This week I wish to address an issue that is plaguing not just America, but also the entire world. This issue has led to a large degree of consolidation – not just corporately, but also creatively – in the entertainment industry and other related fields during the past 20 years. Once, when someone recommended a series of books, movies or video games, the impression was that at least the first one was good enough to warrant the making of more. However, directors, designers and authors understood there had to be limits. All good stories must end. There are only seven [main] Harry Potter books. George Lucas planned only nine Star Wars movies. The best thing an artist can do is end the character, series or franchise their fans love most, but sometimes they fail to do so.
The first warning sign of movie serialization’s danger was in 2009, when the fourth Fast and Furious movie – or the first “I-don’t-know-what-number-it-is” Fast and Furious movie – was released. The absurdity of this franchise was best posed by a former classmate of mine, who asked if anyone would “like to binge watch the Fast and Furious movies to figure out at which point it stops being about cars.” However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes the “gone-on-too-long” cake. It was a compelling story – a feat made more impressive by the fact that Tony Stark was an entirely unrelatable character by design – that culminated in an event that led to many tears being shed on Avengers: Endgame’s opening weekend. But as even the most casual MCU observer will note, Marvel has been over-serialized. Exclusive shows, unique-yet-uninspiring characters, and an overly complex timeline that requires a separate series to understand have led to a decrease in popularity. Marvel executives/directors seem to be grasping at all sorts of different goals and audiences – and achieving none of them.
This over-serialization is not limited to movies. My favorite book series – the Jack Ryan Universe, originally by Tom Clancy – is an emaciated shadow of its former self. I would like to say this decline began when this esteemed author passed away in 2013, but that is frankly not true. After The Bear and the Dragon (2000), no book ever truly matched the suspenseful, action-packed, multi-plotline narrative that Clancy had excelled at during the previous 16 years. His passing merely accelerated the Jack Ryan books’ decline into becoming indistinguishable thrillers where the main character travels abroad, falls in love there and conveniently yet unrealistically (even more tragic since realism used to be the Tom Clancy brand’s trademark) places himself to save America yet again.
Video games have fallen victim to this too. An example of this is my favorite franchise of all – Halo. The series perhaps most responsible for bringing first person-shooters into the limelight is currently roiled in a whirlpool of mediocrity. The inability of 343 Studios to maintain the most-liked elements of the old Halo games while adapting other features critical to modern games is astounding. This contributes to the chief lament of the gamer community: the most anticipated franchise games (Halo Infinite, Battlefield 2042 and other) are often released half-completed, then proceed to lose all but the most ardent fans following the first two months of gameplay. A year down the road, they end up being pretty decent, but no one is logging on anymore. Call of Duty has averted this fate by sheer volume of releases, but I believe it is only a matter of time before some creative standalone game usurps the spotlight.
Marvel should have ended with Endgame. Jack Ryan has been president for, like, 15 books now. If it takes the Master Chief dying to make the next Halo good, I’ll sob a bit and then continue playing. Thus, I issue a warning to all directors, producers, writers, authors and creative designers: know when to kill your characters and stories, or we (the audience) will do it for you.
Janagan Ramanathan is a Sartell High School alum, former U.S. Naval Academy midshipman and current aerospace engineering major at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
