Abolish Inter-Movie Continuity

July 21, 2012

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…at least that’s what one member of the Syndicate thinks! Keep reading as Mike-EL weighs in on continuity in comic book movies.

Originally posted on July 21, 2012.

Dear DC:

Please follow the example of Christopher Nolan and avoid inter-movie continuity. There can’t be a ‘Superman’ in the Batman film franchise and its impossible to maintain the atmosphere of, say, John Constantine if he has to tie in with The Flash.

It was a cool idea when Stan Lee made all Marvel titles crossover in the 1960s, but if audiences really do want ‘realistic’ (or at least logical) stories with internally consistent atmosphere and genre, consider this: How can the audience participate in the journey of a hero if, at the first sign of trouble, all a hero has to do is activate their Justice League wrist watch and have Wonder Woman come to save the day?

Imagine if Bruce Wayne’s banishment to the West African prison (in Dark Knight Rises) took place in the DC Comics cinematic ‘universe’: How long before the Justice League figures out he’s been missing before they go rescue him? Answer: One nano-second. That’s how long it would take the Flash to search every corner of the Earth before finding him.

Grant Morrison said it 22 years ago: “ALL continuity should be abolished. It doesn’t matter if Aquaman’s Atlantis matches up with Superman’s Atlantis”.

‘Explaining’ inter-title inconsistencies does not make comics better –it only appeals to an obsessive/compulsive desire to control and catalogue a fictional universe that should only exist as a framework to tell good stories.

-Mike-EL