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Logan director James Mangold has made it clear that he doesn’t like multiverses, arguing that they are “the death of storytelling.”
Multiverses, which have become popular, especially within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, are “a collection of different universes that are thought by some people to exist at the same time,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary. The device allows stars from different franchises to appear in movies together, such as Iron Man appearing in a movie with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Mangold made the remarks in relation to his forthcoming Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, based on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! about the controversy surrounding Dylan’s switch to electrically amplified instrumentation in 1965. Timothée Chalamet will star as the singing legend.
When asked in a Rolling Stone interview if fans could expect to see a Johnny Cash character, Mangold gave an affirmative response, confirming that the country icon will be played by Boyd Holbrook (Narcos).
After the interviewer noted that some fans were “hoping this would become a cinematic-universe, multiverse return-of-Joaquin Phoenix situation” – Phoenix starred as Cash in Mangold’s 2005 Walk the Line – Mangold responded: “I don’t do multiverses. But beyond that Johnny Cash was like, 30.
“I love Joaquin, but he’s not 30, or whatever Johnny was at this moment,” he clarified. “They’re both young people in that moment in life. It’s weird that I’ve even worked in the world of IP entertainment because I don’t like multi-movie universe-building.
“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.”
The 60-year-old filmmaker continued: “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.”
Mangold’s comments come after Hugh Jackman made his highly anticipated return as Wolverine in Shawn Levy’s new Deadpool & Wolverine, despite his superhero having died in Mangold’s 2017 movie, Logan.
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In 2022, when it was first revealed that Jackman would return for the third Deadpool, Mangold reacted with a simple gif depicting Wolverine’s death, which fans interpreted as him being “salty.”
“Oh my gosh! Everybody chill. Just kidding! I’m all good!” Mangold subsequently tweeted. “LOGAN will always be there. Multiverse or prequel, time warp or wormhole, canon or non-canon or even without a rationale, I cannot wait to see what madness my dear friends @VancityReynolds and @RealHughJackman cook up!”
The following day, Ryan Reynolds and Jackman addressed fan confusion about Wolverine’s status after Logan.
“Logan takes place in 2029. Logan died in Logan. Not touching that,” Reynolds assured in a video posted to X. “What actually happens in our film is these two f***ing guys...”
To refrain from spoiling the film, Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” begins to play over their voices as they animatedly continue their explanation.
Deadpool & Wolverine is playing in theaters now.
