Anyone heading to the movies this weekend will have their choice of the best and absolute worst that Hollywood’s obsession with cinematic universes has to offer.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” may be riding high as the jaw-dropping animated exception to the rule, but swing into the wrong theater and you could be stuck watching “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.” Paramount’s 1990s-set prequel kicks off the beginning of the Hasbro Cinematic Universe: a toy brand crossover event (and veritable capitalist nightmare) established with a film so mediocre it’s hard to believe it was in the works for more than a decade.You can’t blame a studio for trying.
The gravity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe spun Hollywood off its axis years ago, centering already-popular IP as the money-printing sun of our storytelling galaxy.Hollywood’s love of a good sequel was nothing new, but traditional franchises were…
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