As it stands today, even after a decade and a half of the franchise’s existence. the MCU is still the biggest and most revolutionary cinematic franchise to have been created in the history of cinema, which might never change even in the future.
But looking at things in retrospect, some keen-eyed observers may have realized that the idea of the shared multiverse that the franchise boasts of wasn’t pioneered by Marvel Studios originally.
Many people may have recognized the fact that the idea of a shared universe filled with superheroes and villains has been shown in the DCAU even before Kevin Feige took the reigns of Marvel Studios.
This was made possible under the leadership of the legendary DC producer and animator Bruce Timm, who popularized the idea of a superhero world, although, slightly differently than what Feige did.
How Bruce Timm’s DCAU Utilised The Idea Of A Shared Universe Before The MCU
The first film in the MCU, which was none other than Iron Man, was perceived to be an entirely separate project under Marvel Studios, and with each film in the MCU after that, it was revealed that those films were connected to one another, leading up to a conclusion down the line.
While it may not have been the exact same idea, the DC Animated Universe led by animator Bruce Timm had a similar concept of a shared multiverse way before the MCU was even conceptualized.
After the success of 1992’s Batman: The Animated Series and its subsequent series with Superman as the main protagonist, the DCAU realized that many of its productions overlapped with other projects by Warner Bros. and they were left in a whirlpool to try and fix this (via Looper).
Therefore, under Timm’s supervision, the DCAU worked as a complete yet separate entity that would have multiple versions of the same superheroes and villains in a cinematic universe. This was where Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige differentiated the MCU by combining these storylines into one narrative for a chance at epically concluding them down the line in segments called Phases.
Just in 2022, the DCAU had four different versions of Batman in different adaptations of different storylines from the pages of DC Comics in the character’s lore, which was also seen recently in Matt Reeves’ The Batman in the DCU’s Elseworlds narrative.
Thus, the idea of a shared universe became a major inspiration for Marvel Studios and a simple change in it made them the biggest thing in cinema history.
Does Marvel Studios Plan On A Shared Superhero Universe?
So far, we have seen the MCU take on. different characters and bring them to the big screen through the franchise, but rarely two completely different versions of them.
This started to change with the Disney+ animated series What If…?, where different versions and alternate realities started to be showcased in the MCU, which to a certain extent, is a shared and separate universe until it also merges with the main timeline. The only other proper shared yet separate world that has been shown in the franchise is the recently released X-Men ’97.
Even before it was available to the public, it was confirmed that this wasn’t a canon show to the main MCU timeline, which made it a separate entity. And with the introduction of the X-Men to the main universe in the future, this show will remain as probably the only separate version of these superheroes in the MCU.
X-Men ’97, streaming on Disney+.
