'It’s the enemy of storytelling': Logan director James Mangold hates multi-verse movies
James Mangold hates multi-verse movies because he thinks they're "the enemy of storytelling".
The 60-year-old director has helmed Marvel blockbusters like 'The Wolverine' and 'Logan' but isn't looking to bring this cross-over idea over to his upcoming Bob Dylan biopic 'A Complete Unknown', which stars Timothee Chalamet as the music legend.
Asked if Chalamet's Dylan could cross paths with Joaquin Phoenix's Johnny Cash from his 2006 flick 'Walk the Line', Mangold told Rolling Stone magazine: "I don’t do multiverses. But beyond that, Johnny Cash was like, 30. 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.
"It’s weird that I’ve even worked in the world of I.P. 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."
The 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' director added he wanted to make films that focus on character-driven stories that work on an "emotional level", instead of flicks that are preoccupied with impressing fans with 'Easter eggs'.
He explained: "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."