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Are you Ready for the MCU (Mattel Cinematic Universe)?
The ‘Barbie’ company is about to blast its toy box all over the silver screen. Are you ready for this Cambrian explosion of cinema?
With the super successful Barbie movie likely on its way to the billion dollar club at the box office, Mattel is ready to unleash the rest of its numerous branded toys into theaters.
It all started in 2018, when new CEO Ynon Kreiz, faced with declining toy sales, decided to transform Mattel’s catologue of toys into movie IP. Just like Marvel did. And like WB tried with the DCEU, and is trying again. And what Universal tried with its disastrous “Dark Universe” with 2017’s The Mummy. Everyone and their grandma is trying to make a cinematic universe. But will Barbie end up being Mattel’s Iron Man, or will the smash satirical hit prove to be a one off? Time will tell.
In the meanwhile, Mattel has 14 projects in various stages of development, according to Variety. This got me to thinking. What would they look like? What would they be about? Would they try to make them super smart, super feminist, and super socially-conscious like Barbie? Or would each be its own thing? Would they be connected, with a big Avengers-style mash-up every few years, or would they be stand-alone projects? How the…
