Editorial: Franchise Fatigue

Written by Chauncey Haworth

A lifelong fanboy looks back on the stories that shaped him and wonders if his obsession with elaborate lore and serials has gone from inspiration to crutch.

I think it has finally happened. I’ve always been a fan of world-building and the deeper layers behind stories. One of my excuses for getting overwhelmed by my own projects is my love of Robotech and The Lord of the Rings. Growing up, I read The Lord of the Rings before I could even really understand it, and since then I’ve gone back and read it at least five or six times. The vastness of Tolkien’s world was absolutely enthralling—he created history, side stories, languages, even recipes. I still remember making the sugar cookies from The Hobbit with my mom when I was a kid.

Likewise, Robotech blew my mind. As a child, I had no idea it was just three different anime series stitched together. To me, it was a sprawling 83-episode intergalactic soap opera that spanned generations.

Since then, this love has fueled my fandom. I’ve seen every Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, Doctor Who, and every DC animated series—literally everything. If it was a fan-built world, I was there.

But recently I’ve started questioning this love of world-building and serialized storytelling. I was watching the newest Jurassic Park movie (of course I’ve seen all the others, including the cartoons), and afterward I came across a complaint online about how the film wasn’t very good. I thought to myself, “Of course it’s not great. It’s the seventh film in a series about people running from dinosaurs.” How much can we really expect from a franchise that exists mainly to give us more of the same thing we already love?

And then I had to ask myself—am I doing the same thing? Am I clinging to familiar stories while denying myself new ones? Am I just rehashing the same old material instead of exploring something fresh?

I guess I’ll put on the same old Justice League cartoons tonight and think about it.