James Mangold on Why Movie Multiverses Are the ‘Death of Storytelling’

James Mangold has expressed that he’s clearly not a fan of cinematic multiverses.

While the filmmaker has helmed several sequels, including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Logan (2017) and The Wolverine (2013), he likely won’t be looking to direct an installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is known for its “multi-movie universe-building.”

“I don’t do multiverses,” Mangold recently told Rolling Stone when asked if audiences could expect to see Joaquin Phoenix’s Johnny Cash return in the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. Mangold previously directed Phoenix’s Oscar-nominated performance in 2005’s Walk the Line.

The director confirmed that fans won’t see any crossovers in A Complete Unknown, as Boyd Holbrook portrays Johnny Cash in the film.

“I love Joaquin, but he’s not 30, or whatever Johnny was at this moment. They’re both young people in that moment in life,” Mangold explained. “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.”

He 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.”

It’s not uncommon for franchises to include Easter eggs related to other movies to capture the audience’s attention, or to include character crossovers — think of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which featured all three versions of the superhero from Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire.

Most recently, the MCU multiverse is what allowed Hugh Jackman to reprise his beloved Wolverine character for the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, as his Wolverine technically made a heartbreaking sacrifice at the end of Logan.

Though Mangold won’t be dabbling with the multiverse anytime soon, that doesn’t mean he won’t be helming more franchise sequels. He is set to direct Lucasfilm’s upcoming feature Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi.