Clickbait and Misinformation

Why We Should Let The Studios Do Their Job

I'm more than excited, like everyone else, for the new Marvel and DC movies.  I have seen nearly every comic movie in theaters, particularly the newest ones.  I love everything Marvel and DC, and I look forward to the movie slates that have been announced.  I’m not an inside man, I don’t get emails and updates from Marvel/Disney Studios or the WB Studios; I read news and get my updates just like everyone else.  I have a want and a need to know the latest just like everyone else, but I have a small request from my fellow fan boys and more importantly the news websites and perpetrators of hype news.  Please settle down and let the studios do their jobs.

Sometimes I feel like it’s a misinformation roller coaster.  Keanu Reeves, Benedict Cumberbatch, Joaquin Phoenix, it’s confirmed its Phoenix, it’s confirmed its Cumberbatch, when nothing is confirmed from the studio.  The leaking of the Avengers trailer, the batmobile and Batfleck pics, and the list goes on.  I have a deep desire for the newest news like everyone else and I want to know these things, but I want to know from the studios, not from news websites that can’t confirm but have a strange need to be the first to report.  I understand the need to be prompt with news, especially in this day and age,  but I don’t get the need to hype the unconfirmed.  My inner sweaty nerd gets excited every time I hear a piece of news that pertains to the MCU or DCCU but I’m somewhat sick of the misleading and jumping to conclusions.



I see three particular things that worry me about the way comic and news websites have been jumping to conclusions.  I wanted to get it off my chest.  I hope that everyone agrees and I welcome differing opinions.  Here are a few things that concern me.

The first thing is the spreading of misinformation.  Every time a site reports a piece of news that is unconfirmed they lose credibility.  This is a natural reaction to basically being lied to.  Sorry random news/comic news sites, but it’s true.  Every time they confirm something unconfirmed and get me excited, my excitement is less and less every other time I read their site.  It’s always in everyone’s best interest to tell the truth, it has been since the beginning of time.  The spread of disinformation is starting to make me cynical and critical when reading news.  I don't like the way news sites have become rumor mills.  I still think news sites should be held to a higher standard than a chat room.

The second problem I see is the way that Marvel and DC guard their ideas and properties.  During the big Marvel announcements they played around with us several times about some things like the names of projects.  They announced the name of Captain America 3 as Serpent Society before taking it back and revealing it to be Civil War.  I don’t hold it against Marvel at all, in fact I agree with it, they have to do something to stifle the misinformation and plug the leaks within their own studio.  It has gotten to the point where they can’t conduct business without having their necks breathed down and I feel like the only people that suffer are the consumers.  I’m glad that Marvel has so many ideas and a huge slate and I can wait to know for sure who is playing a character in a movie that is two to four years away.

The third problem I see is the fact that comic cons have made a living in all their versions of hall H and the big announcement from Marvel and DC.  Everyone loves the comic cons and they help smaller lesser known comics get foot traffic and some extra exposure.  The little guys deserve to be set up next to Marvel and DC and they deserve the foot traffic that may not have seen them otherwise.  It’s all part of the family and all part of the comic lifestyle that we all love, we need to let the studios do what they do so damn well and entertain us.  By letting Marvel and DC draw their fans, indie comics get the exposure benefits.  If Marvel announcements are drawing thousands of people and a slight percentage spends $5 or $10 on indie comics then it turns out to be a pretty nice win for those indie comic producers.



I love Benedict Cumberbatch and if he becomes Doctor Strange when it’s all said and done I will be ecstatic, but I can also wait to hear from Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios to tell me for sure.  I can wait for Comic Cons and official statements.  I can do without the misinformation and the jumping to conclusions because in the end I have loved everything they have done and I have faith I will love what they have planned.  Even though the big two are huge studios they’re still made up of people that are trying to create something worth while and they deserve the right to create without their ideas being passed as fact and the spread of disinformation.

This has been mostly a request for news sites and organizations to be more credible but also for fan boys and girls to be responsible about where they get their information and who they believe.  I know you love everything like I do, so do everything you can to support the process and the Comic Cons by stepping back and letting the studios do their best work without the perpetuation of disinformation.  I have a feeling that it will end up being primarily our responsibility until the news sites lose viewers.  Nothing motivates news sites like numbers, or in this case the loss of numbers.  In the end they will bounce back and the fans will start receiving real information again.  It will be a win win.