Star Wars, Jonathan Majors, The Last of Us, and Rick and Morty

In the wake of Victoria Alonso's firing (she is not taking it well), there was news from Disney that Damon Lindelof had been released from his Star Wars film (which was going to happen right after Watchman season two...). This cancellation has been expected for some time, but Lindelof kept talking about it as if it would happen (ala Rian Johnson) until recently (cf). This brings to mind Star Wars, which I don't discuss often as I'm not a superfan (I hated the prequels, sequels, and the shows). The bungling IP deserves at least a re-visit because of its impact on Disney (I've enjoyed the cycle of outrage YTers adopting someone--George Lucas, John Favreau, etc--and then rejecting them as their work inevitably falls off a cliff). Let's look at the cancellation slate (which is mostly echoed in the image above):

Michael Arndt's episode seven (2013) - no one knows why he left, but he was replaced by Abrams

Josh Trank's Boba Fett film (2015) - ditched in the wake of the Fan4stic disaster

Gareth Edwards' version of Rogue One (2016) - partially reshot and edited by Tony Gilroy

Colin Trevorrow's episode nine (2017) - he couldn't adjust to Johnson's radial departure from Abrams' storyline

Original version of Solo by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (2017) - film completely reshot by Ron Howard

James Mangold's Boba Fett film (2018) - eventually became the laughable D+ show from Favreau

Stephen Daldry's Kenobi trilogy (2018) - cancelled in the wake of Solo bombing, becoming the horrendous D+ show from Joby Harold

Benioff & Weiss prequel trilogy (2019) - cancelled in the wake of Game of Thrones season eight bombing

Rangers D+ show (2021) - cancelled because it was going to star fired actress Gina Carano

Petty Jenkins Rogue Squadron (2022) - fired as a result of Wonder Woman 1984 bombing (from this and her entire slate of projects)

J. D. Dillard project (2022) - an Abrams acolyte, no one knows what this was

Kevin Feige/Michael Waldron's Star Wars film (2023) - cancelled in the wake of Marvel's disastrous Phase Four

Rian Johnson trilogy (2023) - Johnson's theatrical film career has been essentially dead since his Star Wars effort

Damon Lindelof/Justin Britt-Gibson's film (2023) - Lindelof's nightmarish efforts over the last eight years caught up to him (2012's Prometheus should have ended his career long ago)

The public has missed nothing of value here, but the comical ineptitude at LucasFilm (currently undergoing an audit in light of the lawsuit against The Acolyte--see below) was not echoed by Marvel until we reached Phase Four. Star Wars is a listless, aimless mess with the IP in such a bad state it can't support films and it's D+ efforts went from mediocre to unwatchable. Inexplicably, Taika Waititi's project is still officially ongoing, despite the reaction to Thor 3--it's unclear if Waititi will sleep with one of his actresses for this project too (no MeToo worries for Taika--maybe Tessa Thompson's vacuous acting is related to no one caring).

According to Kamran Pasha, The Acolyte is not truly in production, with the filming that's ongoing being akin to a demo reel to try and get it funded by Iger, something that's very unlikely because of the lawsuit against it.

In an 'uh-oh' moment, the MCU's Kang, Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country fame), was arrested for assaulting a woman. We have no idea if it's true or not and we're beyond the public reaction of 'believe all women' (unless it's Justin Roiland--see below), but it puts Marvel in a difficult situation. Kang is the major villain going forward in the MCU (despite Ant-Man 3 bombing), so what do you do? Should the charges be true (or the accusations drag on), Marvel could re-cast and move on, but it would be quite a blow to the plans Feige had in place for his supposed Thanos-replacement. On the plus side, re-casting also means re-introducing him in a film that people might actually watch--that's the glass-half-full way of looking at it. More seriously, let's hope the woman is okay and that the charges aren't true.

It's time to update HBO's The Last of Us. We saw a hike in viewerhip for episode four (cf), but it's declined through episode six (15% down from earlier, still up 12% from its opener). In terms of trends, the finale (Nielsen hasn't reached the finale yet) only brought it up to 60% of the interest when the show debuted. I feel like that's a pretty good representation of the audience that stuck with it. Does it warrant its second season? I think so. Has it become a cultural phenomena like Stranger Things? Absolutely not. Will I watch it? When Pedro Pascal gets introduced to towels and a golf club, yes (which will amusingly mirror his Game of Thrones exit).

I haven't watched Rick & Morty in quite some time, but I did see that Justin Roiland was getting universally dogpiled after domestic abuse allegations came out. He's just been cleared and in response those denouncing him have decided that, well, we can't really know if that clears him, so best to assume he's an abuser anyway. The lessons of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard can be ignored because there are no cameras in a courtroom and that's just sad. I have learned my lesson: I don't know what happened and the charges weren't worthy of court, so as far as I'm concerned, all we have against Roiland is that some people thought he was odd on set (very much like Josh Trank, for those who remember those complaints)--odd behaviour doesn't equate to condemnation for me.

This article was written by Peter Levi

Victoria Alonso's firing and trends in the MCU, DC, and Sony Marvel

It's so rare to get good news these days that when it comes it's hard to believe at first. THR reports that one of Marvel's insufferable ideologues, Victoria Alonso, has been fired. For those who don't know, Alonso has been with Feige since 2006, so she's deeply imbedded within the org (this optically is bigger than Bob Chapek firing exec Peter Rice in June). While she's hardly alone in shouldering responsibility for the horrors of Marvel Phase Four and Five (Nate Moore and Feige himself are also to blame), she's certainly the most publicly irritating and apparently the key figure in believing that the mantel of a hero (as in, the outfit/name/power set) is all that matters, not the person (and thus, the endless gender/race swaps/replacements). This means we'll be getting the X-Men rather than "The Mutants" at some point, albeit almost certainly with the same hackneyed writing and inane casting that's deeply ingrained at Disney (ex-Rick and Morty writers have become the equivalent of Bad Robot alums). What I think this means is Bob Iger decided to rattle Kevin Feige and let him know things have to change in terms of success--he's no longer untouchable. The thing is, I don't think Feige or Iger actually understand the problem, so I can't see them solving it. Let's briefly look at the box office for Phase Four (in order):

2021

Black Widow - 379 (+125 D+)

Shang-Chi - 432

Eternals - 402

Spider-Man 3 - 1.912 (w/Sony)

2022

Doctor Strange 2 - 955

Black Panther 2 - 858

Thor 3 - 760

2023

Ant-Man 3 - 463

Every film underperformed except for the memberberry/nostalgia-rich Spider-Man 3, with four of them losing money. This isn't to mention the horror show on D+ culminating in the mindnumbingly awful She-Hulk. Merch sales are dead, butts in seats have tanked, and the brand has stopped being must-see for casuals. As a fan (go read my archive), I haven't felt compelled to see a Marvel film since Spider-Man 2 or a show since Loki. Emergency re-shoots were required for virtually all these films, but to no apparent benefit.

Along with Alonso's departure, delays are now hitting all D+ MCU shows. A few weeks ago we knew that most of the shows were delayed, but now it seems like all are being shuffled to some degree (cf). The problem facing Marvel, however, is that most of these projects are completed and no one wants them. Their potential value decreases every day as the entertainment industry is forced (financially) to find other approaches to sell to the consumer (as opposed to their reflexive fan-baiting). Putting Echo or Agatha Harkness out in a couple of years won't make them bomb any less (they will probably do even worse). Re-shooting these projects is prohibitively expensive and there's no inherent interest in them anyway, so what can they do? If Iger was bold he'd quietly shelve most of them and release Loki season two and Secret Invasion ASAP--get them out of the way so you can move on. I don't think Iger is either willing or able to do that, so he's going to add a few jokes (ala Ant-Man 3), watch them bomb, and then hope that in 2025 or 2026 they put out films/shows people actually enjoy. The sad thing is, the bar for success is not high. Wednesday is a mediocre show but a huge hit (I unfortunately had to sit through that entire show). Stranger Things is a tremendously uneven show, but dwarfs almost everything else (it remains 'must-see' TV for casuals). Jurassic Park 6 is a muddled mess, but made a ton of money. Making hits isn't that difficult, but requires semi-competent writing and that's where Marvel has been failing (there are casting issues as well, but things like Falcon and the Winter Soldier weren't held back because of casting). To quote MCU inanity, they "need to do better!"

You'd be forgiven if you were unaware that Shazam 2 had hit theaters. Making a sequel to a film almost no one watched in 2019 is an odd idea to begin with (see Sony below), but as the IP was tied to Black Adam that didn't matter until Discovery bought WB. It's arrived in theaters with less potency than Sony's flop Morbius (30 vs 39 opening weekend) and could be the worst DC box office yet (beating James Gunn's uberflop The Suicide Squad--talk about failing upwards!). This is a final gift from the prior regimes (et tu, Sarnoff?), kicked off by Johns/Berg and wrapped up by Sarnoff. Let's re-visit the box office results per regime (cf):

Snyderverse

Man of Steel (2013) - 668

Batman v Superman (2016) - 873

Suicide Squad (2016) - 746

Snyder Cut (2021) - HBO Max

Cyborg (cancelled)

Harley Quinn vs the Joker (cancelled)

The Batman (cancelled)

Hybrid (Snyder/Johns+Berg )

Wonder Woman (2017) - 822

Justice League (2017) - 657

Johns/Berg (May/16)

Aquaman (2018) - 1.148

Shazam! (2019) - 366

Joker (cancelled)

Deathstroke (cancelled)

Hamada (Jan/18; Johns was there until June, but had been moved out of film)

Joker (2019) - 1.074

Birds of Prey (2020) - 205

New Gods (cancelled)

Black Manta film (cancelled)

Sarnoff (June/19; Hamada still there, but with limited creative control)

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) - 169

The Suicide Squad (2021) - 168

The Batman (2022) - 770

Black Adam (2022) - 392

Shazam 2 (2022) - 64 (thus far)

Blue Beetle (2023)

Batgirl (cancelled)

The Wonder Twins (cancelled) 

Supergirl (believed to be cancelled, eg)

Hybrid (Sarnoff/Zaslav)

The Flash (2023)

Aquaman 2 (2023)

Zaslav

Joker 2 (2024) - currently filming

The Batman 2 (2025) - production to begin in November

DC hasn't had a hit since 2019's Joker (which arrived at the height of comic film mania), with every release since losing money other than The Batman (which underperformed). In the race to the bottom, the MCU is competing with the worst of DC's efforts and thus far Zaslav's efforts of righting the ship by bringing in James Gunn has failed to do anything other than agitate the fanbase (cf).

Since we're looking at comicbook films, let's wrap-up by visiting the little brother among the big three IP holders and remind ourselves that yes, Sony is still making Marvel movies. By releasing at a slower pace, it's theoretically easier for Sony to adjust to changing approaches, but whether that's actually happening creatively is debatable.

Venom (2018) - 856

Into the Spiderverse (2018) - 375 (animated)

Venom 2 (2021) - 506

Morbius (2022) - 167

Kraven (2023) - post-production

El Muerto (2024) - pre-production

Madame Web (2024) - post-production

Across the Spiderverse (2024) - release shifted twice already (animated)

Venom 3 (TBD) - pre-preduction

Silk (announced in 2018 as a film) - became an Amazon show in 2021, changing showrunners in 2022 (TBD)

Uncertain/Shelved Projects

Sinister Six (in theory since 2013)

Silver & Black (various iterations since 2017)

Mysterio (floated in 2017)

Nightwatch (floated in 2018)

Jackpot (floated in 2018)

Olivia Wilde project (believed to be Spider-Woman, announced in 2020)

Robert Orci project (scooped to be happening via The Wrap, nothing has been heard since)

Sony has released four films with only the original Venom being a hit (and an ephemeral one, as it was unable to support its own sequel). Into the Spiderverse had Shazam box office numbers, but you'd never know that from the way the media sqees about it (and a sequel six years after the original is beyond odd--it's not Avatar after all). Sony's approach has been scattershot and I'd take projects in pre-production with giant grains of salt (El Muerto and Venom 3). Amy Pascal inexplicably has influence over these projects, despite being fired from Sony (clearly she has some control over the rights), meaning stupidity is injected into everything Sony does, even though her pet projects (such as Silver & Black) generally don't see the light of day.

This article was written by Peter Levi

Superman, Ant-Man 3, Blade, Willow, and Dragonlance

What do you do when the products you are making aren't popular, but you won't (or can't) change how you make them? Market them differently! This is the approach embraced by James Gunn for his upcoming (2025) Superman film. Do I believe him that it will be a four-quadrant film that will appeal to everyone? Absolutely not. Why don't I believe him? Because the venture capital that pays for his films (BlackRock etc) want entertainment to be like Phase Four. Gunn also continues to be haunted by his Henry Cavill decision, as I think it plays a part in why Ben Affleck recently said he will not direct for Gunn--that he doesn't like the direction he wants to take DC. Whatever one thinks of Affleck, that rejection is not a good look. This awkward bit of marketing is a tepid effort to paint roses on a chamber pot, but we know Gunn doesn't know how to make it work (as evidenced by The Suicide Squad bombing). I can only imagine how eagerly Zaslav wants to dump this problem on another company.

I knew Ant-Man 3 was a bomb, but in my wildest dreams never imagined it wouldn't even make the original Ant-Man's box office. Nearing the end of its theatrical run it's only made 453 million, a piddly amount that barely beats Shang-Chi. What a waste of Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas (even of Paul Rudd). I have no idea why they wanted Evangeline Lilly to look like a recovering cancer patient, but it doesn't help. I don't think this film is any worse than any other Phase Four effort, but Feige doesn't 'get it' so we're going to get more of this throughout Phase Five (with a high five to Bob Iger's emergency reshoots--I guess those extra jokes didn't help!).

Speaking of the MCU, back in October I guessed that the delays for Blade were due to the star being unhappy with the script. This has now been echoed by Jeff Sneider and this can only help the film improve, although I have no idea how good Ali is at gauging scripts. The fact that Marvel's original ideas were terrible are clear from every Phase Four and Five film thus far (one can argue about Spider-Man 3, but that's co-produced with Sony so a different animal). I doubt Brie Larson's meddling with The Marvels guarantees a similar positive effect (given what Captain Marvel was like).

As expected, Willow season two is not happening. The show isn't radically worse than anything else that's appeared on D+, but with Bob Iger in the midst of pulling back the amount of productions Disney is making, losing money on another season of Willow is not in the cards. This is not a sign that the company is re-evaluating its creative process, as future shows will still be terrible, it's just that there will be less of them. As for the IP itself, I think it's dead for now. A remake of the original in 5-10 years is possible, but as a cult film it's an iffy proposition.

Speaking of things that went up like a flaming fart, what about the attempted re-birth of Dragonlance? As I went over back in August, the IP had fizzled out long ago (after the animated film bombed in 2008, the writing duo hadn't released a novel since 2011). After settling a lawsuit with WotC regarding the rights (out of court, so we don't know the specifics), they put out a new novel in August (Dragons of Deceit), which is now papering landfills across the continent. WotC's 5e book arrived in December to little fanfare (none of the people I play with know what Dragonlance is or care about the setting). The bump it got from 5e was larger than from the book (which is no surprise--Weis & Hickman haven't had a hit book in decades), but still anemic. The only way forward for this IP, I think, is a largely faithful adaptation of the original book on screen, but that's impossible in our era (the creators themselves would oppose it).

This article was written by Peter Levi

Guardians 3, Punisher, The Last of Us, and the Changing Zeitgeist

The pop culture disaster that is James Gunn continues, but this time it's not DC-related. At Marvel he's fighting with fans over race-swapping (a decision I doubt he had much control over given Disney's quota system for casting, not that I think he opposes it). It's fascinating to me that fandom seems unwilling or unable to recognize that Gunn is stamped from the same mold as everyone else at Disney (or DC). He's more than willing to participate in the fan baiting approach that's become ubiquitous. It's just empty virtue signaling, and I say 'empty' because Gunn has nothing negative to say that impacts his bottom line or personal life--there's no objection to things like the lithium mining required to power his smart phone, or the manufacturing practices that dress him, or stepping down so a POC or alphabet community member can have his position, etc--it's all style, no substance (maybe not as bad as Jon Stewart giving a Neo-Nazi a medal, but still). Making the High Evolutionary black (and because this is America, the change is usually to black--just like Seth Rogen's new TMNT cartoon or Disney's new Little Mermaid) isn't going to accomplish anything. You'd think after years of failure the industry would give up on antagonistic tokenism (echoing what made Spike Lee complain back in 2001), but if the goal is ideological I suppose it's less about the money than it is about the statement.

It's no surprise to hear that Marvel finally signed Jon Bernthal to reprise his role as the Punisher, as they've been attempting to do so for years and it matches the same logic that brought Daredevil back. It's also no surprise that the prior Karen (the delightful Deborah Ann Woll) and Foggy (Elden Henson) won't return--the latter is a redhead (so an anathema in the industry) and both are white, so race-swapping is in order (the odds would make Foggy black; perhaps Karen will be Asian, to borrow Netflix's failed Elektra idea, cf; it's unlikely either would be Latino, as Marvel considers Latinos white). We have to assume the show will feature the same awful writing that has become the norm for the MCU, because there's been no change in their writing hiring preferences (they are doubling down on David Callaham of all things). In general though, I'm less troubled about the Punisher than other things. To my mind, the Punisher's second season (2019) had already started to ruin the character, while Daredevil had all sorts of problems at Netflix from both the second and third season (none are as bad as the D+ shows (Jessica Jones' final two seasons are), but they aren't good either). Do I think Bernthal's presence will help early ratings? Yes, but it won't sustain itself (Daredevil couldn't save She-Hulk either). The character will be subverted and humiliated just like Matt Murdoch.

A bit of humble pie for me as The Last of Us' ratings went up for episode 4 (via Nielsen). Despite that, it's Trends continue to fall, so it's an increase in eyeballs (over 30%), but less public discussion. This makes me think the casuals have already decided whether it's for them or not. Where the show seems to have landed is as a modest success, but not a smash hit (which does rationalize a second season). I can only hope we get the golf clubbing crescendo from The Last of Us Part II (y'all got a towel or anything?). For those looking for optimism, there's a gleam of hope for Naughty Dog themselves, that Druckmann will be too preoccupied with HBO to infect their games with his ideas (I think that's unlikely, but it remains as the only potential positive). On an anecdotal level I don't know anyone who has seen the show (which is unusual, as I know fans of Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time), but I expect that will change at some point.

It's been fascinating watching the entertainment industry try to deal with the unprofitability of their products. There's no acknowledgement of the cause (it can't be because of their own hackneyed ideas). Kevin Feige and Bob Iger think they just need to add a few more jokes (an idea that already failed in Ant-Man 3). I think Feige is trying to double down on memberberries, but that cupboard is not particularly full and its impact not assured (it worked in Spider-Man 3, but not in Doctor Strange). Not surprisingly, the consequences for failure vary widely. Let's look at some examples:

• Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi) - best known for fighting with fans (something he hasn't given up on); his Star Wars trilogy will never happen and his film career seems essentially dead after Knives Out (2019)
• Kevin Feige - lost his Star Wars film (which is shocking), but remains in absolute control of the MCU
• Taika Waititi - won't get another Thor-film, but his Star Wars project remains alive (link above)
• Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) - got demoted in her own sequel (Captain Marvel 2 is now The Marvels) and has been pulled as the face of the MCU's future, but remains in Marvel
• Melissa Rosenberg - on the rise after the first season of Jessica Jones (2015), landing a deal with WB that was quietly abandoned as a result of the next two seasons and she essentially hasn't worked since
• Patty Jenkins - given all the credit for Wonder Woman when (like James Gunn) she was brought in to finish someone else's project; had a slew of films lined up until the sequel bombed, all of which have been canned (link above as well as this for DC)
• Ava DuVernay (New Gods) - given the project in the Berg/Johns era, which she was quietly jettisoned from
• Jessica Gao (She-Hulk) - hit Neil Breen levels of stupidity with her show and was unable to keep her mouth shut; it appears as though she will be ushered out of Marvel
• Leslye Headland - despite the widespread belief she helped facilitate Harvey Weinstein's assaults when working as his personal assistant, her Star Wars project (Acolyte) is still ongoing (you have to wonder what she knows that gives her this kind of immunity/opportunity)
• Neil Druckmann - has been fighting with fans since he became an Anita Sarkeesian acolyte back in 2014; this antagonism has had no consequences, even though The Last of Us Part II bombed and The Last of Us Remastered is seen as a poorly executed cash grab
• Mindy Kaling - fought with fans over Velma, which bombed horrendously, but theoretically is getting a second season (I think it will air just after Watchman and Lovecraft Country season two...)
• Rings of Power duo - despite the show's horrendous reception, Amazon has not meaningfully changed it (although Ismael Cruz Cordova and Nazanin Boniadi won't be back)
• Lauren Hissrich - her limp efforts lost her Henry Cavill, which likely means losing the IP entirely (I think Blood Origins would have flopped regardless); for the moment the second announced animated spinoff is still occurring
• Ezra Miller - despite multiple instances of criminal activity (cf), is still the star in The Flash and getting heaps of praise from James Gunn
• David Lindelof - couldn't get a second season of Watchman (2019), has seen his film career die, but may get to write a Star Wars project (link above)
• Alex Kurtzman - the scab has been universally derided for his terrible work and forced creatively away from a lot of it, but continues to be attached to Star Trek (RIP Discovery)
• Neil Gaiman - in his later years fully embraced fan baiting that's made success harder--American Gods has dragged along without any resonance (look at the declining viewership), and had to publicly beg to get another season for his magnum opus, Sandman

Individual consequences aside, the biggest problem for the corporate overlords is that these efforts are failing with Gen-Z. Young people aren't attracted to the 'made for a modern audience' productions. Anecdotally young people consume a ton of older shows/films while reading Manga and teen fiction (there's a very obvious throughline with that material if you care to look for it). They will often espouse opinions that echo Feige, Gunn, etc, do incessantly, but they don't show up for things made with that in mind. I'd argue ideologues don't make quality entertainment, so having that as your priority when hiring guarantees failure. Pure spectacle can still work (Avatar 2), but it's expensive and risky (the MCU has tried it in multiple Phase Four/Five projects and they've failed to resonate).

This article was written by Peter Levi

Genre News: MCU, DCEU, Hogwarts Legacy, and The Last of Us

After so much bad entertainment (in the last three years I've seen one show I've liked), it's easy to be cynical and think that there are no consequences for failure--that there's so much money behind this nonsense that financial success has become irrelevant (after all, on an individual level, executives make money either way). However, we've started to see signs that company profits do motivate our corporate overlords. One of the latest signals of this is the MCU slowing down its Phase Five schedule. Let us recall that Phase Five started abruptly due to Phase Four failures. What's happening?

Delays, first reported by THR, are hitting heavily. Of the shows, only Secret Invasion and Loki season two will appear in 2023, with the already completed Ironheart, Echo, and currently filming Agatha Harkness moved to the following year (three shows no one asked for or wants). Don't get too excited, as Feige doesn't have any David Zaslav in him, so these abysmal products are still going to appear. Slow-dripping garbage isn't going to make it taste any better, but it does give Disney+ space to try and produce something that's actually crowd-pleasing.

Speaking of crowd-pleasing, Ant-Man 3 has arrived with the same anemic power of its Phase Four brethren, earning a paltry 367 million thus far and will settle in the doldrums of Shang-Chi/Eternals box office territory. This means casual film fans have given it a pass and even fewer people than expected will have any idea who Kang (the next Thanos in the MCU) is. The only response Feige and Bob Iger have had to failures like this is suggesting they need more jokes, but that's not going to cut it (as the emergency reshoots of Ant-Man 3 demonstrate). While one can argue the good stories in the MCU are relatively simple, that's fine for a comic book film--Iron Man isn't trying to be Citizen Kane. It's clear that the major issue at Marvel is that the creative people involved aren't that talented (there's hilarity in shills like John Campea saying the problem is that Feige needs more control--he's been in complete control throughout Phase Four and beyond!).

Back to the MCU's response to the problem: joining the TV delays is The Marvels (aka Captain Marvel 2) getting moved again. It had been pushed back from February to July, but now has been moved to November. The change provides plenty of time for reshoots (more jokes!), but given Phase Four's inability to fix anything with reshoots, it's not going to improve a film no one wanted in the first place.

The MCU is like the Titanic, except that everyone other than its leaders is aware of the iceberg. This kind of blindness killed the Star Wars IP, but it seems like Iger and Disney are unwilling or unable to identify the problem (the bar for 'good' could not be lower right now--Avatar 2 and Top Gun: Maverick are average films).

I feel fortunate that we got three good Phases out of Marvel--that's a string of quality content unlikely to be replicated--but what an awful fall from grace. It reminds me of the horror of the Star Wars prequels, which turned the IP into Jar Jar's memes and ramblings about sand (never forget). I have no idea why YT outragers heap praise on George Lucas, who saddled us with Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (equally as stupid)--while the sequels are bad, that doesn't magically make the prequels good.

I wonder if Zaslav is already having buyer's remorse about hiring James Gunn, as every time he opens his mouth the DCEU's future looks bleaker. For a guy who supposedly has his finger on the pulse of his audience, he's clueless about what works for DC fans (it's difficult to imagine a worse handling of the Henry Cavill situation). Despite an outpouring of positivity when his involvement was announced (misplaced, in my opinion, but it was there), there's been nothing positive since. Shazam 2 is tracking to bomb even harder than Ant-Man 3, and the other moribund DC properties on the slate are also expected to struggle (as WB goes all-in on Ezra Miller and The Flash--you'd think this would pose problems for the very progressive Gunn, who ought to be outraged by the accusations against Miller, but I guess a fat paycheque overcomes moral objections). That's a terrible lead-in for whatever Gunn is planning and nothing he's announced sounds exciting. I feel think the future slate will change quite a bit (which is nothing new for DC on film).

Let's open this by making it clear that I'm not really a Harry Potter fan--I don't hate it, but it's impact on me is limited. I read the books and watched the films (RIP Richard Harris and Alan Rickman), which were entertaining enough, but one-and-done was enough for me. As for J. K. Rowling, I always found her faintly ridiculous (making comments about Hermione being black with the reflexive, backwards looking virtue signaling people in her class are notorious for). What Rowling has discovered is that no matter how hard you try to keep up with Neo-Liberal attitudes, you cannot cross the Dave Chappelle line. The backlash she's received is loud but ineffectual (no impact financially or on her career and, unlike Chappelle, no one has tried to physically attack her), but what Hogwarts Legacy has shown is we've reached the point where the public no longer cares about the outrage. I don't know where the tipping point was--Chapelle's The Closer (2021) is an indicator, as are things like George R. R. Martin (another virtue signaler), criticizing the movement and bemoaning not being able to call himself a feminist anymore. At some point the cancel crowd lost its fangs. This goes well beyond Rowling's specific controversy, as high profile cases involving Johnny Depp and Marilyn Manson have also gone against the 'believe all' rhetoric of 2018. I think things like the Amber Heard or Kyle Rittenhouse trial played a role in the public's changing attitude (where accusations had to meet a burden of proof and viewers could make their own judgements).

The fact that Hogwarts Legacy has made a fortune doesn't inherently make it a great game. What it does show is that journalists and the elite screaming at people has no impact on public interest. This has been evident in film and TV for years (Ghostbusters, anyone?), but the failed attempt with Hogwarts is so large it can't easily be ignored or forgotten. The movement, if you want to call it that, seems to have forgotten that progress is made by forging alliances (unions aren't formed by a hivemind, after all), not screaming at anyone who isn't already inside the club. While I'm glad to see the insanity starting to simmer down, I wish this kind of energy was being channeled into practical things like helping folks who are living under bridges. On a larger scale, the zeitgeist is changing, but into what remains to be seen.

The hype for HBO's The Last of Us was so loud I was expecting at least Rings of Powers-type Nielsen numbers, but now that they are out, it turns out the hype is bigger than the viewership (a banger show is well over 1,000 in the watched category above). This reality matches the Google Trend data I looked at previously (which was good, but not great)--for some perspective, TLOU's peak was 61% lower than the most recent season of Stranger Things, and 46% lower than Wednesday.  The show's trends are trailing off, with episode five hitting at less than 50% of episode one. It's easy to forget that modern shows rarely impact audiences like they used too--Wednesday lost to reruns of Seinfeld, after all. None of this means we won't get a second season and I'm sure this one will win awards--it would even if no one was watching--but it provides perspective on the hype. The IP is so degraded it's hard to feel the same affection for the original game that I've long had. The trends are awful--a disappointing DLC followed by an awful sequel, a poorly handled remake, and now an adaptation 'made for a modern audience'. Unlike The Witcher, where Netflix's hamfisted treatment leaves room for someone to do better, we won't get another adaptation for The Last of Us.

This article was written by Peter Levi

Genre News: DCU, The Last of Us, Red Sonja, Willow, Blood Origins, The Witcher, Vox Machina

James Gunn's announced DC slate sounds a lot like MCU Phase Four (the first thing the Waller show made me think of was Agatha Harkness--something no one asked for or wants) and not at all like the fresh, clean new slate that was promised. This has created a lot of negative shockwaves among DC fans, who have Guardians of the Galaxy so stuck in their brains they've ignored the warning signs about Gunn. I think the reason Gunn floated the idea of Ezra Miller remaining as the Flash is pure marketing shtick to save The Flash at the box office, but it's a bad look. His garbled and contradictory explanations for firing Henry Cavill just made things worse and put his Superman project under a negative cloud of his own making. I never thought Gunn was the right person to put in charge of DC (or Cosmic MCU when that was the plan), as I think he's highly overrated and lived off the fundamental script work of Nicole Perlman on the first Guardians (as evidenced by the tedium of The Suicide Squad or the bloated Guardians 2). The upcoming dumpster fire might seriously hurt WB, but the core IP will always be available for serious adaptations years down the line. Do I see any hope at all? No, but we can hope that I'm wrong.

The normies have enjoyed HBO's adaptation thus far (4 episodes in), but it hasn't had resonance with the gaming community ala The Witcher when it debuted in December, 2019; in fact, in terms of Google Trends it's only half as impactful as that season. The point of entry for normies into TLOU is almost zero (the genre and characters are far more approachable than a sprawling fantasy IP), so I wonder how much traction the show will actually have. Anecdotally, people I know who've seen it have enjoyed it thus far, but it's worth pointing out the praise is exclusively for Pedro Pascal (unlike the game, where the love for Joel is equaled by the love for Ellie), which echoes The Witcher and Henry Cavill (just to a lesser extent). Whether we'll see a show version of Abby ignominiously beat the race-swapped hero to death with a golf club remains to be seen (I don't think Neil Druckman has the temerity to show a white person beating a POC to death--then again, maybe Abby will be race-swapped too), but we can hope normies get to enjoy that just as much as the gaming community did.

We got another update on Red Sonja, with the Variety article's tone feeling a lot like the Deadline article from August (serving as both marketing and to assuage the politically active entertainment world to chill out about the project)--it's entirely possible both articles were paid for to drum up interest. Let's go through the key points:

• It has a B-movie budget (15-20 million) and still lacks a US-distributor; the former means a reliance on practical effects and that the bar to profit is low
• With M. J. Bassett in charge the film is relatively 'safe' from the usual sorts of attacks (as she represents the most important letter in the alphabet community)
• Bassett's comment about the film dealing with climate change is puzzling--there's context missing unless it's meant as a sop to the media in an effort to sell the film to a distributor (I don't oppose a positive environmental message, but it's an odd thing to place in a Red Sonja property); Andre's theory is that it will reflect the Younger Dryas period--grains of salt on that, but maybe
• As I predicted, the film will skip Roy Thomas' origin story and stick with the updated version from Gail Simone (I have no attachment to the Thomas origin, so that's no big deal)
• The earlier Joey Soloway iteration of the film was described as 'incompetent', which is no surprise (perhaps it would have been the Velma of fantasy)
• This is trivial, but I'd somehow missed that Soloway had been MeToo'd (something quickly forgotten--I don't think any of the women accused of harassing men got cancelled during the movement--hell, Weinstein's assistant Leslye Headland is still making a Star Wars series)

The fear for the film is getting a US-distributor. it might be able to make enough money elsewhere, but there's much more profit (and hype) to be gained in the US. Will it? I have no idea, but my hope is simply that we'll get some competent fantasy after all the garbage of the last few years.

The Willow disaster has come and gone and mercifully there's no serious talk about a second season. While this unfortunately means the IP is dead (the original film was a cult classic rather than a blockbuster), at least the show can be forgotten and the original film left untouched (unlike how Star Wars retconning has actually damaged its original characters). There's not much to say about Willow, as it simply echoes the tendencies of modern fantasy adaptations (Rings of Power, Wheel of Time, The Witcher, etc). Indeed, for those who had never seen the original film, they'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Willow and any of the other properties. It's a funny thing that execs have missed out on part of what makes fantasy successful: distinctiveness. Modern fantasy adaptations are utterly generic, with casts that reflect modern metropolises filled with cheap generic sets, costumes, and poorly designed Elves. The damage being done to the genre means I don't have any anecdotal stories to tell about Willow, because no one I know watched the show (and I know people who enjoyed Rings of Power as well as Wheel of Time).

Speaking of failure, the gloves were off for Blood Origin as critics were given the greenlight to slaughter the show. Is it meaningfully worse than Willow or Rings of Power etc? No, but Netflix choose not to run the usual interference to get a critical pass. Clearly the execs decided there was no point in trying to save face here, which mercifully saves us from a second season. With that out of the way, we can hope The Witcher season three flops and Netflix gives up on the IP entirely. The other planned spinoff show (Rats) looks to be a similar train wreck, but may be too far along for Netflix to cancel it (I believe it's set to start filming soon). If it does go into production, I won't be surprised to see the episode count cut for Rats just as it was for Blood Origins. Sapkowski says he dislikes the show (cf, which isn't a big deal, as he doesn't like the video games either), which is bad optics for Netflix. Just like with Willow above, no one I know has seen the show, but in this case people were aware of it and simply thought it looked bad.

Season two of Vox Machina slipped through my radar entirely and clearly I'm not the only one, as its Google Trends dropped by a full third compared to season one [it even trails the Dragon Age animated show no one watched in December]. I haven't watched it yet (my reaction to season one can be found here, but in brief its awkwardly paced, histrionic, predictable, but with enough good humour to carry you through it). In talking to people who have seen it, the second season is just like the first (which makes sense, as it's the same creative team). I presume the announced Mighty Nein adaptation will be more of the same in terms of content (will they let Marisha Ray voice a POC?), but if the audience drop continues I'd imagine no second season and no Bells Hells.

This article was written by Peter Levi

Thoughts on The Witcher, Blood Origin, Warhammer 40k, Rings of Power, Willow, and Dragon Age Absolution

In an apparent effort to save interest in Netflix's The Witcher (and its spinoff), the show seemingly leaked information (cf, via the podcast Deux U) to attack Henry Cavill directly. At the time it came out I mentioned that I thought it was poorly conceived damage control that grossly underestimated the good will Cavill has bought over his career. The tactics themselves are by-the-book for how entertainment corporations handle or anticipate criticism (the fan baiting approach I covered back in September). This effort failed so badly (gaining no traction) that the leaker apologized (eg) and deleted their Twitter account and the accusations never surfaced in the trades (although places like Jezebel and click-chasers like The Quartering reported them). It's heartening to see such a quick obliteration of this nonsense, and I hope its a sign we're beginning to turn the corner on the insanity that's consumed the entertainment industry the last six to seven years. But more about Blood Origin below.

Speaking of Cavill, he's now an executive producer for a Warhammer 40k series on Amazon. Thankfully, Amazon is simply the broadcaster and not involved with creative decisions, so there's a chance the IP will be (if nothing else) faithful to the lore. I'm not that familiar with Warhammer, but I know the book series' is quite popular. Fans don't always succeed when given a project like this, but Cavill isn't just an enthusiast so there's a reasonable chance it will do well. What's less clear to me how Jennifer Salke decides what is 'toxic masculinity' and what is not--Conan, as we know, was too toxic for her, and Tolkien's legendarium too masculine, but one wonders if what Salke means is purely down to numbers (white men vs female/diverse characters). I assume Warhammer is diverse, but otherwise on the surface it's not something I would have guessed Salke would approve of.

We've heard enough from those involved with Rings of Power season two that nothing meaningful will change besides superficial elements like more action (and minor aesthetics). This dooms the show to another poorly received season and I really wonder if Amazon will actually swallow the cost to produce the promised third season. I think it's unlikely, but given Bezos' deep pockets and ego, it's not impossible (the unwatchable Star Trek: Discovery has managed to crawl along for five seasons despite abysmal viewership, after all).

One thing I've seen no one consider is why the critical reception of these two shows has been so different. Both have been eviscerated by the audience (RT scores of 12% and 34%), but why was Willow given a pass (85%) and Blood Origin (correctly) criticized (35%)? I think it's down to corporate influence. Disney (Willow) desperately needs a streaming 'win', so ensured they got the usual thumbs-up from critics. Netflix, on the other hand, was already pulling away from Blood Origin (cutting its episode count from six to four), so wasn't investing in a critical pass. I've mentioned ad nauseum that critical praise is meaningless in terms of success, so both shows will be one-and-done, but executives haven't figured this out. Blood Origin's abysmal showing should mean The Witcher season three will mercifully end the Netflix experience. What I'd like is someone to adapt CDPR's iteration of the IP (ala Edgerunners, albeit it needn't be animated).

You'd be forgiven if you had no idea Dragon Age: Absolution had appeared appeared on Netflix (December 9th). The animated show, DA's first venture into animation since early 2012's Dawn of the Seeker, is meant to help lead in to Dragon Age 4 (presumed out in 2024), but has arrived DOA. No one is talking about it, so no one is watching it (a far more muted response than Vox Machina and nowhere near monster performers like Edgerunners). What it means to BioWare is they can't hope fans have watched it, making it as irrelevant as the book and comic tie-ins have to be (& ergo, failing in its purpose to hype the upcoming game). Reviews suggest BioWare's writing remains stuck in the 'made for modern audiences' phase that every other flop from the last few years has copied. It makes me fear the game will receive a similar indifferent reception and possibly even flop Andromeda-style. It's worth noting that Willow (included above) also has had no resonance at all (as is clear in the graph).

Note on Future Articles

While I'm fond of the news digest format I've been doing since 2017, I'm going to switch to topic-based posts. This will mean articles will be more frequent (if, generally, shorter). I'm sure at points it will be worthwhile to post a digest, but for readers I think it makes coming regularly more rewarding and it's simpler to know if the topic at hand is of interest. [Later: this intention didn't quite pan out, although longer single topic articles are in process.]

This article was written by Peter Levi