Ellie Rose
‘Franchise Motherhood’: Investigating the mobilisation of maternity in the global post-Marvel transmedia franchise
Supervisors
Dr Cat Mahoney (Communications and Media, University of Liverpool) and Dr Sarah Thomas (Communications and Media, University of Liverpool)
Research topic
My research seeks to investigate contemporary transmedia franchises’ mobilisation of and dependence on outdated and problematic tropes of motherhood. Transmedia franchising (encompassing film, television, streaming and other media) has emerged as the dominant mode of blockbuster production in Hollywood. Despite this emergence occurring concurrently to an increased attention on improving Hollywood’s standards of representation and inclusion, global franchises have actively countered this progression and instead deploy problematic and clichéd depictions of mothers and maternity. This research argues that not only are these depictions ever-present on a large scale, but the cohesion and viability of transmedia franchise production is contingent upon them.
This project analyses four global franchises - Star Wars, Jurassic Park, The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and The DC Extended Universe (DCEU). I am proposing that these exist in a ‘post-Marvel landscape’, in that contemporary franchise production is characterised and shaped by the industrial and commercial success of the MCU, resulting in a shift to prioritising transmediality and interconnected content. My project primarily focuses on the construction and circulation of the four franchises ‘post-Marvel’ iterations from 2008 onwards, whilst contextualising their longer histories of representation and production through questions of the ‘franchise mother’ figure.
Examining how mothers have become requisite to the structure, philosophies and economics of franchise production, I will explore the emergence of this ‘franchise motherhood’ as a wholly functional role that serves as an integral narrative device, lacks characterisation and autonomy, and is reductive to increased diversity and the power of women in Hollywood. Through investigating this mobilisation of restrictive maternal depictions, I seek to reveal how the function of Western transmedia franchises’ repressive tropes of maternity and often imperceptible manipulation of motherly figures is endlessly broadcast to global audiences, offering excessively dominant yet wholly limited images of female significance to millions.
Key words
Global franchises; industrial media production; transmediality and convergence; maternal identities; feminist media.
Academic achievements
I put together and co-organised the 2nd annual COSME PGR Conference - Disruption, Resistance and Change in Screen Media Industries - in May 2025 and successfully co-ran the event on the day.
Teaching experience
During my first year of PhD study, I guest lectured on COMM206 - Feminist Media Studies, leading a session on Intersectionality. This year, I am serving as a seminar tutor for COMM303 - Stardom and Media Celebrity.