It has been a hit-and-miss summer for sequels and reboots at the box office and with critics. “Avengers: Endgame,” “John Wick: Chapter 3” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” have hit big, while others like “Men in Black: International,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and “Dark Phoenix” have under-performed. So we asked our readers if they’re just plain sick of all the sequels this summer. Scroll down to see our complete poll results at the bottom of this post.
The results were a mixed bag. More than one-third of respondents have had enough: “Wake me up when Hollywood makes more original movies,” said 39 percent of them. It has been a consequence of the Marvelification of movies that franchises have squeezed out more original content, a lot of which has migrated from the big screen to cable TV and streaming services.
But almost half of our readers have a more nuanced perspective to sequelitis. For 48 percent of them, there are some franchises that should “last forever” while some others “need to stop.” And that point of view may be the most reflective of the results we’ve seen at the box office, where audiences have flocked to some sequels while avoiding others like the plague. Even 23 movies deep, for instance, the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to thrive.
Even Marvel may eventually reach its breaking point, though, because only 13 percent of readers are wholeheartedly in favor of continuing franchises: “Keep the sequels coming!” they say unequivocally. “I love revisiting my favorite characters and stories.” It looks like they’ll be getting their wish for the foreseeable future.
