Getting audiences to take a chance on a new cinematic universe is a constant struggle. But the thought of being the next Star Wars or Marvel — or, in the case of horror, the next Conjuring or Insidious — is enough to keep studios trying.
The newest attempt at a horror cinematic universe may actually break through that barrier: M3GAN, the sci-fi horror fable that launched a wide-eyed android (and a dance craze) in 2022, but it was soon followed by announcements of not one but two follow-up projects: M3GAN 2.0 and an erotic thriller spinoff movie titled SOULM8TE. A spinoff after only one movie is ambitious, but that’s the point: M3GAN might just have the pint-sized animatronic legs to compete against the big boys.
In a first look at M3GAN 2.0 for Entertainment Weekly, M3GAN director Gerard Johnstone evoked a major name when hinted at what’s to come for the sequel. “It is very ambitious,” he said. “I felt that the story should be bigger and increase in scale and scope, but it's still a minuscule budget [compared to] the Marvel movie scale.”
Could this be the start of the M3GAN Cinematic Universe? Because of the (relatively) small scale of the first movie, there’s lots of room to build on what came before and explore the world. When asked about M3GAN growing to an MCU scale, star and executive producer Allison Williams responded, “I am terrified to imagine what that would mean. What is the Thanos equivalent? Let's just keep going as long as they're interesting and each one has its own story to tell.”
M3GAN’s cultural clout may be enough to launch a whole cinematic universe.
But it doesn’t seem like there is any dearth of ideas. “Just jokingly, whenever the producers asked me what I think about a sequel, I've always said M3GAN 3000,” Johnstone said. “M3GAN in a Mad Max universe. I would absolutely line up to see that.”
That’s just further evidence of M3GAN’s potential: she’s such a fascinating character that putting her anywhere, from a tween’s bedroom to a post-apocalyptic wasteland, would make for good watching. The upcoming spinoff may not have M3GAN specifically involved, but it has the potential to prove the appeal of the original isn’t restricted to just the horror genre. The M3GAN universe may be the latest thing in sci-fi blockbusters, regardless of the involvement of the leading robotic lady.
