How The Cosmere Could CRUSH The MCU! 📈📉

My thoughts on how the Cosmere could by the MCU's natural successor, and maybe correct the course for cinematic universes.
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[@DanielGreeneReviews]

To my final point about structure and endings, do you agree? Would CUs with endings help this type of movie storytelling be more sustainable?

[@Radiant_93]

Absolutely! The MCU at the moment is proof of that. While yes, they are still successful, it’s now coming across as “let’s see what piece of gum sticks to the wall.” From personal experience, I remember being so hyped for the each and every movie in the Infinity Saga. Now… well now I think I’m a few movies and shows behind because it has just lost *something* Structure may be the word. Knowing there is a solid ending gives you a sense of structure!

[@TheIronJaundice]

Adaptions = Distractions May we all be blessed with more books. ;)

[@njabyss]

@@Radiant_93 Agreed.

[@davidwilson6577]

I don't know that that's actually true. You can move from major plot arc to major plot arc with very little connection indefinitely. Just setting your stories within the same universe isn't a mandate to write some kind of broad conclusion that ties every thread together. I think the problem is way simpler. The writing is bad. The plots are incoherent, characters are inconsistent and unlikeable, the fundamental physical nature of the entire universe conflicts with itself. The fundamental nature of the entire multiverse conflicts with itself. It's just a mess and no amount of brainpower invested will get you closer to understanding it because it's incoherent. Did you know that wizards draw power from the multiverse? That's in the first Dr. Strange movie. Oh, but Kang was a thing then... so there wasn't a multiverse... because he erased every reality that wasn't his sacred timeline... which, by the way, timeline means universe. But also, no it doesn't. And how about them convergences, huh? Wild.

[@davidwilson6577]

I blame the Russo brothers for introducing time travel. It seemed cool at the time, but that movie's kind of a mess by itself.

[@saltywriteralex]

"Hollywood does not know what to do with people who do not need their money." DAMN. Brandon Sanderson just casually dropping the most savage line of all time. RESPECT.

[@camperchik163]

"approaching your thirties" Yes, I have been approaching my thirties for 3 years now. I have turned 29 3 times! 👀

[@martophrenia]

hell yeah, dude, forever 29!!

[@epicwalrus7183]

Just turned 29 for the second time today. Funny how long it takes to hit 30, huh?😂

[@rainbowsprinklez]

I guess you could say that I'm... approaching my MID 30s :D

[@billyalarie929]

COWARDS I’m on my TENTH run at 29! 👿

[@nazimelmardi]

That’s the spirit!! 😁

[@rapha_spi]

I want the Cosmere to succeed so much

[@thomasdowning9478]

I can’t wait until the entire Cosmere has been adapted and I get to say, “Man, you should totally read the books… all of them.”

[@wolfishpotato6978]

It's going to be such a power move in a few decades to be like "I read the books as they came out. I backed The Great Secret Projects Kickstarter of 2022." Can't wait to -indoctrinate- regale my descendents with tales of The Beginning

[@OrenjiArms]

"hollywood doesn't know what to do with people who don't need their money" what a chad statement lol lotr level stormlight archive movie and TLOU hbo styled miniseries for mistborn? I'd probably want those swapped

[@Macapta]

Definitely swap those. Stormlight is far more dense.

[@StefanDimitrovBG]

Yes, that is so funny actually.

[@FictionRaider007]

Oh yeah, Stormlight is way too big for film series. But while a HBO Game of Thrones-style big-budget 10-episode-per-season series would struggle it'd probably just about be able to pull it off. Mistborn is way more streamlined and would fit films far better (although I wouldn't mind a TV series to really be able to flesh it out).

[@Osyrous]

I think the problem is the production value and what you can do on the big screen however the streaming wars have kind flipped that whole thought process on its head.

[@flesruoYkcuFoGuoY]

Stormlight would greatly benefit from being 12-15 episodes animated per book. It'll never happen, but one can dream.

[@ManCarryingThing]

This is a super interesting topic and I agree with most of what you say. However, I disagree that Marvel requires more "homework" per se (watching old movies to catch up). You said it's easy to pick up an early Mistborn book and feel satisfied with a self-contained story, however you can do the exact same thing with the original Iron Man, Thor, etc. Because they're tentpole movies, people can see infinity war (like I did) and basically understand and enjoy the movie. No one can just hop into Stormlight 4 like that. I think the reason people are fine with the Cosmere's interconnectivity is because it requires MORE dedication, MORE homework - it's just up front about it. People willing to read 1200 pages of Way of Kings probably won't mind - and will likely enjoy - reading Warbreaker too. The people who can't get through WoK...well they don't have to worry about it. Anyways, super interesting topic. Gonna be fun seeing what the Cosmere looks like in 20 years

[@reedmorebooks]

To add to this, purely coming from the standpoint of the books of both series, but it will apply to films and series to some degree, if you haven't read the Cosmere but you're familiar, it can be highly intimidating and off putting due to it's connectivity. (I personally avoid it for this very reason, and I don't know that I'll ever read any of it, it's feels too much for a newbie.) It's not something that one can casually just pick up easily a random title and get into (similar to OPs point about the films), where Marvel stories are designed from the ground up with new comers in mind despite the decades of canon. There are constantly jumping on points for new readers, in no small part due to the old Stan Lee mantra of "every comic is someone's first". Edit: Added some context.

[@nadie9058]

@@reedmorebooks That's hugely because of the fandom sadly. MCT himself made a skit laughing about it, but the mere fact that people give reading orders that you *have* to follow makes it seem like a chore. Personally, having read everything except White Sand, I think you can start with Mistborn, Warbreaker, The Way of Kings, Tress, Elantris, or even Emperor's Soul or White Sand, with caveats for Yumi, Shadows for Silence, and Sixth of the Dusk, and enjoy it perfectly, keep reading others if you like it, or just leave it if you don't and not feel like you didn't finish the story. But people keep acting as if in order to enjoy the books you have to get every little easter egg and therefore have to have read other books before, when in reality you don't. Look up some of the books, and if they catch your attention give them a try. I started knowing there was a connected universe, though I didn't know the scope, and enjoyed Mistborn like a child with a candy, then went up to The Stormlight Archive and my mind was blown, still to this day it is probably my favorite series of all time (though I have to first see where it goes before knowing), with my favorite moments in all fiction. People should stop putting pressure in new readers to adhere to an order, or daunting them by saying that if they don't read thousands of pages they are not enjoying it right.

[@jatzi1526]

I'd say the same thing. The problem with the MCU, imo anyways, is the middle-roadness of all the movies. They just can't let anything be serious. Guardians 3 was a recent exception but even that had a lot of humor in it. Granted if it didn't it would've been one sad fucking movie but my point stands. They have to have humor in everything. Nothing can be too serious, too horrific, too extreme. I was hoping Multiverse of Madness was going to be a sorta horror thriller movie but no, just a generic action movie. And the fucking endings. Always with giant over the top endings. Its not homework thats their issue its just how their movies are made nowadays. They need smaller stories and they need to let those stories be themselves. If its a comedy its a comedy. If its a thriller, its a thriller and so on. And they've blatantly ruined characters like Thor, and imo Spiderman. Fucking No Way Home was dumb af and the only reason it's even marginally good is because of the cross-over. Peter was so damn stupid in that movie. Also for fucks sake can Peter be an adult now? Like the OG's were adults when they crossed over, can we have a full story with an adult Peter Parker? I'm so tired of him being a teenager in movies, yes I know in the Raimi movies he was in college in 2 and I think done with college in 3 but thats it so far.

[@travisbrown9936]

@@reedmorebooksyou really don’t need to know anything about the cosmere to read the books and can read them in almost any order. I read stormlight first and then mistborn and I didn’t even know what the cosmere was

[@glowcakes]

Have to agree with MCT. Cosmere always gets recommended by Sando fans with a flow chart alluding to how you're not fully valuing the books without absorbing every bit of interconnectedness. Moreso than the MCU requires. The video clip DG shared shows BS doubling down on that interconnectedness and frankly it's exhausting. Brandon's writing is becoming very bloated. I'd be much more willing to watch his adaptations for this reason, because he would be forced to self edit. Realistically, Brandon has next to no experience in film. Is he willing to work with people in the industry with the experience needed to succeed for a medium change while still maintaining full creative control? Are professionals going to even want to work with him knowing how incredibly public he is about throwing colleagues under the bus when his opinions differ? Seems like a tall order but I'm eagerly awaiting whatever he tries next 🍿

[@samanthaa.6055]

"The Cosmere is trying to diversify itself." Dear God. It's becoming.... aware

[@DnDDeepDive]

My single greatest hope for all of cinema would be a well done rendition of the Cosmere. Maybe that says more about my lack of refinement as a connoisseur of film than anything, but I’m ok with that :).

[@BamaBill]

This is an crossover I didn't see happening. When the tabletop rpg comes out I would love a d4 and @DanielGreeneReviews collab.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@BamaBill Ha ha, as would I! ;)

[@mojojomoo]

When my favorite D&D content creator comments on my favorite all things fantasy content creator💖

[@heliastein1998]

Nice crossover here xD @DanielGreeneReviews if you don't know who he is, he does awesome DnD and BG3 content. If you've played Baldurs Gate check his stuff it's great!

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@heliastein1998 hey cheers!

[@ericeilersen]

The Cosmere evolving on this level makes SO much sense, and my god it will be a BEAUTIFUL world if we can get there. Phenomenal video top to bottom

[@mayormars5135]

Just imagine seeing a fully rendered war scene from SLA with spren bobing around and Kal flying good lord

[@nadie9058]

Just the idea of people seeing Kaladin's ideals, or Unity...

[@iamalaser4185]

I'm happy to keep imagining it, thanks :) Don't need another Rings of Power or Game of Thrones or The Hobbit or Wheel of Time situation...

[@sgnox7781]

@@iamalaser4185 Sanderson is very aware of that, which is why he is searching for right partner, he doesnt want to sign off his rights and to be fair game of thrones has been fantastic till season 4 then george got less involved and directors didnt cared, wanted ot move to new project and also run out of source material shortly after which is why it was so bad afterwards.

[@mehdi_gh8797]

Just imagine Kaladin and Dalinar meeting Wax and Kelsier and then teaming up to put down Travangian or Discord

[@hannahbrennan2131]

Misread that as "teaming up to put down Travengian on Discord"

[@ouroboros_1355]

I hope not, I find Wax so annoying… thankfully he’s done

[@stevenhedge2850]

I do not understand these words of wax being annoying

[@Macapta]

@@ouroboros_1355These words are not accepted

[@GoErikTheRed]

@@stevenhedge2850he probably meant to type Wayne. He’s still wrong, but that’s at least an understandable position

[@UltimateKnight920]

One of my biggest pet peeves is sequels where none was planned. Frozen 2 for example. Frozen 1 was great, made an unholy amount of money, but the only reason a sequel exists now because the first one did well. The MCU through phase 3 worked because they had a story to tell and knew where they were going with it. After phase 3 they don’t have a story, they have a plan: continue to make money. Part of what I love about the cosmere is Sanderson has a story to tell. I believe he’d keep telling even if it wasn’t making him gobs of money. I want the Sanderson to keep telling the story.

[@calebmauer1751]

Yeah, but Back to the Future was originally only going to be one movie, and now it's one of the best film trilogies of all time.

[@Thanaeon]

You both make very good points. Life's interesting that way.

[@MasoomRana]

I disagree to some extent. The MCU never had a story to tell. The "infinity stones" aspect is so minuscule, most people forget it was an afterthought 6 movies down the line. Most of the Infinity Saga movies are standalone movies/franchises, it isn't a post-Phase 3 problem.

[@56redgreen]

If you have quality writing it doesn't matter whether it was planed or not. The problem is the quality goes out the window in the sequel as way less effort is put into what they think is a captive audience.

[@braddiehl37]

Hey frozen two was amazing.

[@brandens4355]

Cosmere Cinematic Universe doesn't roll off the tongue too nicely. I propose we call it the Cinemere for any film adaptation.

[@realsteal0003]

Nah, I'd rather we just call it Cosmere

[@MrBenfranz]

I'm a producer on the periphery of the film industry. I'm a nobody. I do however, have a great track record producing people's short films especially fantasies, and lord if the opportunity arose to assist in bringing a Cosmere film to the screen I'm there. That would be hard work, and it would be SO worth it.

[@dungeonhardware7430]

Daniel Greene doing a cosmere video? Like hearing a lecture on nerd culture

[@rantalmore]

I don’t really need either to “crush” the other. I like them both and hope both find their success and audience :)

[@TheLongestTake]

Mistborn The Final Empire is definitely Sanderson's most adaptable work. I think era 1 would be an epic cinematic trilogy. Even the fight choreography is creative and would translate well to film

[@tysonsflag]

I always thought it'd make an incredible video game too. You could write a good original story set sometime between era 1 and Wax & Wayne.

[@TheLongestTake]

@@tysonsflag video game would be excellent. I'm upset I never got the chance to get the Kelsier skin in Fortnite lmao

[@arabellawillow9248]

Brandon pulled a fast one on me ... I thought I was reading fantasy and next thing I knew it was sci-fi, cosmere edition. Not sure how to feel ...

[@fatetestarossa2774]

sci-fi FTW ; )))

[@pimvanerven881]

My brother an me just discovered the stormlight archive, we are currently halfway though oathbringer and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. Now that we have discovered that it is part of a larger cosmere universe our reading list for the rest of the year is compleatly full😅

[@tonykuriger573]

The biggest advantage Sanderson has is that he has seen faithful adaptation (LoTR), unfaithful adaptation (WoT) and adaptation that takes over the source material (GoT.) He has more or less admitted that an adaptation would be underway by now except that he would not relinquish creative direction to achieve it. I'm all for it and would prefer the Cosmere never be adapted if it means that the books end up playing second fiddle to the movies.

[@sean113]

Probably the most well constructed argument I've seen you put together. I'm convinced.

[@TheBookThing]

I’m someone whose thirties aren’t even in my rear view mirror anymore, but I did bear witness to the rise of Marvel. And old as I am, I also, saw Marvel fall before. And the dumb thing is, the reason they are failing now on screen is the same reason they were failing in print back in the 90’s - Overload. Back in the 90’s there were like 10 monthly Spider-Man and Spider-Man adjacent comics a month, and if that sounds a lot, it pales in comparison to how many X-Men related comics were. Quality dipped, fans couldn’t keep up and lost interest. Sound familiar?

[@trevorfultz]

Era 3 of Mistborn will be Urban Fantasy meets Cold War era. Era 4 will be Cyber Punk. Era 5 will be Space Opera.

[@pizza6464]

The biggest advantage that Cosmere has over Mcu is that it’s just one vision. One writer. Full control. No corporate interference. We get the full creative vision every time. No Mcu movie you see will give you the 100% creative vision the writer or the director had for it. It will always be distilled.

[@soab24]

the cosmere is already being done by more than one writer. dan wells is officially tasked to write stories in the cosmere.

[@guybaronti3867]

@@soab24 You could argue that it still gets reviewed, checked for continuity, and goes through several edits with Brandon and his team. At this point, many employees at Dragonsteel play integral parts in writing the books. At the end of the day though, Brandon has final say on everything, unlike Hollywood where the bigwigs paying for the film decide a lot.

[@zephmiller6007]

I once did a very similar flip with Harry Potter and Harry Dresden in a college presentation (presentation was about Harry Dresden, people thought it was Harry Potter)

[@luketurnipseed6633]

As much as I'd love to see all this in live action, I think so much of his works would just look better animated. For instance, in a couple Mistborn books and throughout SLA we have many visuals of characters with oversized swords. In live action, it would probably be painfully obviously CG, but in animation it would just look cool. Similarly, when I imagine things like the spren, Elantrian magic, billowing mistcloaks, Windrunners dueling in the air, the black smoke of an unsheathed Nightblood, Nightmares, Feruchemy (strength, age, speed), the Aethers...all of the visuals strike me as being better in animation than live action. I'd love to see it in the same beautiful style as Arcane, but I'm sure it would look great in other styles too. In particular, I think Mistborn could beenfit from the same brutal gore that was present in the Castelvania animated series. In general, I just think animation would give a lot more freedom to maintain the integrity of Sanderson's vision and high quality production.

[@justinjeffries1554]

My only worry for adaptation Cosmere is that he said on multiple occasions he wants it to mainly appeal to the wider audience and that even though he'd love to do animation, it just wouldn't sell as well so to speak and that makes me worried.

[@FlyingFocs]

Which is weird, because assuming that doing it animated would be more cost effective in the long run (and look better without a dip in CGI quality), I feel like that comes from a place of severely underestimating just how popular animation is or can be.

[@nickster_xd8937]

I wanna see Michael Moorcock’s books get adapted!

[@jonathanyaloussa]

I'd rather not - Hollywood seems hellbent on destroying everything it touches.

[@garryr]

I see incredible potential for adaptation. As you said, there is already so many books out there and, as you said Sanderson writes stupidly fast so there will not be a GOT like point where the author says "your ahead of me. do what you want."

[@valliyarnl]

Yes. So glad more people are notificing this parallel. I want to make a video later on in the year about why Hollywood should develop the Cosmere next and how they should do it imo

[@susanwoodcarver]

I love the Cosmere. I never want it to end. Brandon is a writing angel who is sent to the earth once every 500 years.

[@FJA---]

I so much want to see “The Emperor’s Soul “ movie done correctly.

[@crediblesalamander8056]

It's my favorite Sanderson story I've read. If nothing else I hope that at least can get a good adaptation.

[@sumanoskae]

The way you describe the cosmere moving between eras and genres reminds me of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

[@yafes_han]

Cosmere movies would be great hit if scenarios are still fully controlled by Sanderson himself

[@HeavyTopspin]

Yeah, I don't imagine it being successful if he were to, say, hire the writers from She-Hulk.

[@hawk66100]

They would need to keep it true to the source material and not race/gender swap roles just for inclusion/wokeness sake.

[@merai4024]

That cant happen, he'll still have input and probably people he assigns in his place, but he wont have time for writing if he's dealing with adaptations every day.

[@calebmauer1751]

@@merai4024 And the studio isn't going to give $100+ million to a project and give complete creative control over it to anyone. People who won't sign a contract without giving up creative control aren't getting their movie made.

[@calebmauer1751]

@@hawk66100 Yeah, right, like that is what made Wheel of Prime bad, and not all the bad writing.

[@Talking_Story]

As a life long comics fan and someone who has spent the last year catching up on the Cosmere This video was absolutely awesome!!

[@nikosic6104]

„Sanderson now bring in some of his closest writer frinds to maybe even potentially increase the output of the wider cosmere" Internally screams in pure panic

[@leonardstepto4527]

Never been this early. Havent watched the video yet but I agree. Cosmere could be a massive property when it comes to adaptation "the next mcu"

[@UrsinsJerk]

Another great video Daniel, love what you do

[@jameshenry9894]

Great video Daniel! I've been off booktube for a few months and I must say, I've missed watching your videos. You're still my go to on the platform. Thankful for you and all the work you've done for literal YEARS. GOAT of booktube👌👌

[@LagrangeDanny]

I'm 30 this year and I already worry I won't see enough of these fabled Cosmere adaptions in my life, let's get this boat moving haha

[@xRoJAlx]

Interesting video. Well researched and thought through. Kudos.

[@FictionRaider007]

MCU vs. Cosmere really does boil down to the vision behind it. Kevin Feige tried like mad to pull this behemoth together but ultimately it's countless different directors and writers with their own ideas pulling it in a thousand different directions. And that's because it is so loosely adapting Marvel comics. It - by it's very nature - is adapting the spirit and themes of the stories rather than trying to 1:1 follow any single storyline, borrowing ideas from hundreds of seperate stories and Frankenstein-ing them together. Narratively it's all over the place with many writers teeing up stuff for later ones down the line only for them to fumble the catch or blow them off entirely so they can do something they find more interesting instead. The Cosmere if/when it gets and adaptation would likely still suffer from that somewhat (creative differences, changes from the source material, cutting content for time, and maybe even people messing it up so bad the final product isn't fun to watch), but at least it'd have a single "bible" to follow and could pick-and-choose from that single consistent canon, story and vision instead of the continuity snarl of 60+ years of comics.

[@aswinanil3390]

I clicked this video as a Cosmere fan

[@joshlee1166]

I'd love to see the Cosmere done in animation. I think with the success of things like Nimona, Spiderverse, Puss in Boots, etc, we've seen that animation has the capacity to blow live action out of the water, even on a monetary level. I think animation is a vastly underestimated and underused medium, and I'd love to see the Cosmere attach itself to animation. I think it would be a better medium to adapt the ridiculous scale of the Cosmere, and I think it would likely bring the well deserved attention and legitimacy that animation so desperately needs.

[@cookiediangelo8511]

Ok, so what if for mistborn secret history, instead of having a film for it, I was thinking mistborn secret history could be broken up into parts that play as long end credit scenes. It would be mysterious and cool, like ok, movies over, and what Kelsie is alive and punched god? Next movie, omg so Kelsie was the one who stabbed elend! And then finally wait so Kelsie held the shard right before vin and now he’s free and now the entire world has changed and my mind has blown and the final scene will be the spook and Kelsie scene and final shot will be vin and elend. This way no one misses out on important secret history lore, but the confusing parts in it seem intentional and don’t interfere with the main story, but leave people theorizing and excited cause they see evidence of other planets and gods and stuff.

[@jacobcollier4223]

We makin it off of Threnody with this one boys!

[@samuelleask1132]

Brilliant video!

[@prodigion1]

Really good video, got me hyped, especially when Brandon was talking his 🗣🗣🗣

[@lalaldka]

dude. as a consistant isekai dnd watcher, you being actually consistent and eloquent while speaking is a fucking MIND BLOW

[@aussieseal9979]

Banger video. Might finally get around to mistborn.

[@Tino58rs]

As a Mistborn era 1 and stormlight only reader, I am kind of lost on what else I should read to get more of the larger cosmere story. Could you make a guide on the core must read books to get into the larger story of the cosmere? What is mandatory and in what order/priority should we consume them?

[@hoid1720]

Just a note, the next Mistborn era is more modern day, not cyberpunk. That will be Era 4.

[@Javifaa]

Unless he decides to skip cyberpunk and make space age era 4. My bet is that he will write Cyberpunk Mistborn, but not as a series of novels.

[@abelturner2999]

He recently said he's strongly considering an additional cyberpunk era so that Mistborn reaches sixteen books for the system metals.

[@praetorxyn]

I'm doing a Cosmere [re]-read this year. I've already re-read all the stuff I'd read before (Mistborn Era 1, Elatnris, and The Emperor's Soul), so it's all new reads from here on out. I'm a bit over halfway through The Way of Kings right now.

[@ddawsT]

Just finished up Words of Radiance, and I'm taking a quick break to check out some Dresden Files before I really dig into Oathbringer. These books are such monsters, they take me awhile to get through, but they're super good!

[@NaritaZaraki]

27:27 --> I desperately want at least SOME of the Cosmere adaptations to be animated! Not gonna lie, I would prefer all (imagine the different art styles complementing the different genres , time periods, and distinct feel of each book/series? the stylistic shifts you can do to differentiate how certain characters *see* and interact with the same world? AND the blending, overtaking, and blurring of the different art styles you could do in crossover events? the character work you could do with that alone?? I want it so bad!! ) but I will take any amount Brando Sando gives me. Just pretty please give me a couple of animated projects 🥺

[@VulpineTea]

I feel like Cosmere adaptations will only succeed if they're animated. I just can't picture a live action Stormlight Archive that won't come off as totally goofy.

[@rapha_spi]

Great video btw

[@coryleekoch3659]

Excellent video.

[@r3dmischi3f]

Loved the Decaird Cane clip!❤❤❤

[@wokkels5733]

We need more content of you rambling about a certain topic like this

[@supsup335]

The largest non mcu/cosmere crossover in my opinion is simon r. green's secret history books, aka, droods, nightside, ghost finders series. They have tons of crossover and even an avengers style finale.

[@jackwriter1908]

To be honest if they ever turn these books into another media, I hope it will be animated. It brings far more freedom into the story. From designs, to the typical aging problems of actors, to the visualisations of Magic. There are so much more possibilities... of course, it would make less money, because a lot of adults think of animated movies and shows as childish, but I don't really think Brando Sando would do it for the money. That and considering the amount of fans he has even animated movies/shows would be a huge success as well as bringing new people into reading the books...

[@leviosalegolas]

I totally agree that the structure of the overarching story being conceived by one person and there being a planned ending are two major points that would help the sustainability of a Cosmere adaptation compared to the MCU. In fact, with respect to the "one overarching writer" point, I think the MCU started taking major hits once they increased output and Kevin Feige couldn't realistically oversee everything that was being made to the same degree that he used to. The Cosmere, if adapted REALLY well, does have the potential to be huge. I don't know if it would be as big as the MCU though, maybe as big as Game of Thrones, or a bit bigger due to it's accessibility to a wider age range. That said though, some Cosmere stories are going to be VERY challenging to adapt well enough to live action (which is what Brandon seems to want) to make people happy. SLA being the most difficult imo. Mistborn would be pretty easy to get right I think since the world is closest to ours so I think Brandon saying he'd like to adapt that first makes a lot of sens to me. But ones that have more fantastical/weird world building elements like SLA would need a LOT of CGI which can be very hit or miss and movie watchers are more hypercritical of it than ever these days. People crave grounded and realistic over CGI filled movies more and more these days. I mean... the spren, the made up flora and fauna, grass retreating into the rocks whenever disturbed... everything in Stormlight is so weird, there's so much to consider, it would be a huge undertaking and would be very difficult to make certain things look believable and grounded. If they manage CGI to the same level as Dune for example (which required much less CGI than SLA would), then great, but more often than not, that's not the case. Not to mention having to figure out what the Singers' rhythms sound like. So yeah, I think a Cosmere adaptation has a lot of potential, but the thought of it both excites and TERRIFIES me in equal measure :D Also one quick note on the MCU side of things, the only thing I disagreed with you on is the idea that they're not doing anything to fix the direction of things. They are (though whether it'll be successful or not is yet to be seen). They've admitted that the quality hasn't been up to par lately and have since announced that they're limiting releases to 2 movies (3 max) and 2 shows per year which means that Kevin Feige won't be stretched as thin. The problem isn't superhero fatigue, it's that the writing has gone to shit. If they focus on writing good stories/characters, people will show up, just like they did for Loki S2 and Guardians 3. The MCU might never reach the same heights as Endgame era, but I think it can regain it's footing a bit, especially if we get to the X-Men phase. Aaand I just realised I wrote a whole essay. Sorry about that :D

[@jammersanimovieblog]

I see what you did there. For a second I was confused when you said 2005, but it all makes sense now.

[@Nasser851000]

The CCU if you will XD

[@joebala]

I really hope Sanderson changes his mind about animation,. I know it doesn't have as wide of an audience as traditional film, but some of these stories would be able to be more faithfully adapted with animation.

[@divinesolstice3744]

Id love to see Green Bone Saga as a long multi season show

[@shawn_yates]

Brilliant!

[@casualcraftman1599]

This was interesting as someone writing my stories all set in the same Universe. Having a beginning series, midpoint series, and endpoint series helps me out a lot. And you are absolutely right about having restraints on cameos. I sadly don't have a single story finished yet because I'm a very slow writer. I wish I was fast as Braden Sanderson instead of being slower than George RR Martin.

[@trhperkins1]

Yes to a lot of what you were saying, particularly in regards to the whole hive-brain design by committee approach that Marvel has employed since they were merely a print entity, but no studio is going to give Sanderson free reign to do whatever he wants with his own property-there will most likely be changes suggested that he won’t agree with due to obvious reasons…and while people willingly gobble up whatever Harry Potter or LotR dreck the media machine cranks out (since they’re already established properties,) they’ve also widely come to expect certain grimdark trappings with their fantasy, thanks to the success of Game of Thrones. There’s a built-in audience with all of his book fans, but Im not sure that’s enough to capture the imaginations of everybody else.

[@samreilly6602]

It’s crazy how producers of popular media have BARELY scratched the surface of what they could adapt. I almost wish more authors or editors crossed over into filmmaking for the knowledge they would bring of what could some of these series should actually look like

[@ThePhantomphan11]

So true. When I really think about it, I get super excited thinking about the future of the Cosmere. Both in universe and out

[@juanmaale]

you are totally right!

[@crimsonraen]

YEEEEES, Daniel! Hollywood, TAKE NOTE! Seriously, this is such an important video! Also, I am so hopeful for Sanderson getting what and who he wants with adaptations! :D The not needing money part is SO fucking perfect for getting his works adapted well! ^_^

[@Dynnen]

Damn...Daniel. Now I'm hyped for cosmere visual media again after I finally cooled off =(

[@tonyaspencer3090]

I love the video.

[@ApostateOfMind42]

Great video. Leaves me very hopeful for Sanderson's cinematic future. By the way, I found a copy of Breach of Peace at a local Goodwill. That has to be a milestone for an author. Congrats, your books are so prevalent they can be found at a thrift store.

[@JazzAK6969]

I gave a like just for having the Deckard Cain "Stay awhile and listen" clip at 1:55. Epic pwnage.

[@batmanphone]

Its amazing how long he has been in talks. I went to see him a good 9 or so years ago and he was mentioning how, i think it was Lionsgate had bought the rights. They were working to have The Emperors Soul be their first Cosmese production, and even back then he was making Avengers parallels. Its really fascinating that he has held on so long, probably in order to do it right, by his vision, rather than just put out random adaptations.

[@aclark217]

Maybe it wasn't that funny, but the Deckard Cain voice over the image of Hoid got me! HAHAHAHA!!!!

[@jahcode6132]

If the movies drop and they hit, this shit really could have a stranglehold on pop culture. It's definitely good enough to be the next MCU, it's just not as well known because it only exists in book form currently.

[@stevengreene7389]

If it’s good people will watch just like got and lotr

[@chaostears]

extremely bold of sanderson to think he'll have much control over his IP.

[@blakeloxtercamp]

Very fun video

[@coryhartley6135]

I have so many Brando Sando books and special additions and autographed stuff for this reason specifically. I foresee him and his stories become absolutely HUGE in pop culture. Also because I love them more than any form of fiction

[@stevenstewart782]

That stay awhile and listen clip brought back great memories of Diablo.

[@sophhnavarro]

A love letter to Sanderson's work and I'm here for it 🙌🏾

[@adamrad2220]

Mistborn and the storm light archive are two of my favorite series' ever. I'm a huge Brandon Sanderson fan, and 15 years ago, I might have been excited for these to be made into movies and big budget TV shows. But I swear, modern screenwriters and everyone they report to are obsessed with changing things about original stories. I have very literally 0% expectation that a cosmere show or movie would be done without some sort of aspect of The Message put in there that wasn't there already. Screenwriters just cannot help themselves. With all of that said, I love the stories that Brandon Sanderson has put together, and if done right, they certainly can make a truly amazing universe.

[@beefcake8821]

You just got me excited for something that probably won't happen, at least not the way you described it. Damn you.

[@jonathanyaloussa]

I still maintain that Amazon's Wheel of Prime was one of the alternate futures Aviendha saw in Rhuidhean.

[@Harldin]

I treat it as a different turning of the Wheel, the Wheel has turned thousands of times through the 7 Ages, each one slightly different.

[@Ramipon]

That's what adaptations are... it doesn't erase the source materials. Its always an alternate universe.

[@jonathanyaloussa]

@@Ramipon No, but it sure does desecrate the source material.

[@jonathanyaloussa]

@@Harldin That's why I don't call it by the same name as RJ's masterwork.

[@SavannahSedai]

😂

[@jenniferwood144]

You are right….. great video

[@phnome123]

I'm finally up to date with the Stormlight Archive. Can't wait for the next one. Well I'm doing the Lost Metal now, and Tress and Sunlit in my TBR-pile. The crossovers are more in the forefront with Stormlight, mentioning Scadrial on numerous occasions and certain ancient characters and all of those things

[@Srbthmlnsmth]

Honesty for Brando I see integrity trumping money and Hollywood won’t know how to deal with that. He’s also stated he doesn’t want an anime adaptation. I think? I forgot where I heard that.

[@CheyenneSedai]

It's definitely going to be a big thing and more controllable when it gets an adaptation. As a mod? I'm terrified because I've seen how amazing communities like the one around WOT have gotten polarized and toxic. As a fan? I'm excited to see it done on screen well (and by that I don't mean having every single thing the same)

[@davidnew2144]

Marvel was really helped by having Kevin Feige at the helm at first. With coming books from Dan Wells and Issac Stewart, is Karen Ahlstrom Dragonsteel’s Kevin Feige?

[@cosmodious1755]

The last thing we need is big corporate adaptations. Imo most Cosmere would work better in animation. Especially Stormlight. Remember how rarely we saw the daemons in the latest His Dark Materials adaptation? Imagine how disappointing it'd be if the spren barely had any presence to save on budget.

[@KingReke13]

Great vid but I need to know where to cop that pink Malazan set behind Daniel Greene.

[@wheelsofmercury]

I have to get around to reading Mistborn someday after finishing Elric… your video might just be the catalyst for me to get my ass moving on that!

[@FatCandyProduction]

You haven't even mentioned the fact that Sanderson and Dragonsteel also have already set a great tone with style and merch which is clearly well received by a (collector heavy) audience.

[@devin_blaze1616]

Biggest issue/hurdle for Cosmere vs MCU; each book series virtually REQUIRES a trilogy of movies. Where MCU managed to do a single movie for three of the main avengers, and two for the fourth, they were able to hit their first big crossover movie for the wow factor at movie #5 with Avengers. As you note the Cosmere still hasn't had THE big crossover (and possibly never will), but the closest we've gotten only had a single of the major characters from any of the series in it. Now extrapolate out, how many movies will the Cosmere be? How long does it take to make them? Who the heck do you hire to play Hoid across 30+ yrs of movies (or one of the other characters who show up in timeline 300+ yrs later)? Or do you choose to discard the recognizability aspect and go the Doctor route and swap actors every series/decade (which only really works for Hoid, and not the other smaller cameos/crossovers we've had in books)? It gets really hard to plan Cosmere movie crossovers when the IRL timescale to go between series is so long. But if anyone can figure it out, it's Sanderson.

[@marcusreading3783]

Speaking as someone who likes this sort of thing, I feel that the most important thing when writing a massive, interconnected universe is that you HAVE to make sure that the crossovers are explained and properly introduced every time its relevant. If you dont do that, you end up with a situation like comic books where there are 2000 different series out there and you have to read one from a completely different line to make the one you have in your hand make sense. In other words, the crossovers should make long time fans sit up and go 'holy shit!', while still being accessible to newcomers. If the Cosmere gets an adaptation, I sincerely hope that Sanderson keeps a tight grip on the reigns. I have seen SO many potentially amazing adaptations fail utterly on every level. That being said, I honestly dont think that will be a problem because I am 100% certain that he could probably crowdfund genuine blockbuster levels of budget and get it within hours if he wanted to. Stormlight Archives is Anime. There were SO many times that I was listening to it and was able to call what was going to happen next based solely on my understanding of Anime storytelling tropes. Fuck, there was even a moment of epic power up with a massive beam blasting into the sky! No, the MCUs quality is going down because their writers are god awful.

[@delcastilloarthur]

I've never heard of Cosmere until this video so.........

[@Kurostyle21]

Are you new to this channel? He loves that book series. I got some interesting recommendations by him. Definitely worth checking out.

[@kreature6673]

You must be new here, regardless, the cosmere is a great pleasure to read and highly recommend it :) it's amazing if you like fantasy! If you're interested please do pick up mistborn, you won't regret it

[@PlainclothesBandit]

Iron man was pretty obscure outside of the comics until the movie came out.

[@MartoRoss]

You could start with Mistborn 1 its autoconclusive 👀

[@Radiant_93]

Welcome to the beautiful madness, my friend!