HBO’s latest offering, The Franchise is a cheeky series taking a satirical dig at studio franchises (well, it’s Marvel). Besides its obvious funny premise, what makes The Franchise even more interesting is that Warner Bros. Discovery, the home of the DC Studios, owns HBO.
Given the theme that The Franchise deals with, one might wonder if the show aims to take a dig at tentpole movie making and all the backlot backbiting that inevitably comes along with it.
However, besides these thematic intricacies, The Franchise is a hilarious and easy watch. Despite the premise of taking dig at superhero films not being entirely fresh, the show makes it a joyride.
With its wacky season premiere, let us dive deep into what went on in the first episode.
This article contains spoilers for the first episode of The Franchise.
What happens in The Franchise Season premiere?
Titles Scene 31A: Tecto Meets Eye, the first episode of The Franchise, premiered on October 6, 2024.
The show opens with Lolly Adefope’s Dag, the new 3rd AD on the set of Tecto: Eye of the Storm, the superhero flick, at the center of The Franchise. Tecto: Eye of the Storm is the production of Maximum Studios and when Dag arrives on the studio lot in the UK, she finds the crew setting up the scene Scene 31A: Tecto Meets Eye, for the day.
Dag introduces herself to Himesh Patel’s Daniel, the 1st AD of the film. He is trying his best to manage this eccentric cast and crew while moving the production forward. The episode also introduces Moss Men and the Fish People who are present in the scene where Billy Magnussen’s Tecto (the film’s hero) meets Richard E. Grant’s Eye, the villain.
After ordering Dag to not let Peter (Richard E. Grant) finish a questionable joke on the trans community, Daniel announces that the studio is on fire. Thankfully, the studio is not and only a couple of houses nearby seem to be ablaze.
Daniel is then informed by Jessica Hynes’ Steph, screenwriter for Tecto: Eye of the Storm that Daniel Brühl’s Eric, Tecto’s director is concerned that they will not be able to handle his waterfall scene as that would require 16 setups.
However, though Daniel assures Eric that it is a priority for the shoot, once Eric and Steph are out of earshot, Daniel informs Dag that there is no possibility of them reaching that scene.
Isaac Powell’s Bryson enters the scene and informs Daniel that Shane, the studio head, had notes for him. However, Daniel barrels past him because honestly, he does not have time. He then goes on to calm the fish people down as some of them start panicking because of the prosthetic makeup they are wearing.
Finally, after all this, Daniel informs the crew that they are ready to start rehearsing for Tecto meeting the eye scene. Eric then describes the scene to Adam and Peter, who play Tecto and Eye, respectively.
As Eric tells them that when Tecto and Eye meet, the sun will set and behind them will be a roaring and huge waterfall. On the mention of the waterfall, Adam asks to see it. As they play the previews, Eric compliments the swag of the digital Adam.
The crew also comes to know that Pat, the studio executive working under Shane will be visiting them that day. Daniel, Steph and Dag return to Eric’s trailer to talk about this impending visit.
Eventually, the crew inches closer to filming the scene. In the middle of the shooting, where Eric is giving Adam notes on modulating his voice, Pat arrives. He approaches Eric and the latter behaves fine with him without using any expletives.
With everything going on, Dag and Daniel learn that Peter has burned his eyes and he can’t see. They then inform Steph and Eric. Later, Pat is put into a medical facility where the team goes to meet him.
Dag then tells Daniel that Pat is wondering why they are not shooting. Daniel comes up with a solution saying that they would shoot the master and bring stand-ins of Adam and Peter.
The first episode of The Franchise can be streamed on HBO.
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