Borderlands Is Absolutely Kicking Off A Cinematic Universe Because Those Always Work
When Marvel first began putting together its cinematic universe, it felt like a cool and logical concept. Despite each of the Marvel heroes functioning well on their own in their individual movies, some of their most exciting stories happen as a group.
However, since then, many fans have joked that every film franchise tries to do a cinematic universe. Apparently, Borderlands is joining the trend, because before the first movie has even debuted, it has already been announced as being part of a bigger universe.
Expanding The Borderlands Universe
Randy Pitchford is the former CEO of Gearbox, the studio that created the Borderlands series of games. Though he left the company in 2021, he has still been working closely with the team behind developing the upcoming Borderlands movie.
Pitchford has said that rather than the movie being an adaptation of any particular entry in the games, that it is more like a companion piece that will expand the game’s universe in new ways. He gave the example of how characters who were only ever alluded to in the games may actually wind up being encountered in the movie.
Borderlands Cast Led By Cate Blanchett
The Borderlands movie being willing to stray away from the games can also be surmised from what we know so far of the characters that will appear.
Cate Blanchett will be starring as the siren Lilith, Kevin Hart will be the soldier Roland, Jack Black will voice the robot Claptrap, and Ariana Greenblatt will play the excitable and destructive Tiny Tina.
Anyone who has played the games is aware that Tiny Tina does not even appear in the first game, so the movie clearly would not be a direct adaptation of the original.
Premature Move?
While it may seem premature for the creators of the Borderlands movie to assume they will be expanding into a whole cinematic universe rather than just a one-off movie, there is certainly a lot of game content to draw inspiration from.
In addition to the three main titles, there is also Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Tales from the Borderlands, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Not to mention that each game also has multiple downloadable content packs that often have their own lengthy story-driven missions to complete.
New Parts Of The Borderlands World
One area that we already know the movie will expand the lore on is in relation to the weapon manufacturers.
The Borderlands series provides players with tons of gun options, with each weapon company having perks and drawbacks to their arsenals.
In game, you never meet the executives behind these companies. However, Pitchford confirmed the movie will introduce the CEO of Atlas Corporation, a man named Deukalian Atlas. Atlas sounds poised to have a significant role in the movie and will be played by Edgar Ramirez.
The Right Movie Universe?
We have seen other cinematic universes not fare so well by trying to plan too far ahead too fast. Perhaps Borderlands can learn from their mistakes how to make it work.
The DCEU is the most glaring example. But there has also been the Dark Universe of monster films that fizzled out after 2017’s The Mummy starring Tom Cruise. Meanwhile, the MonsterVerse continues to try to build up their universe, including the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Borderlands Movie Release
The creators of Borderlands still have to see how their first movie does, but if it goes well, it sounds like they already have big plans for the future.
Borderlands is set for its cinematic debut on August 9, 2024.
