With Brandon Sanderson’s recent announcement of Apple working to make the Cosmere come to our televisions, it raised the question to many: “Will this be the new Marvel?” In 2010, Stan Lee held communities by the throat with the Marvel Cinematic Universe with many not reading the comics. Could we see this happening with the Cosmere?
The News
In late January, Brandon Sanderson announced to the world that he was working with Apple to bring the ENTIRE cosmere to TV. This came as a shock to many due to previously failed adaptations. However, the deal was made with Apple because they have allowed Brandon to take creative control: including writing the screenplay and casting. He stated in his podcast: Intentionally Blank, his relationship with Apple is a partnership and doesn’t want to be a “wild card” and only discuss what Apple is comfortable with.
As of this publishing, March 16th, the screenplay is 25% complete at the end of Act 1. There will be an update March 17th, so it is likely further along. Brandon doesn’t fail to knock out a lot of writing in a short time.
In a recent episode of Intentionally Blank, Brandon mentioned he would like to write the screenplay like James Gunn did for Marvel by directing, writing, and making the movie like that script. Most importantly this involves no reshoots. This likely means the books will model a lot like how the books are written. He emphasized his wants to be the only screenwriter but may need another person at some point, but would like to try to be the only one.
He also did say he would not like to play larger roles in the series (My idea of him as Wit is out the window), and would prefer roles like Stan Lee in the Marvel movies.
The Cosmere Popularity
The Cosmere is incredibly popular. Many have labeled Brandon as the “modern aged Tolkien”. While that seems like a huge compliment for any author, anyone who has read the quality of his books would likely agree. His books fly off shelves, signings are booked in literal seconds, and people in Utah hunt for secretly signed books in his local Barnes and Noble.
Now this sounds a lot like other authors, Brandon has also gained the popularity to have his own major convention with cosmere themed games, many other large and indie authors, and panels with influential booktok creators. Drangonsteel Nexus is so popular that there is a name draw on tickets. You LITERALLY have to win tickets to go. This allows limited people and overcrowding.
Brandon has also reintroduced the popularity of leatherbound books with artists he works with to create imagery and special editions. They hang on shelves as not only beautiful books, but they are also still meant to be read. The special editions are also functional copies of books that are durable enough to be read.
Let’s also consider with this popularity, these books range from short to incredibly long. Emperor’s Soul is less than 200 pages, and Wind and Truth reaching at almost 1400 pages. His books can be very intimidating to read based on how thick they are.
Reality Sets In
It wouldn’t surprise me to see other content creators say that this won’t be as popular as Lord of the Rings or Marvel studios. I have not seen much argument on this on any social media platform or from other authors.
This is also a good point to make that a lot of fantasy readers don’t read the Stormlight Archive because of its size. This is just like how some readers won’t read Lord of the Rings because of the older style of writing, or read the comics for Marvel because they don’t like graphic novels.
Putting this onto the big screen means we are expanding the world to those who don’t read, or those who haven’t read the cosmere. This is also a good introduction to have their (likely older) kids to “read the book before you watch the movie”.
The influence of the cosmere before it even hit the big screen is huge. It has created many more readers in the world. Brandon has really set a new standard for writing and publishing. I am very excited to see what this does to the reading community.
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