Sustaining a franchise as huge as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is definitely no cakewalk, and things have not always been going according to plan during its run for more than a decade.
There have always been stories going around of trouble lurking behind the scenes, and it was a premise interesting enough that HBO had decided to make an entire show around it.
The Franchise Pokes Fun at Big Blockbuster Movies
Enter the upcoming HBO series The Franchise which follows the story of a crew trying to keep a lucrative superhero universe running. The series is set to premiere on Max sometime this October, and the first teaser has officially been dropped.
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The description of the series is as follows:
“A team trapped inside the dysfunctional hell of creating franchise superhero movies, at the end of the day the question they face is: is this Hollywood's new dawn or cinema's last stand? Is this a dream factory or a chemical plant?”
The preview has only been described as a teaser, and it honestly shows very little of the show. So far, audiences only get a glimpse at the chaos of the production process, but anyone who follows the stories surrounding the making of these superhero franchises knows that there could be a lot of drama brewing behind the scenes from directors who are exhausted that their creative vision is being diminished, to actors having to be replaced last minute because of contract disputes.
Don’t even get started on the fact that big franchises like the MCU have a tendency to abuse VFX artists, with multiple horror stories going around online of the studio hoping to just ‘fix everything in post’ and demand for last-minute changes.
Who are the Cast Members
So far, it looks like Himesh Patel’s Daniel is going to be playing the part of a producer who has to wrangle everything together and make sure that everyone is doing their job when it comes to delivering the movie.
The Franchise also has a fun bit of meta-casting with the inclusion of some actors who have been in major comic book franchise. Aya Cash is best known for playing Stormfront for The Boys on Amazon Prime Video, and Daniel Bruhl and Richard E. Grant have also been part of the MCU, appearing in Captain America: Civil War and Loki respectively.
It’s also worth noting that filmmakers like Sam Mendes (James Bond films, 1917), Armando Iannuci (The Death of Stalin, Veep), and Jon Brown (Succession) are attached to the series, so it should give an idea for audiences on what kind of series to expect from The Franchise.
Do Meta Series Like This Work?
Though the premise of a show inspired by the making of the MCU could be interesting for some, it may not be a guaranteed hit when it comes to the general audience.
For example, Hulu’s Reboot was a series about making a sitcom, following the story of the writers and the actors; and though it was a hit with critics, it didn’t manage to grasp the interest of the general audience and was effectively cancelled.
Who knows, maybe The Franchise could end up being a comedy hit, but audiences will just have to wait and see this October if there really is an interest in knowing just exactly how anxiety-inducing running a superhero franchise could be.
The Franchise premieres on Max on Oct. 6.