Has introducing a multiverse story ever made anything better?

Wargames

One Of The Last Real Ones To Do It
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
Messages
27,192
Reputation
5,223
Daps
102,816
Reppin
New York City
It can work, you just have to lean it fully and then move on. outside of video games it’s a narrative device like a issue of “What if” that should tell a single story and reach a conclusion.

The issue with the marvel movies is they keep dropping hints and haven’t moved the story along to reaching a conclusion.
 

Fillerguy

Veteran
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
19,561
Reputation
4,755
Daps
82,235
Reppin
North Jersey
It's weird seeing people complaining about a concept that has been a staple and continues to staple in fiction for over 100 years.


Just because hacks abuse a trope doesn't mean the trope is the issue. Some of the greatest literature use some variation of multiversal concepts.
 

The Guru

Superstar
Supporter
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
9,364
Reputation
2,531
Daps
32,609
Reppin
NULL
Not to me. There are no absolutes anymore, something can always pop up from somewhere or when.
 

Raw Sauce

Superstar
Joined
Aug 16, 2015
Messages
9,574
Reputation
2,319
Daps
36,149
the issue comes down to stakes.
If you introduce a multiversal issue, you immediately neuter it's importance. "so what if things go terrible in this timeline. There are others :yeshrug:' becomes the immediate response, even if it's subconscious.
So, either it becomes a 'save all the universes' in which case the scope gets too big, or it's a big-ass Ye Shrug when stuff starts getting tough because all the important characters can just relocate to a less-bad timeline, since we know they exist now.

It's just better for the telling of a story to keep it grounded in, at least, a singular reality.

this in terms of telling a story with conflict. If it's more of a plot device in the background of a slice-of-life, romance or just an adventure it can be fine. But if you're trying to give it gravitas, quickest way to not do that is to have a multiverse. It's a nihilism dream being told that the whole universe as you know it is 1 of many and yours doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things
Yup

After decades of reading Marvel, the MCU was refreshing because it was just one, relatively smaller scale universe and it felt like things had permanence in a way comics didn't but that's all gone now.

Multiverses work in shorter stories where the multiverse is the entire point or adaptations that are celebrations of the original IPs, but they kill stories that are meant to be ongoing.
 

acri1

The Chosen 1
Supporter
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
25,050
Reputation
4,134
Daps
112,048
Reppin
Detroit
They work well sometimes, they're just overdone.

Flash Season 2 was an example. Was great when it was just Earth 2 and Earth 3, but once they started overdoing it in later seasons and spamming too many versions of Wells the quality went down a lot.
 

Jasonmask

Superstar
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
9,593
Reputation
2,790
Daps
26,219
It’s overdone and lazy atp. Everyone is just trying to recreate that marvel magic but some can pull it off
 

My Girl is Bow Legged

JUST DO IT LIKE
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
3,713
Reputation
1,544
Daps
25,344
yes

image-20241021185800-1.jpeg
 

2 Up 2 Down

Veteran
Joined
May 4, 2012
Messages
29,624
Reputation
3,180
Daps
71,947
Reppin
NULL
It's weird seeing people complaining about a concept that has been a staple and continues to staple in fiction for over 100 years.


Just because hacks abuse a trope doesn't mean the trope is the issue. Some of the greatest literature use some variation of multiversal concepts.
Any examples because I can't think of any
 

Fillerguy

Veteran
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
19,561
Reputation
4,755
Daps
82,235
Reppin
North Jersey
Alice in Wonderland
The Dark Tower series
Chronicles of Narnia
Discworld novels
Lensman series ( OG green lanterns before comics existed, from 1937)
The Wheel of Time


Norse (which marvel heavy leans on) and Buddhist mythology.
Hell even the nightmare before Christmas
 

Mike809

Veteran
Supporter
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Messages
16,667
Reputation
4,189
Daps
85,509
Reppin
Bronx
I love multi-verses. It answers the question of who would win between X from this universe , and Y from this other universe.
 
Top