On She-Hulk and the streaming wars

I came across this article today on my social media feed. Right now, just as there are with so many other things on social media, fans fall into one of two camps regarding the cancellation of She Hulk: Attorney At Law.

Let me start off by saying I liked She Hulk overall. It not only ignored the Marvel origin story formula, but it also gave the MCU its first true, fourth-wall-breaking character in She Hulk. (Yes, I know about Deadpool. But he’s not MCU, yet.) As anyone who has ever read John Byrne’s memorable Sensational She Hulk Marvel comic of the 1990s can attest, She Hulk: Attorney at Law may well be the most comic book-accurate adaptation Marvel Studios has ever created.

“Shulkie” was breaking the fourth wall from jump in this 1989 title.

From it’s genesis, I think She Hulk as a Disney+ mini-series was a risky idea. My personal greatest criticism of both the MCU AND Star Wars series thus far has been the pacing. It seems as if the writers are trying to stretch out a feature-length story over the course of a 6-8 hours mini-series. With the exception of both seasons of Loki, I would argue that EVERY Disney+ MCU series has suffered as a result of this.

According to the article, and many other sources, She Hulk’s budget was roughly $220 million – or equal to that of a Hollywood blockbuster. If that’s true, then there NO WAY that Disney was EVER going to turn a profit with She Hulk. She Hulk: Attorney at Law isn’t the only streaming title to lose money; nor is Disney+ the only app to be suffering these growing pains. Streaming is still a relatively new medium, but Netflix has proven that it can be highly profitable. Clearly they have cracked the code on making money in the medium. The not only know how to make money off original content, but they also know when to “pull the plug” – having made some controversial decisions on the shows they cancel.

The other thing Netflix has done well is to create a buzz around their original content. People talk about it, either face-to-face or through social media. When someone finishes a Netflix show, they’ll check out another one, because of word of mouth. Netflix has found a way to get viewers to open their, and stay on it.

Peacock seems to be spending their money on live content, and it seems to be working. Their recent “Peacock exclusive” NFL wild card game certainly increased their subscriptions – as much as fans complained about it. Paramount+ has been making their own controversial cancellations to stop the bleeding. Warner Bros Discovery cant seem to tell their head from their rear-end as that always find a way to screw up guaranteed money. Disney+ is making the same mistakes that the major film studios are making with their theatrical releases: They are throwing good money after bad money on projects that rely too much on fan-service, rather than trying to tell a good story.

As for my personal streaming choices, I have a subscriptions to Paramount+ as well as a the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle; although I’m waiting to see how tings play out with Disney’s purchase of Hulu completed. I had Netflix for several years, but let it lapse as I haven’t been watching it. Recently I’ve been watching a good deal of content on Tubi and Pluto TV – Paramount’s free streaming app. If thigs don’t change for the pay services soon, I think we’ll the emergence of more commercial-supported free streaming apps.

END OF RANT.

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