David Goyer Launches Blockchain-Based Sci-Fi Universe Emergence

Filmmaker David Goyer, known for his work on the Blade trilogy, The Dark Knight, and Apple TV’s Foundation series, has announced his latest venture: a blockchain-based science-fiction universe called Emergence. This new project aims to revolutionize the way science-fiction stories are created and consumed, leveraging the power of blockchain technology to engage fans in a collaborative storytelling experience.

The Emergence universe is set to feature familiar science-fiction elements such as spaceships, relic-hunting, and white holes. These staples will serve as the foundation for a transmedia project built within Incention, Goyer's new blockchain platform. The platform is designed to allow fans to co-create the Emergence universe alongside professional storytellers, fostering a community-driven approach to storytelling.

During a panel discussion at a recent conference, Goyer expressed his vision for Incention, emphasizing the importance of community involvement. "The idea is that we’re going to involve the community in all of this, and they’ll have an opportunity to create characters who will be joining the podcast, joining the animation, etc.," he said. Goyer criticized Hollywood’s traditional approach to intellectual property (IP) building, describing it as "very top down" and slow to adapt. He believes that Web3 technology could help change this by providing a more innovative and inclusive model for IP creation and management.

Incention is built on Story Protocol, an intellectual property-focused blockchain launched in 2023. The platform offers tools for registering, tracking, and monetizing intellectual property on the blockchain. Each IP has its own program, licensing, and royalty-sharing rights, allowing creators to remix, license, and build upon someone else’s IP without the need for intermediaries. This decentralized approach enables creators to share the upside together, according to the rules set by the IP owner.

Goyer has already laid the groundwork for the Emergence universe with a 2,500-page story bible. He has collaborated with talented concept artists who have worked on franchises like Harry Potter and Star Wars, as well as Hugo and Nebula Award-winning science fiction authors. This material has also served as the training data for an AI agent named "Atlas," which will assist contributors in co-creating within a pre-defined narrative framework. Goyer emphasized that this use of AI is "sanctioned," as it involves creating new content rather than simply scraping existing information.

Visitors to the Emergence platform can explore its characters and settings or generate their own content. The community can upvote user-generated stories and visuals, and an editorial board chaired by Goyer will determine which submissions become part of the official canon. "We’ll let our community up-vote the characters that the community themselves have created," Goyer said. "Then the editorial board — which is myself and a few other people — will decide which of these characters best suits the overall franchise."

Goyer's foray into blockchain and AI reflects his belief that these technologies are here to stay and will continue to shape the future of creative industries. "AI, Web3, blockchain — none of this stuff is going away, right? The whole world’s becoming tokenized," he said. While there are concerns about job loss and the commodification of creative labor, Goyer hopes to use these technologies in ways that empower artists. "It’s really about deciding whether I’m going to stick my head in the sand, or I’m going to have a seat at the table and see, in my own small way, whether or not I can help guide this in a way that’s beneficial to creative types like myself," he concluded.