Shared universe
A specific kind of shared universe that is published across a variety of media (such as novels and films), each of them contributing to the growth, history, and status of the setting is called an "imaginary entertainment environment".
[2] The term has also been used in a wider, non-literary sense to convey interdisciplinary[3] or social commonality,[4] often in the context of a "shared universe of discourse".
[5] Fiction in some media, such as most television programs and many comic book titles, is understood by viewers or readers to require the contribution of multiple authors and does not by itself create a shared universe and is considered a collaborative art form.
[9] Some writers, in an effort to ensure that a canon can be established and to keep details of the setting believable, employ tools to correct contradictions and errors that result from multiple contributors working over a long period of time.
He laid out the following criteria:[12] The expansion of existing material into a shared universe is not restricted to settings licensed from movies and television.
For example, Larry Niven opened his Known Space setting to other writers initially because he considered his lack of military experience prevented him from adequately describing the wars between mankind and the Kzinti.
By contrast, author Eric Flint edited and published collaborations with fan fiction writers directly, expanding his 1632 series.
[16] A setting may also be expanded in a similar manner after the death of its creator, although this posthumous expansion does not meet some strict definitions of a shared universe.
[17] Less controversial posthumous expansions include Ruth Plumly Thompson's and later authors' sequels to L. Frank Baum's Oz stories and the further development of Isaac Asimov's Foundation universe by Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, and David Brin.
Examples include Robert Lynn Asprin's Thieves' World,[19] C. J. Cherryh's Merovingen Nights[20] and Janet Morris' Heroes in Hell.
[22] Although DC and Marvel's shared universe approaches to comics have set them apart from competitors in the industry,[23] other companies have attempted similar models.
Valiant Comics and Crossgen both produced titles primarily set from their inception in a single, publisher-wide shared universe, known respectively as Unity[24] and the Sigilverse.
Some film and television universes are accompanied by video games, and print works such as novels or comics, telling additional canonical stories set within the same continuity.
[26] This form was is conceptualized by Richard Saint-Gelais who described it as when "two (or more) texts exhibit a transfictional relationship where they share elements, such as characters, imaginary locations, and fictional worlds.
"[27][28] William Proctor in Horror Franchise Cinema (2021) wrote that Universal began transfictional storytelling by applying it to the film series, but these experiments were "not always conducted as carefully or as thoroughly as audiences, especially fans, would expect in contemporary terms".
[34] The Star Wars film series was created by George Lucas, produced by his self-funded production company Lucasfilm.
Additionally the Star Wars series expanded into video games, comics, novels, short stories, animated series, and RPG adventures, telling original stories based on the franchise, classifying it as an imaginary entertainment environment,[35] where the films share the same continuity as all the other media formats, regardless of the different media formats.
Lucasfilm's early teams under Carol Wakarska (later Titleman), Lucy Wilson, Allan Kausch, Sue Rostoni, and later, Leland Chee and Pablo Hidalgo, coordinated a cohesive story-telling and ensured consistency and synergy by avoiding plot holes between all the film and non-film works.
In horror, Forbes and The Hollywood Reporter described The Conjuring as the first successful cinematic universe after Marvel's, and as of 2022[update] the second most-successful after it.
A cinematic universe consisting of films whose titles are the names of songs by Simon and Garfunkel was proposed and publicly discussed by movie creators in 2017.
[53] The concept of "universes" has also occasionally been discussed in the context of reality television franchises (which, though documenting real-life individuals and situations, typically involve a significant amount of producer guidance).
[54][55][56] In a 2022 investor presentation, WBD executives referenced the "90 Day Fiancé Universe" as being a core franchise for the company, on par with Game of Thrones and the DC Comics superheroes.
At the 2015 D23 Expo, during the "Pixar Secrets Revealed" panel, director Mark Andrews rejected the theory, with Inside Out co-director Ronnie del Carmen adding "Do you know what kinds of meetings we'd have to have to make sure all our movies line up?!
The influence of the Internet on collaborative and interactive fiction has also resulted in a large number of amateur shared universe settings.
Though Command and Conquer does not refer to the alternate timeline of Red Alert, in which Hitler was removed before he came to power, what caused an Allied - Soviet world war instead.
