Shared movie universes are currently all the rage, with many a comic book mega-blockbuster taking up space at the local multiplex and in the minds and hearts of those viewers most in tune to the mythologies set up by such monolith staples of the genre as Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Considering that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been chugging along for quiet some time now, and with Warner Bros. Pictures not far behind with their own slate of DCU films, it would appear as though viewers are not only willing to entertain the idea of certain films coexisting within a shared reality, but may be demanding such narratives.
Comic book capers are the obvious starting point for such grand epics of interconnected narratives and characters, but it would appear that another seminal genre director of Hollywood, whose films significantly predate the Marvel Studios canon, has been toying with same concept in his scripts for years now.
As initially reported in conversation with The Project, and subsequently transcribed and corroborated by Polygon, the films of Quentin Tarantino all occur within a shared movie universe, with certain films existing solely as the entertainment provided to characters in other films. As IFC so thoughtfully lays out in its own curated breakdown of the director’s entire oeuvre, certain characters - such as Vince Vega (John Travolta) in Pulp Fiction and Vic Vega (Michael Madsen) in Reservoir Dogs - are brothers who both live in a world where films such as Kill Bill and From Dusk till Dawn may be seen at their shared local multiplex. Speaking to The Project, Tarantino explained:
“So From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill, they all take place in this special movie universe. So when all the characters of Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction, when they go to the movies, Kill Bill is what they go to see. From Dusk Till Dawn is what they see.”
The more discerning Tarantino viewer would no doubt be able to cite many instances wherein characters from the director’s body of work reference each other, whether by familial bloodlines or tacit reference, and as such the films in question become all the more intriguing to consider as a collective whole. Furthermore, with the precedent set by the Marvel and DC, it might not be entirely out of the question to imagine some kind of meeting of the minds to rival the super-group heroics of The Avengers and The Justice League in kind.
Given the fact that Tarantino has stated that he will be making only two more feature films following the release of his most recent opus, The Hateful Eight, he might want to go out with a bang, and make more than a few sly nods towards his films’ coexistence within a shared movie universe. And given his plans to make another Kill Bill movie, the chances of the characters between his films bonding over at least one shared movie mythology holds a lot of creative potential going forward.
The Hateful Eight is currently available to see in theaters.
Source: Polygon/IFC
