The Batman vs. Superman movie, or Man of Steel 2 or Untitled Zack Snyder #Batfleck Film or whatever social media is hashtagging it at this hour, isn’t slated to hit theaters until July 17, 2015 and yet the fanboy arena of the Internet is already out of their mind over this movie. As mad as many of them are about the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman, all they want is more, more, more and it doesn’t have to be the actual movie, just something… anything!
In my opinion there is a disease of entitlement that has infected fandom and it has taken over their brains. There is no longer any understanding of what’s important, just a question of “What’s now?” A selection of recent situations speak to the larger issue of today’s fandom, how they have affected the blockbuster landscape and will continue to do so in the future as Hollywood movies continue to focus on commercial benefits to an even greater degree and audiences thank them for it.
Only weeks ago the fanboy contingency was upset Disney didn’t deliver any new information concerning the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII at D23. GIVE US SOMETHING! was the battle cry. Fans don’t just want trailers, posters, set pictures and rumors, they demand them to the point I’m not sure people wouldn’t be just as satisfied by year round trailers as they are with CGI-riddled effects films, a business Funny or Die has essentially cornered, but only for comedic purposes.
It was evident again this weekend when Summit told fans they would debut the first trailer for Divergent at 8 PM ET during the MTV VMA Preshow. Didn’t happen did it girls? Nope, instead it played at the ass end of the show and were fans upset the studio had lied to them, forcing them to watch the entirety of MTV’s preshow? Nope, they basked in the glory of those 74 seconds and watched it over and over again. Thanks Summit! And so it goes.
For some fans, however, waiting isn’t an option. You won’t give us a trailer? Fine, we’ll make our own.
This brings us to Solyent Brak 1‘s following fan trailer for Man of Steel 2 where he (or she) has used the rumor Bryan Cranston will play Lex Luthor and cut together a trailer for the film using footage from Man of Steel and a variety of films and television shows to make something mildly coherent, though I admittedly couldn’t watch the whole thing.
I see this and wholeheartedly believe the studio should have made this trailer on their own and fans would have paid to watch it, even if the film advertised never came into being.
Remember this?
Satire, yes, but an imaginable scenario nevertheless… I offer into evidence Machette and Hobo with a Shotgun your honor.
Beyond making trailers to test the fanboy waters, I’m not sure why studios don’t start releasing trailers and posters behind paywalls where subscribers get the footage and assets first, weeks before anyone else. You pay the studio money and they’ll give you what they’ve been offering for free for years and then you’ll go tell everyone about it for them and instead of paying for the advertising placement, you’ll pay them.
Guess what, a lot of people would pay and if you say you won’t, fine, no sweat off the studio’s back, they’ll just market to you as per normal, but you’ll have to sit and squirm while the message boards light up with, “And then this happened, and that exploded and then the guy with the thing went AWWWWWWWWWW!!!! It was AWESOME! Gonna be the best movie ever… and Affleck was actually really good.”
So if you find yourself wondering, Why are movies essentially extended trailer sequences? Because when it comes to today’s blockbusters that’s all the target, teen male demographic seems to want.
