Characters we need a break from, thanks

[Patrick Thistle]

I might be unique in this, but while I'm ambivalent about the new Batman reboot, I'm certain that I don't need to see the Joker any time soon. That character needs a rest. He has been over-explored.

I've felt that way about James Bond for a while although apparently the latest film has sort of taken care of that.

I don't need any more Indiana Jones films.

The xenomorphs from the Alien universe can be put back in the box too, along with the predators.

Most of the Doctor Who villains need to take an extended break. Especially The Master.

[blameless]

Sherlock Holmes could probably be off screen for a decade without it causing any calamities too. And I actually like most adaptations of Holmes.

[DCI Harry Batt]

I've never needed to see or hear anything of or from James Bond, tbh. Agree on the Doctor Who villains, though. Maybe some new villains at the dalek / master / cybermen level would be good.

[elguapo4]

Zombies ,walking dead, basically any post apocalyptic stuff has been done to death ( pun not intended).

[WOM]

Seconded heartily on zombies. I don't care what kind of story you hang around them, the whole genre is exhausted.

[Lang Spoon]

Was it just a generation growing up with Resident Evil that made the rotten bastards so ubiquitous for a decade or so?

[Discordant Resonance]

Ethan Hunt and Jason Bourne have both surely been milked to exhaustion by this point?

[San Bernardhinault]

Surely the answer is pretty much anything franchisey. Vampires, Zombies, Walking Dead, Superheroes, Supervillains, The Star Wars Universe, The Star Trek Universe, The Doctor Who Universe, any other supposedly coherent Universe, Sherlock Holmes (and relatives), Harry Potter, Lords of Rings, Robert Langdon, Bourne, Bond...

[Patrick Thistle]

There are some franchises I'd quite like to watch more stories from. I'm looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and the next Thor movie, and also the next installment of the Mandalorian (and the Book of Boba Fett). Within certain franchises, though, there are limits. I don't need any more adventures featuring clone troopers.

[1974ddr]

I used to love the Marvel films till some smartarse decided they were all part of a greater interlinked whole, the 'MCU', involving fifty three characters all appearing in every film and mostly having two lines each, or the films being nine hours long, or both. And Samuel L Jackson in an eye patch. Motherfucker.

[Jon]

I used to love the Marvel films till some smartarse decided they were all part of a greater interlinked whole, the 'MCU', involving fifty three characters all appearing in every film and mostly having two lines each, or the films being nine hours long, or both. And Samuel L Jackson in an eye patch. Motherfucker.

I heard that!

Recently. I rewatched the first Avengers film. I loved it at the time and it's held up really well. Just an Avengers comic brought to life on the big screen. One and done with no continuity bollocks to worry about.

[Patrick Thistle]

I think the Captain America series is very well done and the Avengers films fit into it.

[Eggchaser]

Tortured dectectives, haunted by the death of their wife/child/marriage, or crippled by the lack of any social skills, investigating the mutilated corpses of young women.

[Hot Pepsi]

I don't think "we" need a break from anything. If you aren't interested, don't watch it.

[ad hoc]

Fully agree on the fucking MCU.

[Hot Pepsi]

There are some franchises I'd quite like to watch more stories from. I'm looking forward to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and the next Thor movie, and also the next installment of the Mandalorian (and the Book of Boba Fett). Within certain franchises, though, there are limits. I don't need any more adventures featuring clone troopers.

I liked the Bad Batch more than I thought I would.

Right now, Dave Filoni et al are filling in all the stories between the main films, essentially. But eventually, they'll run out of that so I guess they'll make stories about long before A New Hope and perhaps after it, but there doesn't seem to be an appetite for the "after" stuff. It will be hard for them to do, because if they try to do something original with the story, the fans will complain. If they try to just rehash the old plot, fans will complain.

The fans are a problem insofar as Disney keeps listening to them.

Noted anti-semite Henry Ford once said, supposedly, "If I asked people what they wanted, they'd have just said faster horses."

The most recent film trilogy - especially the last one - was the film franchise equivalent of faster horses. But the cartoon shows and the Mandalorian have, for the most part, been willing to do something a bit different while still tying into the total story. That seems to work. I'm happy to spend an hour a week in that world for however long they want to make it.

[Hot Pepsi]

Fully agree on the fucking MCU.

Are they not showing any other films where you are?* You don't have to watch the MCU films if you don't want to.

* I'm not just being a dick. I'm starting to really wonder if MCU films are the only films coming to some places because a lot of people talk as if that is the case.

[Levin]

They seem to be the only ones that get more than a week's release. They are the football of the cinematic world. Yes occasionally you'll get a Dune/Olympics but then everyone goes back to talking about Marvel/Football.

[San Bernardhinault]

They aren't the only films but they suck up a lot of the oxygen around movies, mean lots of other films don't get seen, and the mega-success of franchise films means that cinemas generally don't invest in any non-franchise high-budget films any more. There is no risk taking when they have a completely safe, completely generic, superhero-ish film that they can churn out with a few overlong action sequences with spinny cameras in the air, and a drearily predictable origin story, and an opponent who is roughly whatever level of indestructible that the superhero is, and know they can print some more money.

[ad hoc]

Are they not showing any other films where you are?* You don't have to watch the MCU films if you don't want to.

* I'm not just being a dick. I'm starting to really wonder if MCU films are the only films coming to some places because a lot of people talk as if that is the case.

No, the problem (for me) is that I enjoy watching the occasional one, but it feels like you're not allowed to do that, you have to be following multiple stories with multiple characters. That Avengers one that ends with Thanos snapping his fingers is littered with seemingly hundreds of new characters I was supposed to know. I don't mind watching a series of films like the Avengers ones (and in fact quite enjoy them) but the "universe" thing means it's all just overdone.

[Benjm]

I'm with ad hoc on this. The constant cross referencing was what put me off trying to keep up with the comics as a kid, when both availability and budget were an issue, so I may be over-sensitive to it now.

It's not that the films are entirely incomprehensible if you're not on top of the whole thing, but regular reminders that you are not quite part of the club aren't an endearing quality in an entertainment.

[S. aureus]

I agree with ad hoc.

[Hot Pepsi]

About 100 million people worldwide saw Avengers Endgame the first weekend it was out. That’s not a very exclusive club.

Nobody has tried to connect so many films before and it’s been a massive commercial success. That approach created more fans than it alienated.

Besides, it’s not really necessary to have seen all 20 previous films to get Endgame. Just the previous Avengers films, really. You might not know the backstory of everyone in the big battle or all the people at the funeral but that’s not too important.

[caja-dglh]

Besides, it’s not really necessary to have seen all 20 previous films to get Endgame. Just the previous Avengers films, really. You might not know the backstory of everyone in the big battle or all the people at the funeral but that’s not too important.

yet this recognizes the confusion and in / out decision the cinematic universe asks for. I bin off any TV show that seems to plan more than three seasons, all Star Wars franchise stuff and any movie thing that plans to run for more than one movie.

I will die not having tried to watch MCU stuff unless my kids want us to go, and I rather hate movie theaters anyway. I would like to watch the Sopranos or the Wire but when I have shit going on in life there is virtually zero chance I might bother. It all makes it excessively complicated and too much of a commitment.

[caja-dglh]

That all said, Marvel was a mess post bankruptcy and hit a few decent franchise works to get going. Disney is responsible for all their bullshit, as they will in the complete cannibalism of Star Wars.