MORE FROM FORBES 44th Anniversary Of 'Superman' Is Perfect Time To Reboot Man Of Steel By Mark Hughes No, it goes all the way back to the very first film that launched superhero movies as a genre - 1978’s Superman, which was filmed simultaneously with its sequel Superman II. But the fact is, Marvel’s approach in those regards isn’t something they invented. Now I have to say something many DC fans don’t like to hear: Yes, an “MCU approach” also includes certain tonal and key storytelling templates that have consistently worked as ideal to include in the genre. The “MCU approach,” then, means a set of initial films with a elements that form a larger overarching story, culminating in a team-up event, followed by sequels to the origin films plus new origin films culminating in another bigger team-up, all of which can have differences yet must share certain similarities and include pieces of a larger narrative that will come to a head in the team-up films. There’s room for tonal differences, of course, but if it’s truly a single shared universe with all of these heroes coexisting, then the films will need to portray that clearly and avoid any extreme differences. The thing is, it’s hard to insist that films within a shared world don’t have to follow rules to fit together properly.