In this week of Story Lab we looked at the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an example of a transmedia story with a (near) limitless budget.

As an activity we had to try and map it out and show how each different part connected with the rest of the cinematic universe. Here is the diagram that we drew:

One interesting aspect that we looked at was how despite the MCU seemingly being made up of multiple sub-series (EG Iron Man 1-3, Captain America 1, 2 and Civil War, Thor 1 & 2 etc…) the “2’s” were not nesisarily sequels to the “1’s” and just watching all a of particular set would likely leave the viewer confused and missing vital plot elements. Iron Man 3 and Captain America 2 are not follow-ups to thier numerical predecessors, but rather direct sequels to The Avengers, which in turn relied on all the prior films to make sense. In this sense the MCU isnt really a collection of series, it is instead one mega-series of films.

We also observed the power-levels of influence, the MCU is made up of films and TV shows, but they are far from equal. The films dictate the direction of the universe and the TV shows have to follow, the reverse has never happened. For example in Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, the organisation S.H.E.I.L.D  is revealed to be controlled by thier enemy HYDRA and the established organisation is destroyed, the TV show “Agents of Shield” followed this and in the episode that aired the weekend of Winter Soliders cinematic release these events were shown to be happening, vasting changing the show.  But so far the opposite has never happened, an event in one of the TV shows has yet to have major ramifications for the next film release.

This is because Marvel expects everyone who watches the shows to keep up with the films, but doesnt expect everyone who watches the films to keep up with the TV shows.