Sony's Robin Hood was the 2010's dumbest idea for a shared cinematic universe. The Marvel Cinematic Universe launched in 2010, and Marvel's rival studios watched it with fascination. Nothing quite like the MCU had ever been attempted; would it work, or would it collapse? The moment of truth came in 2012, when The Avengers grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide.
In the wake of The Avengers' success, every other studio spent the rest of the decade attempting to launch a shared cinematic universe of their own. Some have worked, others have failed miserably; Legendary's MonsterVerse remains promising, while Universal's Dark Universe became a victim of The Mummy. Warner Bros. launched the DCEU, which initially struggled due to conflict between the studio and its directors, and has only recently seemed to establish itself. However, the weirdest attempt at a cinematic universe came from Sony Pictures
Back in October 2014, there were reports Sony was planning to launch the Robin Hood cinematic universe. They intended to make individual movies for Robin Hood and his supporting characters, the Merry Men; there would be films starring Little John, Friar Tuck and Will Scarlett. The Merry Men were envisioned as the superheroes of the Middle Ages, and the tone of the shared universe would be similar to the Mission: Impossible and Fast & Furious movies. All the solo films would come to a climax in a team-up movie, presumably entitled something along the lines of Robin Hood and the Merry Men. It's a surreal idea, not least because Sony considered $1 to $2 million for the pitch by Cory Goodman and Jeremy Lott.
The Robin Hood cinematic universe testifies to the madness that gripped studios in the 2010s, as they watched the success of the MCU and desperately tried to figure out how to get in on the action. The MCU works, however, because it is a unity of strong superhero franchises who assemble into something even greater. In contrast, Robin Hood is the center of all the legends of the Merry Men, with his band serving as secondary and supporting characters. None of them are potential franchise leads - ironically with the possible exception of Maid Marian. Notice Sony didn't apparently consider a Maid Marian movie, an omission that seems oddly appropriate given even Marvel took a decade before making their first MCU female-led superhero movie.
Unsurprisingly, nothing came of the Robin Hood cinematic universe, with Sony failing to make even the original Robin Hood solo film. Sony was hacked in late 2014, and the emails suggest even they weren't particularly excited about the idea; there was next to no chatter, with one exec member expressing utter confusion about the Robin Hood project. The Robin Hood universe has generally been forgotten, and Sony is probably glad of it, especially given the response to Lionsgate's 2018 Robin Hood movie.