That's what I've been saying for years. Stories end. They should end and they need to end in order to have any meaning or purpose. I know this from hard earned experience as a writer, having completed a full length novel and self publishing it. No conflict, no story. Trust me, I get that more than most because crafting a good story isn't easy. As proud as I am of finishing it, I've also been rewriting it on and off for almost 20 years. I also know studio meddling is a factor in a writer's vision coming to life on the screen, but some ideas are bad from the outset, regardless of the studio's involvement. Not every story needs to span the scope of a fictional character's entire life from birth to death. The best stories are often a limited window into one season of their lives and the events that shaped them. Raiders would be a very, very boring movie if it told Indy's entire life story.
"Brevity is the soul of wit." and all that.
I've also long argued that we need new stories. Not 25 Indiana Jones movies and spin offs, not Willow the webseries, or Star Wars 47. We need more Stranger Things and more Succession's, or Bob's Burgers. We need fresh, interesting ideas with new characters and new stories of their own to tell. The areas of entertainment where I get vexed are the ones where I've been involved with them my whole life. If you're a comic book fan, you're going to have an opinion on the latest developments, even if you don't read all the latest titles because you've got an emotional investment in that world and it speaks to you on a personal level. If you're a football fan you're only going to watch the games that your favorite team plays, not necessarily every game in the entire league that season. That doesn't mean you can't have an opinion on the games you don't watch if you know the game well and you've been following the sport your whole life. If anything, you're more qualified than most general audiences because you simply know more. You've invested the time and you're entitled to speak your mind.
Some people have this tendency to assume that an opinion has less validity if you're not willing to give every new iteration of a franchise a chance, but when you've been around long enough you can see patterns emerge and can predict the outcome. It also stands to reason that when the reporting of leaks match up with each new bit of official information on the movie, you can connect the dots without spending your money to see it with your own eyes. In the last four years those leaks have been much more consistent in panning out to be true. 2019 was a perfect example of this, and still people denied the leaks being real, even when they were presented with time stamped and dated evidence proving them wrong. When you can choose your own reality, I guess anything is possible.
It's also reasonable to know what you like and what you don't like. There's no fault in liking or disliking something someone else feels differently about, but the way some fans act, it's as if you're an awful person for criticizing a movie studio for making a crap film. I will concede that there are a lot of people who go to the other extreme and unnecessarily rain on the parade out of spite, but those aren't the majority of fans who genuinely wished for better. I can confidently say that many here who are frustrated with the way these IP's have been handled aren't bitter, angry people. Most of the language used is hyperbolic, but meant to convey their irritation and not meant to be taken as an indicator of hatred towards anyone. Merely expressing unhappiness with what they're being delivered.
For those wanting to see this (or any movie) with their own eyes before they make a judgment about it, I completely respect that. I sincerely do. I hope it delivers for you.
