THE AMERICA ONE NEWS
Jul 26, 2025  |  
0
 | Remer,MN
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET 
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge.
Sponsor:  QWIKET: Elevate your fantasy game! Interactive Sports Knowledge and Reasoning Support for Fantasy Sports and Betting Enthusiasts.
back  
topic
Ned Barnett


NextImg:Will fanboys kill superhero movies?

What just happened to the latest Superman reboot – it’s shaping up to be a financial disaster – is looking like it might also be a harsh bellwether of the future of comic book movies. For one thing, it's likely to impact the long-awaited reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise. 

Created by the classic, ground-breaking, prolific team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961, the Fantastic Four was the first superhero team of the “Silver Age of Comics.”

As a lifelong fan of Marvel and DC Comics and – later – their graphic novels as well, I have eagerly awaited every new attempt to translate one of the major superhero characters or teams into film or television. 

Some of these efforts were great, many were good, too many were disappointing, but all of them are welcome. 

However, lately, the big-dollar comic book movies have been, shall we say, castrated. 

Not by those who, for reasons of excess violence or just because they’re Debbie Downers, hate superhero movies on principle.  No, these opponents to the genre tend to be quiet, avoiding giving voice to their views on the main social media platforms that cover modern culture. 

Unfortunately, these movies are being killed off – not by opponents, but by die-hard comic book movie fanboys.  They die off, one by one as they come out, or worse, even before they come out. 

Frequently, as soon as the first trailer is released, and often much sooner, these self-appointed arbiters of the superhero genre begin condemning the future movies. 

Many do this to the point that a lot of people who generally like these kind of movies, but who aren’t rabid fans, get turned off by the negative vibe. They then choose to not see the films theatrically, which is where the big dollars are.  Maybe once the movies begin streaming they’ll check them out – if they think about it. 

How does this work?  The best case study might be the Snow White live-action remake of the 1937 cartoon – the first full-length cartoon movie Disney produced, the harbinger of some of the best “for the whole family” films targeting kids that have been produced since then. 

First, there were those who complained that the lead actress who played Snow White was a Colombian, and not exactly pale of complexion.  While the Grimm Fairy Tale version of Snow White was named that because her skin was “white as snow,” that’s really not a big part of the story.  A relatively few purists might have objected on principle, but most of the nay-sayers have no credentials to object to a tan-tone skin color. 

Instead, the online tidal wave of criticism brought Rachel Zigler, the actress playing Snow White, out where she proceeded to first put her foot securely in her mouth, then shot herself in the foot, with her politically incendiary comments. 

She did big damage to the film’s success, but primarily because she was first attacked over what should be no big deal.

That was bad enough, but long before the movie was released, outraged fanboys and fangirls raised such a ruckus that Disney reshot some of the film and delayed its release by a costly two years.  They were hoping – I presume – that the furor would die away. 

But with every new trailer or purloined picture from Disney’s studio, a new fan-fueled furor arose.  First it was a “little person” actor, Peter Dinklage – who was initially cast in the film.  After cashing his check, he then raged that Disney was perpetrating stereotypes by casting dwarves in the film originally titled Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

So the film was reshot to use CGI dwarves, and even Dinklage was denied his place in the film.  But this kind of politically-correct controversy did nothing to further Disney’s hopes for the theatrical release of that film.

Of course, for those who saw it, the CGI dwarves were a big disappointment.  Showing Rachel/Snow White “dancing” with CGI characters was not the film’s finest moment.  But long before this, the woke crowd – supported by the usually un-woke fanboy crowd – did real financial damage to the film.

Controversy continued to swirl around that film, guaranteeing what could have been a billion-dollar bonanza for Disney instead lost hundreds of millions of dollars in its theatrical release. 

Worse, there’s no guarantee Disney will recoup this loss in streaming video.

Pretty much the same thing happened to Superman, except all those who dumped on it were fanboys and fangirls, not PC woke-warriors.  Not until the lead actor, playing Mister Fantastic, decided to trash Trump and his roughly 80 million MAGA supporters, an issue that had nothing to do with the film. 

Fantastic Four had been planned for a three-film series, following the success of the classic three-film Christopher Nolan Batman series, which were financial as well as critical bombshells.

Except now we’re looking at the same kind of fanboy attacks on the (as I write this) not-yet-released Fantastic Four that killed Snow White and damaged Superman.  The at-least three movie plan now largely depends on the bottom-line success, or lack thereof, of this big-budget superhero epic.  I’m sad to say that, while I will see it in the theater, probably more than once, I’m not confident that it will “make bank” and allow Disney/Marvel to continue this series.

For those who don’t know, the first two mainstream Fantastic Four movies were released in the mid-2000s.  The first one did pretty well at the box office.  The second film, not so much, but not because the fanboys had their knives out.  As with many sequels, it just wasn’t as good.  But it was good enough for me to watch at the movies, then to buy the DVDs (remember them?).  I now plan to watch them again via Disney/Marvel streaming.

There was another FF movie, in 2015, that deservedly bombed.  Instead of following the “canon” of the longest-running superhero comic book title, the producers made some odd choices.  I won’t go into the reasons, except that the movie so repeatedly went against canon that the FF fans hated it.  Those not aware of FF’s canon hated it, too, but for other reasons. Primarily, it was a bad film.

But when it comes to canon, this film was like setting the Lord of the Rings in Depression-era Manhattan, with a thinly-disguised Hitler hunkered down in his own Germanic “Mordor.”

Getting back to the current Fantastic Four film, love it or hate it, if it fails at the box office, it’s likely to be the only Fantastic Four film we’ll see for at least a decade, and only after the stumbling superhero genre makes a remarkable comeback.

Why would the true fanboys do this to a movie they’ve been hoping and praying for since the 2015 disaster?  I think it’s the ego factor that kicks in when someone has a YouTube or TikTok platform and thousands – if not millions – of fan followers.  These self-proclaimed pundits see themselves as arbiters of pop culture.  They have come to learn that if they really diss a given movie, they’ll get followers and influence … and the dollars that come from having a high viewership.  They’ve also learned it’s easier to damn a movie – in advance of seeing it – than it is to praise it. 

For me, I’m waiting in the wings to see Fantastic Four, and I’d like to see Superman before it leaves IMAX theaters, instead of waiting for it to stream on my computer screen.  But I’ll for sure watch both on Disney+, and maybe buy them if I like them a lot.

generic superhero representation by grok ai

Image: Grok, ai-generated generic image, via X

American Thinker is supported by donors and by subscribers. You can help, a lot, by joining me as a subscriber to American Thinker, on a monthly or an annual basis.  Your support is how American Thinker stays alive, ready to provide you the best Conservative news and opinion.  If you liked this blog, please join me in subscribing to American Thinker – and please, tell your friends about us.

I’m Ned Barnett, and I am an unrepentant superhero fanboy.  Despite some duds, I still love superhero movies.

However, I am mostly a independent journalist, writing regularly for American Thinker on issues related to politics and culture.  years past, I’ve worked on three Presidential campaigns and many more Congressional, Senatorial and Gubernatorial campaigns, so covering politics is second nature. 

But I pay my bills by helping other writers by coaching, ghostwriting and helping to get published and effectively marketed my clients and their books.  I recently completed a ghostwriting project for a conservative woman running for Governor of a midwestern state, who recognized the value of a “campaign bio” to any successful campaign.

If you need a ghostwriter to put your vision into words, or a writer who needs help with shaping your book into a publishable success, then marketing it to ensure sales, I’d be glad to help you.   Contact me at 702-561-1167 or at nedbarnett51@gmail.com.