Hollywood franchises are the metaverse people actually choose to inhabit

Evidence

The recurring joke is that no one wants this. Mark Zuckerberg’s demos are laughable. The headsets are cumbersome, even nauseating. The virtual spaces are empty. Those old enough to remember Second Life (and its death) are experiencing déjà vu. The idea of entering a virtual world created by Big Tech is anathema to many. By 2023, the hype cycle had already run its course, with generative artificial intelligence the new shiny toy burning through vast amounts of venture capital and carbon emissions. But maybe Silicon Valley isn’t the place to look for the birth of the metaverse; back down the 101, in Hollywood, the metaverse has been a popular, beloved experience for decades. Its vision, one populated not by 3D avatars, but by well-known characters and intellectual property, is one many people actually want to live in. Perhaps our technological future lies in a cinematic world already imagined in the past. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 399

Categorization

• SEED: The claim that film franchises are the real metaverse — the worlds people voluntarily inhabit — could anchor an essay contrasting Silicon Valley VR failure with Hollywood world-building success.
• XREF: Speaks to the reader’s question about whether ownership structure shapes the immersive worlds built around franchise IP.