North Texas Daily

Becoming a fan can be an extremely rewarding experience. Everything is for them at the end of the day, but no matter how many times fans are put at the top of the priority list, there are still huge moments of dissatisfaction. There has been a recent trend with fans bullying studios into submission, and now is a good a time as any to unfold what fans are really doing in situations like these.

It may not be the most recent example, but earlier this year we saw the release of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”. The history of this film could have a story of its own, but in short, Zack Snyder had to step away from the “Justice League” film in 2017, and fans were not happy with what was released in theaters. Snyder said there was enough footage to make his version and from then on, fans started barking at Warner Brothers to release Snyder’s cut of the film. If Snyder had all the footage ready to go, there would be no problem. After “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” got the green light, he started filming new scenes. He went back on his original statement and got his way because the fans would never let it go. If he had the footage he needed, the process would have been over almost immediately, but it feels like Snyder and his fans took advantage of the situation. I was a fan of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”, but something about the way we got it will always feel off to me.

Another example comes from a couple of weeks ago. The “Spider-Man: No Way Home” trailer finally came out and fans all over the world celebrated. It became a running joke in the Marvel community that the trailer would never arrive. The trailer leaked online and fans immediately started asking for more. The fact that fans are this eager for a trailer to leak shows there is no sense of patience, and this constant demand for a trailer led to this domino effect taking place. It seems harmless at first, but the person leaking the trailer felt the reaction they would get for leaking the trailer was more important than their position at one of the biggest studios in the world. Meeting fan demands is almost impossible to do today, but people will always find a way, even if it means losing your job.

It is no surprise the Star Wars fandom would be making an appearance in this story somewhere. After “Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi” came out in 2017, the fanbase could not have been more split in two. It seemed the fans were always fighting with one another on social media, and there was no sense of normalcy anywhere. Colin Trevorrow was set to direct the next film in the franchise but was replaced by J.J. Abrams in an attempt to cater to what fans wanted. It was clearly not the plan from the beginning, but with enough push back from fans, Disney folded and ended up giving everyone what they wanted. This led to the film being a rushed and messy disaster, leaving no one satisfied in the end.

Fans seem to have gained the upper hand in every scenario mentioned, but it should not always end with the fans getting what they want. Studios should put their filmmakers and actors first because they are the ones putting in all the effort for the product. You can argue the consumer should have a say in what goes in the finished product, but in this case, it just shows the studio would rather back up their fans over their employees. There is a way to find a perfect balance in all of this, but finding the balance comes from both the fan and the studio. What makes being a fan so rewarding is the ability to have an opinion different from someone else. No one has to like the same film as you, and there is nothing wrong with different opinions. If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

Featured Illustration by J. Robynn Aviles