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Is the Mattel Cinematic Universe the new Dark Universe?

Gemma Nettle
Mattel booth at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

Gemma Nettle

Following the success of Barbie (2023), which has crossed the $1 billion box office earnings threshold, multimillion-dollar toy manufacturer Mattel is expanding its empire to make more films. But is the cinematic universe a tired concept?  

Barbie (2023)

Mattel’s Barbie has been around since 1959, when American businesswoman Ruth Handler saw a gap in the market for children’s toy dolls in adult roles. Since then, Barbie has monopolised the toy market for over 50 years. Compared to Oppenheimer (2023), which was released on the same day and was the counterpart to what became widely known as the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, Barbie already had the appeal of a known intellectual property (IP) — it was clear from the outset this film would attract audiences.

 

The blockbuster opened to critical acclaim and has already earned “Barbillion”, or $1 billion dollars at the box office. The scale of the cinema spectacle’s success is rarely seen and these unprecedented levels of praise have only accelerated the film’s reach. It has acted as an accelerant to cinema earnings, bringing people back to the cinema after a tough few years following the pandemic and during the cost-of-living crisis. People are even dressing up for their excursion to see Barbie on the silver screen. 

The film was marketed as a solo venture and the plotline is seemingly complete – it doesn’t immediately lend itself to a sequel or a wider cinematic universe. In fact, it could be argued that audiences relished the idea of a fresh idea and plot because it was new, creative and, most importantly, standalone. 

The Mattel Cinematic Universe

Cue an announcement from Mattel, stating that it plans for 17 more films in a cinematic universe “as big as Marvel and DC.” The company owns a huge number of toys and games, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that it has even bigger plans beyond Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. 

The Polly Pocket live-action movie is the first planned, with Lily Collins announced to star and Lena Dunham to write and direct. Other IPs to be transformed into movie monopolies include UNO, Barney the Dinosaur — with Daniel Kaluuya set to produce —, Hot Wheels, Thomas the Tank Engine, Major Matt Mason, and even Magic 8 Ball. 

The news has been received with both anticipation and backlash, with many expressing the sentiment that Barbie should remain a lone venture. Fans argue that the movie’s success shouldn’t signal the beginning of another money-grabbing cinematic universe, and that the concept is a tired one.

Another Overpopulated Cinematic Universe

Following the expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which began with Iron Man in 2008 and still trundles on today, alongside Star Wars, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and many more, the cinematic universe market is becoming saturated. Are audiences becoming bored?

“We are no longer looking for big media empires, but confined stories that leave us wanting more.”

The MCU took over ten years to accumulate the cinematic universe we know today. The DCEU, however, attempted a similar feat in a much shorter time period and, as a result, the characters’ arcs suffered and so did audiences’ love for the films. 

Back when it was a rarity, there was certainly an appetite for franchises. But, as time has gone on and audiences have watched franchise after franchise, people’s tastes have changed and priorities have shifted. We are no longer looking for big media empires, but confined stories that leave us wanting more. 

https://twitter.com/HesomeKami/status/1684827692250832897

The Dark Universe: A Lesson in What Not to Do

In 2017, Universal Pictures released details of a plan for its new franchise, the Dark Universe. It had proposed up to 20 monster films to be released, including The Invisible Woman, Van Helsing and Dark Army. The studio then released The Mummy (2017), starring Tom Cruise, a reboot of Brendan Fraser’s popular action-adventure films.

Despite a strong start for the series, with a summer release slot and Fraser’s films having made millions, the action-horror flopped. It received poor reviews and only brought in about $80 million domestically. In fact, The Mummy was received so badly that the Dark Universe was abandoned altogether, never to be mentioned again. 

“Barbie has something important to say beyond the usual surface-level messages, and it seems that Mattel is merely cashing in”

The studio’s announcement of a cinematic universe before the release of the first film was an error which couldn’t be reversed. Universal’s failure to gauge audience reactions led to embarrassment for everyone involved, and the idea was eventually scrapped. 

At least, we can see that Mattel waited until Barbie became a glittering success before sharing the full details of its plans. Besides Polly Pocket, which was announced two years ago, the rest of their planned releases were, quite sensibly, held back. 

“It could go in a million different directions”

It’s hard to know what the response will be to these new Mattel releases, especially when a couple of them will involve questionable tropes — Daniel Kaluuya’s Barney the Dinosaur offshoot is set to be an “adult” film with “surrealistic” and “A24-type” elements.

“I think you fall into a bit of a trap if you try and set up a first movie whilst also planning for sequels”

There are even rumblings of a Barbie 2, but it’s been reported that Robbie and Gosling did not sign onto a sequel as part of their contracts for the first film. This has sparked calls to leave the original alone due to its strong message and great reaction. “It could go a million different directions from this point,” Margot Robbie told Time. “But I think you fall into a bit of a trap if you try and set up a first movie whilst also planning for sequels.”

Fans are understandably aggravated that Barbie has something important to say beyond the usual surface-level messages, and it seems that Mattel is merely cashing in. But, as with other film franchises, fans often choose not to consider certain stories “canon”. Though there will be a Mattel cinematic universe beyond Barbie, fans can choose to ignore the associated films or embrace them, as they wish.

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Featured image courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here. 

Gemma is one of our entertainment editors. She also works full-time as a reporter. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter @gemmanettle.

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