Director James Mangold on ‘A Complete Unknown’: “I Don’t Do Multiverses”

James Mangold is deeply invested in his Bob Dylan project, “A Complete Unknown.” Despite his experience with the “X-Men” and “Indiana Jones” series, Mangold is taking a different approach with this film.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Mangold discussed why the star Timothée Chalamet, who plays Dylan, is seen with a note from Johnny Cash in the teaser. The interviewer suggested this evoked hopes for a “cinematic-universe, multiverse return-of-Joaquin Phoenix situation.”

Mangold swiftly dismissed this idea.

“I don’t do multiverses. But beyond that, Johnny Cash was about 30 at the time. I love Joaquin, but he’s not 30, or whatever Johnny was at this moment. They’re both young people in that moment of life. It’s odd I’ve even worked in the IP entertainment world because I dislike multi-movie universe-building. It’s the enemy of storytelling. The death of storytelling. It profits more from how the Legos connect than how the story unfolds in front of us.”

He continued, “For me, the goal becomes, always, ‘What is unique about this film, and these characters?’ Not making you think about another movie or some Easter egg, which is an intellectual exercise, not an emotional one. You want the movie to work on an emotional level.”

“A Complete Unknown” currently has no official release date, but Mangold suggests it might be available as soon as December. The film features Chalamet as Bob Dylan, Elle Fanning as his girlfriend Sylvie Russo (a renamed version of Dylan’s real-life girlfriend Suze Rotolo), Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, and Edward Norton as Pete Seeger.