Eep. I Didn't Want To Be This Right...

So, shortly after I saw Avengers - Endgame, I posted an opinion piece here that laid out my gut feeling that following the insane success of that movie, there might be a correction or pullback in the current dominant position of superhero and comic book properties in television and film.  Not long after that, I added a post about what the fractured landscape of multiple streaming services in a post-network television future would look like.  It wasn't my most optimistic piece...

Today it was confirmed that the currently airing Swamp Thing series will end after only one season.  While multiple reasons are likely to blame here, it is interesting that a highly anticipated addition to the DC Universe streaming service dies such a quick death just now.

Jessica Jones, season 3 drops next week on Netflix.  It's the final entry in the Netflix Marvel run.  While Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, The Punisher, Luke Cage and Daredevil were all technically in continuity with the Marvel Universe films, not much ever came of the connection and now that Disney owns Fox and Marvel, it's not surprising they're pulling everything back inside the Disney walls and likely planning to turn out a regimented and cohesive movie/television universe that takes advantage of the connective tissue between the Marvel characters to a greater degree.  My concern is that the strategy might backfire.

If Jessica Jones third season tanks, it's easy enough for Marvel/Disney to distance themselves from it.  Oh, that's just a Netflix thing.  Nothing to do with us.  Same goes for this week's drop of X-Men Dark Phoenix.  The initial reviews aren't promising and I can already hear the crickets chirping from the Disney folks.  Not their problem.  This time.

If the Disney/Marvel juggernaut does the expected and integrates all the bits and pieces they've announced, it's awfully tough to parse the narrative if a series or film bombs within the mega-continuity of the Marvel Universe.  Certainly for a casual fan it may eventually become untenable in terms of keeping all the backstories straight in order for the films to continue to make sense.  It's a tough balancing act, at the very least.

So, to recap.

This week sees the end of a super hero series that had barely begun, the drop of a likely luke warm superhero blockbuster and the final curtain call of an entire corner of the Marvel Universe.

I really didn't want to be this right.