Sunday 22 July 2012

The nostalgia boom trilogy: Ben 10 or 20 years ?


So in the final part of my nostalgia examination I'd like to present an oxymoron to the subject. Looking to the future of the nostalgia boom. In a nutshell what in the next ten or twenty years will be the next summer blockbusters be based on.

Looking at younger franchises still contempt with a younger audience and have been around in short period of time in franchise years I'd say your best bet is Ben 10.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the show it revolves are Ben Tennyson, a boy with a magic alien watch which gives him the powers of 10 aliens and further adventures expand his collection and toy line.

Though it may market itself towards a younger audience the show plays nicely with some big ideas and some humour to keep grown ups amused.

So with the comment right their would appeal to any future film producer, director or writer. The show just toys with the ideas of death and moral ethics a hero faces in a similar way to Batman or to a lesser extent the Transformers cartoon has.

Thanks to the censorship it feel like the show wants to be as a modern day comic. Essentially this could lead to a Frank Miller affect. In  the 1980's Frank Miller and other revolutionised how comics were written, they were no longer colourful child friendly productions after the production of Dark Knight Returns Batman and other comics alike grew up with their aging fan base.

The fact Ben 10 is now on it's fourth incarnation and merchandise appears to be selling well shows it's fan base it not bored with it.

Looking at the origins of these big film adaptations most of the production seems to be centred around the vision of a hero growing up with them. Star Trek was rebooted to be more 'cool' and join the modern day world,  Sam Ramis Spider-man pitted Peter Parker in a real cruel world.

I may not be able to tell the future but looking at shows like Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles and every staple of American comics it just appears to be logical and what model the film industry is striving for. Of course this may change if the finical climate changes allowing studios to be all risky and let another Scott Pilgrim happen. But if in ten or twenty years from now Ben 10 does pop up again it could pretty prove this business model either works or Peter Pan syndrome is something our generation is cursed with.

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