Franchise Fatigue

[Your Mom]

Is it just me or are we all starting to feel this? I've been trying to find new movies to watch and...

 

Ant-Man 3: I actually did watch but this was basically just to set up the next 10 movies or whatever right? I mean it wasn't horrible or anything but I feel like I just started a long homework assignment

John Wick 4: I'm sure John will be fine and his dog will probably be fine. Why am I bothering?

Avatar 2: I didn't even think the first one was compelling as far as story goes yet I somehow feel like I have to watch it

Creed 3: Life will get a little rough but he will probably win his boxing match. Is this the last Creed? I could maybe watch it if I knew there weren't going to be more.

I could go on but what's the point? Like I feel like I have to watch this stuff because "Oh I recognize that name!" But am I having fun anymore? Not really. Originally I was excited for all the James Gunn DC stuff but then I realized that's probably all tied together too. Like I just want to enjoy a movie and know that's the end of it.

[GoGo Yubari]

I am but not for John WIck or Creed, both of which I saw this year's installments of in theaters and quite enjoyed (saw John WIck twice, in fact, once by myself and once with my dad). I do have fatigue with a lot of franchises that reach a certain point. I meant to see Fast X a couple weeks ago but got to the theater too late and just haven't bothered to see it since, which is funny because I liked Fast 9 and I imagine X will be more of the kind of dumb nonsense from those movies I enjoy.

I haven't skipped an MCU movie and they're generally a "I'll see it on opening weekend assuming I don't have to get up early the next day" thing but my enthusiasm for it is pretty low, and on the Disney+ side I take forever to watch anything. Right now I'm stalled out on the She-Hulk episode that's just a lot of tired therapy jokes. DC just seems like a fucking mess so I'm holding off until James Gunn actually starts making movies himself again, it didn't help that both DC movies this year have leads I'd rather not see.

[Hellraiser]

If you enjoyed the previous movies, you should probably give John Wick 4 a chance. I promise it won't just be another entry in the series that sets up the next one.

[Naitch]

The MCU is often at it's worst when it's solely being used as a vehicle to push something else. That's exactly why Shang-Chi and Moon Knight are my favourites from the latest round of things; they require no additional knowledge and only contain a couple of references to what's happened before.

It's clear that they don't really know where things are going, which is why the "phases" keep being juggled around and also why Phase Four is first one not to have an Avengers movie at or near its end. Basically, it's like a good number of shows that have a really enjoyable and tightly written Season 1, because that was the initial idea/pitch, but then they have to work out how to keep things going without getting stale, which often fails. That 70s Show and Heroes are my go to examples for this.

If you want a franchise that never got old (apart from being a little outdated 45+ years on...) the Carry On films are perfect!

[Skummy]

I had this with MCU a long time ago. I stopped particularly following it after Age of Ultron, have only seen a couple since then, and none since Endgame, which I thought was a massively overwritten, self-indulgent mess of a movie. When the first Avengers movie came out, I loved it - I wasn't a fan of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, and thought Marvel had finally managed to do a superhero movie that actually gets the tone and mood of the comics right. If you'd told me then, or better still, if you'd told me when I was a kid obsessing over Spider-Man and X-Men comics, that there would come a time when a new Marvel movie comes out every few months and I wouldn't care, I'd never have believed you. But there comes a point when seeing a thousand identical third acts and CGI laser fights over macguffins just wears thin, and "it's that guy from the other movie!" ceases to be an interesting hook.

I don't think there's a single franchise I particularly care about any more, and I think it's the nature of franchises that make it that way. It's the same reason I try and avoid getting into books that are part of a series any more; the writer is no longer prioritising telling a good story within set parameters, they've got one eye on what the next one is, and the one after that, and so on forever. It's deeply unsatisfying. 

[lanky316]

Sequelitis has long been a thing where usually a films sequels decline, it means that in most cases after a second, or third film you're "done" as the quality tends to be a bit lacking. Over the years we've definitely noticed in particular though that the industry has moved very much to a "franchise driven model" and we have a mix of films being churned out unnecessarily to expand upon a franchise and there's a large part of it that clearly still sells and people go to it. There are some exceptions, people saying Fast 9 is their favourite or whatever but for the most part... I don't have the time, inclination or interest in yet another formulaic entry to a series to the point where I'm barely aware of keeping up with things. Part of me blames Lord of the Rings on this, after the unthinkable project that it was to put together it showed that people will pay to watch an "incomplete" film and a lot more things have been built with the intention of being a franchise. Not to say of course that it was an isolated occasion and that films prior never had sequel hooks or anything like that but there does seem to be a movement towards pitching films as a franchise rather than "sit back and enjoy the ride and if it works and we can think of worthwhile stories we might do another one" as we'd seen in the past. 

 

Another side impact is that the franchise model and how tired some of them are, is it's stopping some new properties from coming out as studios feel safest going with what works. There's been a lot of rejoicing from certain elements of society as well as discussion over Elementals release and it's failure for being "too woke" or whatever else people may want to comment on. The problem for me is more simple than any agenda pushing or whatever may have impacted it... I had no idea it was even coming out and don't recall seeing any adverts or anything like that, meanwhile Secret Invasion is being advertised and I'm coming across it on casual TV background viewing. The marketing for Elementals feels to me to have been a problem from a casual observer, while I'm much more than aware of the release of "yet another Marvel TV show". I'm aware this may just be a perception thing, although I like to think I have some awareness of films.

[Benji]

I don't think I'm fatigued with the MCU, I think they've lost their vision. They had a three arc build for Infinity War and now they're past it they don't know how to go forward again. They're basically just in a holding pattern until they can squash the mutants and Fantastic Four into things.

[Hobo]

I can't think of a film franchise I've really ever been that into.

I like Star Wars to an extent but I'm not that into it that I've felt compelled to watch all the movies and shows.

I grew up on 90s Star Trek, watched a bit of TOS, but have really no interest in the modern iteration. My interest really ended with Voyager.

As for comic book movies? I dipped in and out for a while but was never highly invested.

I did watch the first two John Wick sequels but I've always felt that we didn't really need them.

On the flipside I have loved both Knives Out movies and I want to see more. I think in the main because there's no real desire to world build or have deep Benoit Blanc lore.

[Benji]

I'm honestly surprised that more film franchises haven't gone with more of an anthology route like so many TV shows of the modern era. Same themes, maybe an actor here or there the same, but basically no same characters with a brand new story and the such.

[DFF]

The Mission Impossible film franchise still excites me. 1 is a great old 90s flick, 2-3 was the slump, then its been great from 4 onwards. 

As for the MCU, whilst I don't go crazy and see every film in the cinema, I'm more than happy to watch every entry when they are available on streaming. I think the TV side of things has actually been quite solid, and some of the shows have been quite unique, whilst still being very 'Marvel'. For example, I think the Ms. Marvel series was generally a load of fun. 

I was never overly fussed about the DC equivalent because its been a hot mess from the start. But James Gunn being at the helm means I will at least give it a shot. 

[Hobo]

48 minutes ago, Benji said:

I'm honestly surprised that more film franchises haven't gone with more of an anthology route like so many TV shows of the modern era. Same themes, maybe an actor here or there the same, but basically no same characters with a brand new story and the such.

In addition to this: fewer serials and more episodic TV shows. 

We've been watching through Poker Face and it's just so nice to watch a show where each week is a whole new story and very little big plot drama. 

[Your Mom]

5 hours ago, Hellraiser said:

If you enjoyed the previous movies, you should probably give John Wick 4 a chance. I promise it won't just be another entry in the series that sets up the next one.

I really loved the first 2 and didn't love 3 but still really enjoyed it. This is an encouraging post. I'll for sure watch it because I know it's something I like but now I'm intrigued  

[Vamp]

Marvel had two good paths after Endgame. Take a break, make a plan, come back or just make fun standalone super hero movies for a few years. They didn't do either. 

They really, really need to not fuck up Deadpool. It's a big opportunity for them to process they can do something different with their movies again.

Ultimately their problem is the Moffat Doctor Who problem. If every story you do is filler to get to the big one why should I care? Just get to the big one. If the big one isn't blow away good then you've wasted my time. 

 

[Your Mom]

I am still pretty excited for Deadpool 3 and The Marvels so it's not like I hate everything MCU now but like you said I've lost interest in the ones clearly just there to get to something else

[livid]

I think the biggest issue I have with MCU and a lot of blockbusters in general, is the really appalling CGI/green screen effects. It's one of the reasons why I'm actually excited for Secret Invasion because at least it looks like they filmed it in the actual world. 

For what it's worth, I think John Wick 4 is actually the best of the entire series but I have loved every one of them so I'm not exactly unbiased. 

[zero]

I think the death of the MCU has been greatly exaggerated. Eternals was boring, Ant-Man 3 was a rough mix of all the things people hate about the MCU, but for the most part, Phase 4 and 5 have been pretty good. I just watched Secret Invasion last night, which I had no interest in, but I enjoyed it!

But yeah, everything else is just too much. This is what happens when Hollywood spends 15 years chasing the MCU even though the MCU was the exception, not the rule. There's a reason why no one else has been able to pull off "cinematic universe" besides Marvel. Well, and Kevin Smith. 😂

This particular swing has taken longer than usual, but the pendulum is headed away from franchises much like how we saw sci-fi and horror slow down in the late 80s and the rise of the indie boom of the 90s. With all these studios just lighting money on fire, I'm hopeful we see independent film bounce back again. Everything Everywhere All At Once will be the dividing line. 

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

On 23/06/2023 at 09:26, Naitch said:

The MCU is often at it's worst when it's solely being used as a vehicle to push something else. That's exactly why Shang-Chi and Moon Knight are my favourites from the latest round of things; they require no additional knowledge and only contain a couple of references to what's happened before.

It's clear that they don't really know where things are going, which is why the "phases" keep being juggled around and also why Phase Four is first one not to have an Avengers movie at or near its end. Basically, it's like a good number of shows that have a really enjoyable and tightly written Season 1, because that was the initial idea/pitch, but then they have to work out how to keep things going without getting stale, which often fails. That 70s Show and Heroes are my go to examples for this.

If you want a franchise that never got old (apart from being a little outdated 45+ years on...) the Carry On films are perfect!

Good call on the Carry On films. I still love (most) of them. They didn't try to build a bigger interlocking story outside of "what setting are our cast double-entendreing their way through this year"?

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

I mean did we need a tenth Fast and Furious film?

[Hellraiser]

6 hours ago, Brandon Cutler Fan Account said:

I mean did we need a tenth Fast and Furious film?

And if Vin Diesel has his way, we're going to get two more. But seeing as Part 10 underperformed (it mate about 700 Million but it is estimated that it needed to make between 800 and 850 Million to turn a profit), that will probably not happen.

[FLiam]

I’m still waiting for the day they reboot Back to the Future and milk it for all its worth. That will depress me.

The whole Jurassic Park reboot was bad enough.