There’s plenty to say about a multiverse when it’s used in any capacity, and yet lately, it’s been something of a debate when it comes to pop culture since like it or not, there are a few drawbacks to such an idea. Plenty of people might want to argue that there are way more benefits in terms of the stories that could be told, and they’d be right, but pointing out one very important reason why the idea of any multiverse is an issue is easy enough: the multiverse leads to lazy writing. There’s already enough of this in the comics, the movies, and books, but giving people another excuse to sit back in comfort while they churn out ideas that are tweaked just a little bit to justify their existence. In other words, the multiverse allows any given franchise to become a printing press that can change things just enough to keep their characters and stories popular enough for people to keep coming back. Plus, the fact is that all a franchise has to do is keep the stories interesting enough until the next generation is old enough to enjoy what they have to offer, then they can change things up just enough to keep them hooked for a while.
Far be it from me to state that one style of writing is wrong while another is right, but lazy writing becomes an annoyance, if not an outright sin when it comes to keeping people entertained and advancing pop culture. The multiverse is an interesting idea to be certain and there are a lot of possibilities that could come from it, but the fact remains that inspiration flows in more ways than one. It’s odd to say that inspiration would foster any kind of lackadaisical writing, but the truth is that despite the positive fan reaction, the writing for a multiverse becomes lazy at some point as the templates being used are only switched around enough to make it clear that they come from different but similar worlds. In some cases, the changes aren’t visible since they’re differences that can’t be seen.
Trying to condemn the entire idea of the multiverse isn’t a wise move, but it’s still easy to see how buying into it without taking the moment to think of the downfall might be a problem. People want to be entertained, they want to be given something that will challenge them, but that they don’t need to think too hard about. The idea of a multiverse in any franchise is something that feels like it could become complicated very quickly if one didn’t nail down several details right away, but with broad, sweeping strokes that are used to present the material to the audience, at last, a couple of franchises have made it possible for people to embrace the idea of the multiverse and have profited from it in a big way. But going back to the unfortunate prospect of lazy writing, many people would dispute the fact that this does happen since the supposed genius of the multiverse is thought to bring the same characters and situations to light in new ways. In all honesty, the material used for the various projects that have come along are only slightly different from stories that have been written before and characters that have been around for many years.
Stale and lazy writing is seen quite often in show business and it’s a bit frustrating since plenty of people have come to accept it over the years as a common occurrence that has, in some cases, become popular as many people have decided to extoll its virtues. In some regards, it might appear that this is not worth noticing, that it’s a moment when it’s best to say ‘to each their own’. But the multiverse is such a massive idea with far-reaching effects that taking the good can’t come without taking the bad. Deciding to use lackluster writing to push one narrative or another however does tend to dig away at the underbelly of pop culture after a while and can become infectious in a way that starts to affect even the most popular stories.
Condemning the multiverse idea entirely isn’t the goal here, but it is smart to think that there are bound to be issues when it comes to embracing the idea of the multiverse without thinking of what could happen once the story grows tired and begins to lack direction. Some might even say that this is already happening, but as of now, it does feel that the multiverse idea hasn’t yet become a serious issue. The possibility of this happening, and the probability that lazy writing will continue to plague the overall plans that have been laid out is something that those in charge will hopefully be looking for to prevent such a thing from becoming a widespread issue.
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