Personal post time.
I have no faith in Marvel anymore.
When Polaris was announced for the new Fox X-Men show, played by Emma Dumont, I was ecstatic. It probably made my year. In terms of my Lorna fandom, probably my whole decade. Why? Because in addition to being the first time she’ll have a live action incarnation, Fox hasn’t done anything to make me doubt their intentions.
Fox doesn’t have executives working for them who hate her. Fox wouldn’t get anything out of ruining or undermining her. Fox has occasionally messed things up, but they did it out of ignorance, not malice. And they’ve demonstrated that they’re willing to learn and make up for their mistakes, as seen with Deadpool.
I can trust Fox to put their best effort into making the most of her potential.
None of that can be said about Marvel.
When Fox announces something for Polaris, I get excited. I think of all the amazing possibilities. I wonder what unexpected bits will come out that thrill me.
When Marvel announces something for Polaris, I wonder how the upper level editors and executives, especially Brevoort, will try to fuck it up this time.
Will Marvel toss her into limbo for a year and a half? Will Marvel cancel her book after refusing to promote it in any way? Will Marvel including her in an event amount to nothing but a nameless extra that her family ignores? Will Marvel withhold a cover to a crucial issue to keep casual readers from finding out it’s happening?
I don’t have to ask these questions with Fox.
You know what questions Fox gets me asking? Will Lorna have her green hair right away or get it later. Will Lorna be in high school or in college. Will Lorna be leading her own team, be a member of a team, or be her own ‘operative’. If she shows massive fan interest, could that develop into a spinoff or appearances in the films.
Fox gets me thinking about what heights they’ll help her reach. Marvel gets me wondering how low they’ll go to drag her through the mud and deny her even a modicum of opportunity and respect.
I know there are people at Marvel who like Polaris and want to see more for her. I know Cullen Bunn would like to build on her options, especially with Magneto. I know Mark Paniccia wants her to return, and has even said recently that he’d like to see a Polaris solo book if it were up to him.
But that doesn’t change how Marvel operates as a whole, especially at the behest of people like Tom Brevoort and Ike Perlmutter.
Some people I encounter online try to tell me that Fox having the film rights to the X-Men is a bad thing. But how can I possibly believe that when Fox is doing more for Polaris and is more open to utilizing her vast potential than Marvel’s been since 2009?
If Marvel were this great bastion of quality some people make it out to be, this fictional land of opportunity that could really do a lot for Polaris, then it wouldn’t treat her so poorly that every single announcement kills my enthusiasm by forcing me to look for the “catch.” It wouldn’t stir up a little voice in the back of my mind warning me not to get my hopes up, because Marvel will find a way to take something that should mean the world and make it mean nothing.
Next year is Polaris’ 50th anniversary as a character, and I have more faith in Fox celebrating the anniversary of her creation than Marvel. At the very least, Fox could use it to promote the X-Men TV show. Marvel doesn’t even care.
salarta 