IP-assembled franchise films function as early warnings of corporate metaverse worlds.

Evidence

Ours is a time of unending brand assault, with advertisers offered entrance to so many aspects of our lives. Stories often offer us escape, whereas these films confront us with the endgame of allowing corporate interests to fully determine our shared culture. Licensing given life and merchandising made material, derivative film presages the dystopian virtual reality, metaverse, and artificial intelligence systems that are now being offered by Silicon Valley. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 54

Categorization

• FICTION: The idea that metaverse aspirants are literalizing what brandscape films predicted could seed a near-future story about a built brand-world.
• CANDY: Claim that Ready Player One and The Lego Movie presaged the metaverse is a light, quotable line.