Universe, with plans for a whole series of monster movies, including 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.

After The Mummy didn’t succeed, Universal scrapped plans for a connected universe of monster movies. It’s strange because they had already made a lot of progress, including casting actors like Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp, but those plans were ultimately abandoned in favor of individual, director-led monster films.

1) Sony’s Spider-Man Universe

The idea of a movie universe centered on Spider-Man’s villains, portrayed as heroes without Spider-Man himself, sounded like a bad plan. Surprisingly, Sony actually tried it. Despite a string of unsuccessful films like Venom, Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter – none of which were well-received – they continued making them. Development was also unstable, with projects like El Muerto being announced and then quickly scrapped.

Honestly, as a fan, I’m not sad to see Sony’s Spider-Man Universe wrapping up, especially with Kraven the Hunter being the final film. It feels like we got a lot of movies nobody really asked for, and it’s just… disappointing. It wasn’t just bad on its own, either – it even seemed to drag the MCU down a bit, like with that post-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home. It’s easily the weakest cinematic universe Hollywood has tried to build.

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2026-03-13 18:14