In addition to Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe at Warner Bros., many other film studios are in the process of building shared movie universes, some of which aren’t based on superheroes or comic book characters. Legendary Pictures is crafting a shared universe featuring Godzilla and King Kong, while Universal is working on one following classic movie monsters. Paramount, meanwhile, is expanding their existing Transformers series into a cinematic universe and more recently announced another shared universe using multiple Hasbro properties.
Oscar-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman helmed the writers’ room for Paramount’s Transformers universe and was again tapped to work on the shared universe consisting of G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, ROM The Spaceknight, and M.A.S.K. Now, Paramount and Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures have announced the screenwriters joining Goldman in the writers’ room.
THR is reporting 11 writers will working on the Hasbro cinematic universe in addition to Goldsman, including many who worked within other shared universes. Check out the full list of writers:
- Michael Chabon, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay who worked on Spider-Man 2 Brian K. Vaughan, Eisner award-winning comic creator of Y: The Last Man and Saga as well as showrunner on Under the Dome Nicole Perlman, co-writer of Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel Cheo Hodari Coker, showrunner and writer on Luke Cage John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the writing team on Spider-Man: Homecoming Joe Robert Cole, a writer on People vs. OJ Simpson who worked on Marvel Studio’s Black Panther Lindsey Beer, a writer in Paramount’s Transformers writer’s room Jeff Pinker, who adapted Stephen King’s The Dark Tower Nicole Riegel, who penned the Blacklist script Dogfight Geneva Robertson, a writer tapped for the new Tomb Raider film
Additionally, Hasbro’s CCO Stephen Davis, who will be serving as a producer on all films in the universe along with the company’s chairman and CEO Brian Goldner, spoke about their process in putting together the writers’ room as well as their focus on gathering a diverse group of voices and perspectives:
The efforts of Hasbro and Paramount to include both men and women in the writer’s room as well as people of color certainly speaks to the company knowing the diversity of their audience and building a cinematic universe that will appeal to everyone within that audience. Other shared universes have also worked to include more diversity both on screen and behind the scenes. In terms of directors, there’s Patty Jenkins directing the Wonder Woman film at Warner Bros. and Ryan Coogler helming Black Panther at Marvel.
We first and foremost put together a list of writers who we wanted to be in business with and could be the world-builders that we needed. But we want to be sure that in the room we have diverse perspectives, diverse backgrounds and diverse experiences. … Female empowerment is a central theme through a lot of these properties and one of the reasons we wanted diverse voices.
But, it seems Hasbro and Paramount are aiming to have that diversity in their shared universe from the get-go. Plus, with the number of talented writers joining Goldman in crafting this cinematic universe, it has the potential to be successful in tapping into the nostalgia surrounding these Hasbro properties while bringing them to life for an entirely new generation as well.
Next: Not All Shared Cinematic Universes Are Created Equal
Stay tuned to Screen Rant for more information about the Hasbro shared universe including G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, M.A.S.K., and ROM The Spaceknight as it becomes available.
Source: THR