Now hang on a second here. Lest anyone feel the need to rush to the defense of the poor defenseless studios, let's all keep in mind that they only pick these characters (or remakes, or reboots, or sequels, or prequels, or launching of new franchises) based on their familiarity with the public. They depend on it in order to sell tickets. It's why you see so many of these kinds of projects happening now. Without that familiarity, yes, people would go in as blank slates....if they went in at all. I think the theory is that many more people WOULDN'T go in at all, just because they wouldn't know the backstory, characters, or have any preconceived notions (a.k.a. "brand familiarity") with the film.
So, I think it's entirely justified for existing fans -- the very people the studio is trying to lure into the theater, along with potential new fans -- to be irritated, nervous, concerned, overly optimistic, overly pessimistic, etc. about the film as news trickles out. It's the line the studios walk now as they take familiar product and try to put a new spin on it. Every time they do that, they take that risk willingly. Actually, more often than not, I think they cynically just do whatever the hell they want to attract the new fans, figuring that the existing fans are little more than junkies who CAN'T stay away and WILL go see the film regardless of how much they may have butchered the original material. And, of course, no matter HOW much they complain on the front end, the fans always end up proving them right.