This thread was inspired by Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There is some media - be it TV shows, movies, or books - that are absolutely fantastic when they first begin, with clear direction, fantastic characterisation and acting, and gripping storylines. You consume them eagerly, excited to know what will happen next. Then after a while, for whatever reason, things begin to sour. Recycled plot elements, the introduction of new characters who add absolutely nothing to the story and seem to take up far too much time and space, unnecessary details that are there for the sake of being there, instalments that are worse and worse, or just this desire to see things END, once and for all because it has gone on for far too long and they've milked the cow so much that it's shrivelled up and mummified. Is there are any current media that you would like to see brought to an end? What went wrong with it for you to feel this way?
When it comes to media, for me it would have to be the Marvel movies in general. I enjoy some of them as standalone films, but they're not standalone films, and it's been a long time since any of them could be watched as one. I don't want to feel like I have to memorize every little detail in every single movie to understand what's going on in just a single movie that I may want to watch. Even my sister, who is more into Marvel than I am, gets a little lost in it all. I don't like how anxious and confused I get when trying to watch a Marvel movie because such and such a character is being shown as if they're really important, and I don't feel like I've ever seen them before, when it turns out that this character just got a haircut, or played a really small part in a previous movie. I almost couldn't handle watching Infinity War, there was just too much going on. I enjoy super hero movies, but I think I'm going to have to give up on Marvel.
There’s a lot of things. Most Disney movies that get sequels outside of Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar, are infinitely better than said sequels, to the point where the sequel makes the original worse retroactively. Take Mulan for example. And Wreck it Ralph. Two incredible movies with strong characters, relationships, and story that makes sense. The sequels then come around and either ignore or undo the character development from the first movie, add unnecessary drama, disregard established laws of the movie’s universe, or all three. Don’t get me started with Despicable Me. Illumination should just make a no sequels rule.
I do not believe that any series can go on for too long. All the things you described as flaws, to me look like writing flaws and not inflation issues. A good writer can use the same world and continuously build off it for a really long time. One good example is Star Wars KOLOR, and OR series. That is a wonderful game that added so much to the star wars universe that has never been seen before or since. Yet, those stories have nothing to do with the movies. SWOR is an example of how you write a good continuation of a story that is finished. Also all the extended universe books that happened after SW ended. Not all of them were gems, but they were still well written ways to continue the story without over saturating the market. As for a series I would like to see brought to an end...I'd want to see the series of stupid writers be brought to an end.
I've mentioned this in quite a few threads, but god I can't wait for the Marvel craze to die down. There have been so many MCU movies coming out that I'm honestly tired of it and every time I see a new Marvel movie announced I roll my eyes. Not even remotely interested in Endgame and I didn't bother seeing Captian Marvel. I'm not done with superhero movies as a whole though, only Marvel. DC movies still interest me and I was quite sad that I wasn't able to see Shazam at the movies. It actually looked good.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Spongebob and I’m happy it’s celebrating its 20th anniversary, but I can’t get past the fact that it has been milked way too far for way too long. So after the first movie, Stephen Hillenburg (the creator of the show) wanted the show to end, but Nick said no because it was a very popular show. So he left the show. Then the show started going downhill in quality. The show also started resorting to gross out humor (The Splinter is an infamous example) and flanderization (overemphasizing character qualities- Spongebob got more annoying, Patrick got stupider, Mr. Krabs got greedier, etc.). Seasons 6-8 are agreed by most fans to be the worst seasons because these things are so prominent. Then Spongebob got a second movie (which I saw in theaters; I didn’t like it nearly as much as the first) and from there, it’s just been beating the dead horse. I’ve heard that some people think the show is having a revival, because Stephen Hillenburg came back, but I disagree. The new animation style (computer animated I believe) is so appalling and I’m not encouraged to watch it. On top of that, a third movie is in the works (It’s a Wonderful Sponge). And you would think that maybe they would stop making episodes because, oh I don’t know, the creator of the show passed away, but nope. Unfortunately, Spongebob shows no sign of stopping. TLDR- Spongebob has beating the dead horse for too long.
Dragon Ball and One Piece. The only reason I refuse to watch these shows is because I don’t want to commit to several hundred episodes.
