How did we get here?

The Adventures of Tintin was released on the 22nd of November, 2011, in Brussels. As of this writing, it has been over 14 years since a sequel was announced. In that span, to quote CJ, "things has changed around here!"

Films

• A24 is founded and becomes a force to be reckoned with in independent film.
• Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins an Oscar.
• Neon is founded and takes Cannes by storm.
• Disney buys Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox.
• Avengers: Endgame temporarily becomes the highest grossing film of all time... only to be beaten by Avatar via re-releases.
• Parasite becomes the first foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
• Amazon acquires MGM.
• Hollywood goes on strike against AI.
• Barbenheimer revitalises cinemas post-pandemic.
• Avatar's sequels finally come out.
• Netflix buys Warner Bros.
• Studio Ghibli has released six films.
• Disney has released 13 films in the Disney Animated Canon.
• Pixar has released 17 films.
• Quentin Tarantino has directed three films, released Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair to the public, and is still undecided on a tenth and final movie.
• Christopher Nolan has directed six films.
• Wes Anderson has directed seven feature films.
• Every feature film directed by Robert Eggers.
• Three James Bond films have been released.
• Ne Zha 2 becomes the first foreign language film to not only gross $1 billion, but also $2 billion.

Related to Tintin

• Steven Spielberg has directed nine films.
• Peter Jackson has directed four films, one of which was a documentary about World War 1, and a documentary miniseries about the Beatles' recording of Let It Be.
• Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, the only Tintin comic not to have been colourised by Herge during his lifetime, gets a colourised edition in 2017.

Film series that launched

• Phases 2 and beyond of the MCU
• The Hunger Games
• Two DC cinematic universes
• MonsterVerse
• John Wick
• Disney's live action remakes
• Kingsman
• The Star Wars sequel trilogy
• Two Spider-Man reboots, one with the MCU
• Spider-Man: Spider-Verse
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Fengshen Cinematic Universe

Television

• The classic trio (Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May) depart Top Gear after Clarkson punches a producer.
• The Simpsons was on season 22. It is now on season 37.
• Bluey becomes a worldwide phenomenon.

Television series that started and ended (not counting miniseries)

• Gravity Falls
• Steven Universe
• Better Call Saul
• BoJack Horseman
• OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
• The Grand Tour
• Infinity Train
• Squid Game

Television series that ended

• Adventure Time
• Regular Show
• Breaking Bad
• Downton Abbey
• Game of Thrones
• Arthur

Anime and manga

• Kyoto Animation is attacked by an arsonist.
• Hideaki Anno finishes his Rebuild of Evangelion series.

Anime and manga that launched

• The anime of Attack on Titan
• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
• Chainsaw Man
• SPY×FAMILY

Literature

• Stephen King has written 18 novels.

Video games

• Minecraft goes from an indie hit to the biggest video game of all time.
• Grand Theft Auto V becomes one of the biggest entertainment products of all time, raking in more cash than Hollywood blockbusters.
• Undertale becomes an indie hit and launches the career of Toby Fox.
• Hideo Kojima departs Konami and goes independent after Metal Gear Solid V.
• E3 ends.
• The console wars between Sony and Microsoft pretty much end, with Sony porting some of their games (Helldivers 2, Death Stranding) to Xbox and Microsoft giving up exclusivity entirely, leading to PlayStation getting Forza, Gears of War and friggin' Halo.

Video game series that launched

• Five Nights at Freddy's
• Splatoon
• Death Stranding
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Video game consoles

• PlayStation 4
• PlayStation 5
• Xbox One
• Xbox Series X and S
• Wii U
• Nintendo Switch
• Nintendo Switch 2

Music

• Taylor Swift has recorded 13 albums, including re-recordings.
• KPop takes over the world.
• Beyoncé popularises the surprise album with her 2013 self-titled album.
• Daft Punk break up after a long career.
• The Beatles release a new song.
• After 15 years of squabbling, Oasis reunite.

Science and technology

• In 2011, the latest model of iPhone was the iPhone 4S, with a dual core CPU and 512MB of RAM. In 2025, the top of the range model is the iPhone 17 Pro Max, with a 6-core CPU and 12GB of RAM.
• Four iterations of Windows have released.
• CRISPR starts being utilised for gene editing.
• VR becomes a usable commodity instead of something bleeding-edge.
• Two new generations of RAM: DDR4 and DDR5.
• USB-C is developed.
• Numerous home assistants are developed.
• AMD introduces the Ryzen CPU series.
• Real-time ray tracing becomes a thing.
• We finally see what a black hole looks like.
• The AI boom happens, gaining steam in the early 2020s.

Internet culture

• "Gangnam Style" becomes the first video to reach 1 billion views on YouTube. A lot more would follow in its wake.
• Vine was founded, thrived and died.
• While the first VTuber was Ami Yamato, who debuted a few months before Tintin's release, Kizuna AI was the first to use the term "Virtual YouTuber" and to achieve breakout success. As a result, Tintin 2 has been in development for the entire history of VTubers.
• TikTok is founded and becomes the way late Gen Z and Alpha get their news.
• Elon Musk buys Twitter and renames it "X".

Companies that were formed

• A24
• ByteDance
• Lyft
• OpenAI
• Alphabet
• miHoYo
• NEON
• Stellantis

Companies that have closed

• Blockbuster
• Toys "R" Us (original incarnation)
• Thomas Cook
• Blue Sky Studios
• Bed Bath & Beyond

World events

• There have been two US Presidents.
• There have been four Summer Olympics and three Winter Olympics.
• Four countries have joined NATO.
• Four countries have adopted the euro as their currency.
• Edward Snowden leaks evidence the NSA was spying on the public.
• The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.
• The entire entertainment world is rocked by the Weinstein scandal.
• Naruhito becomes Emperor of Japan.
• Macedonia changes its name to North Macedonia.
• The COVID-19 pandemic happens.
• The January 6 insurrection.
• The Taliban regain control of Afghanistan.
• Russia begins an invasion of Ukraine, marking the largest escalation of military action in Europe since World War II.
• Barbados becomes a republic.
• Queen Elizabeth II dies and Charles III ascends to the throne.
• A poorly designed submarine implodes near the wreck of the Titanic, killing everyone onboard.
• Israel launches into a genocide against Gazans.
• The Syrian Civil War ends.
• A new generation starts being born: Generation Beta.
• The United States phases out the penny.

Development hell projects that came out before Tintin 2

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Final Fantasy XV
• The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
• The Other Side of the Wind
• Amazing Grace (started work in 1972 but wasn't finished and released until 2019)
• Cyberpunk 2077
• I/O by Peter Gabriel

Things that took less time

• The American Civil War.
• World War I.
• World War II.
• American full-scale involvement in the Vietnam War.
• The Space Race.
• The Beatles' entire career.
• Led Zeppelin's entire career.
• Nirvana's entire career.
• Harry Potter going from the first book to the last movie.
• The construction of the Suez Canal.
• The construction of the Channel Tunnel.
• The construction of the One World Trade Center.

Development hell projects that took less time

• Boyhood (12 years, 2002-2014, on purpose!)
• Chinese Democracy (14 years, 1994-2008)
• Duke Nukem Forever (14 years, 1997-2011)
• The Five Nights at Freddy's movie (8 years, 2015-2023)
• Team Fortress 2 (9 years, 1998-2007)