10 Times Movies 'Did Right By The Fans' (And Pissed Everyone Off)
Sometimes, trying to please all the fans ends up working against you.
While it is true that filmmaking is first and foremost an art form, its nature as a very lucrative business is just as prominent in the grand scheme of things. This commercialized aspect of the medium is most notable in tentpole movies and franchises, which are often heavily reliant on massive audience appeal to make back their gargantuan production and marketing budgets.
Because of this, creative teams and studio executives will go to ensure their films are as inoffensive as possible, but this tactic sometimes works against them. Sometimes the individuals behind a franchise will make a drastic course-correction on their movies’ tone or story to cater to what they believe are audience preferences but this ends up alienating already existing fans and further pushing away non-believers.
In some cases, the opposite is true, as some features double down on narrative devices that quickly wear out their welcome or never made much sense to begin with. Either way, the resulting product is a total misfire that ends up derailing potential goldmines or serves as the death blow to already shaky foundations.
The following entries are case studies in how not to appease to a fanbase, as their ill-judged actions and subsequent colossal failures are unfortunately the stuff of Hollywood legend.
10. The Shallow Depiction Of Jane Foster's Mighty Thor - Thor: Love And Thunder
Following the critical and commercial nature of Thor: Ragnarok in comparison to previous Thor features, the return of Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) seemed fairly unnecessary, as it was clear that the God of Thunder fared better away when separated from his Earthly paramour.
That said, Portman's return to the role after 2013's Thor: The Dark World initially showed promise as the then-adored Taika Waititi was going to adapt the popular Jane-centric Mighty Thor storyline. Unfortunately, the end result - 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder - was a pale imitation of this story (as well as Gorr the God Butcher's introduction) and was severely kneecapped by its pacing and tonal issues.
In the comics, Jane's transformation into the Mighty Thor largely played out the same as seen on the silver screen, but the scientist-turned-deity had more agency in her incredible actions, was given space to ponder over her newfound power and her struggles with cancer were given more time to breathe and sit with readers.
Unfortunately, the Phase 4 entry reduced Jane's story to being a source of conflict and motivation for Thor. We were never given any insight into Jane's response to her access to godhood nor do we get to truly appreciate her feelings about her mortality.
Unsurprisingly, this lack of depth in addition to the aforementioned tonal misfire meant fans were not impressed by the live-action adaptation of a beloved comics saga.