10 Harsh Truths You Don't Want To Admit About Comic Books‏

2. We're At The Whim Of Movies

There's a rumour sweeping the internet (read: Bleeding Cool) at the minute suggesting that Marvel are going to axe the Fantastic Four for a spell, specifically as a dig at 20th Century Fox. Fox still own the movie rights to the FF, and are planning to release a new film - unconnected to the previous Tim Story monstrosities - in 2015. Obviously Marvel will see some of the money if that's a success, but not as much as if they owned the film rights themselves (as they do all the box office-smashing Avengers characters), and the word on the street (read: Bleeding Cool) is that Marvel don't care for the direction the filmmakers are going for, either, whatever that means. It remains to be seen if this has any effect on the Fantastic Four movie, but if so it would be the first time a move in comic books has affected their film adaptations, instead of the other way around. Each time a big superhero movie comes out, there's an influx of people curious about what their comic book roots are like. Therefore, there's pressure on publishers to make sure the characters in the comics closely resemble those in the film. So, Superior Spider-Man had to resolve things by the time Amazing Spider-Man 2 came out, for example. And Superman is a jerk in the New 52 because of Man of Steel. Or something. More than anything else, the thing guiding your comics reading is movies. If it isn't changes in narrative owing to film adaptations, then it's series being cancelled because they lack franchise potential. Most mainstream comics are now nothing more than a proving ground for future possible movie versions, and if something's not gonna work on screen, then what's the point in publishing it? It's scary to think the fate of your favourite titles - and of your reading habits - lies in the hands of Hollywood. But it does.