It's late and I'm tired and I just got annoyed reading about a petition to get Marvel to make a solo Loki film. What is the point??? Yeah, a shitload of people love Tom Hiddleston as Loki, me included, but does anyone honestly think that Marvel Studios need anyone to tell them how popular their characters are, or indeed what films they should be making? In case you hadn't noticed, they're doing OK on their own. Apparently, the petition has reached 15,000 signatures. Wow-fuckin'-wee!
A similar campaign is the 'Make A Dredd Sequel' campaign. I even signed it. I thought Dredd was an absolutely brilliant film, and I would love to see another one get green-lit. But it's a different thing altogether. Dredd is a critically successful film that struggled to break even at the box office, even on a relatively modest budget of $45 million. The guys behind the petition are hardcore to the point of organising mass 'buy Dredd on DVD days'. They already cleaned out Amazon's stock once, and they plan to keep on doing so, until the suits sit up and take notice. It may not work, but the fact that 2000AD, the comic the character originates from, have adopted the campaign and made it official certainly gives the whole thing some weight. Even Karl Urban, who portrays Judge Dredd in the film is now aware of the campaign, and is talking about it in interviews. But let's be honest. Even if 2 million people sign that petition, then pay to see the film, and then go and buy it on DVD, I don't imagine the studio execs will be exactly shitting their pants in excitement at the potential profit, do you? But the campaign not only shows support for the film. It keeps people talking, and it brings fans of the film together in an online community that wasn't necessarily there before.
My point is, films like Dredd need that kind of support. It was a great film that almost went ignored. Loki on the other hand, is everywhere. He has been a very popular part of an extremely large and financially successful franchise. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see more Loki on film, but if Marvel Studios say 'we don't think it will work', then there will probably be a spiteful backlash from fans, because you can make demands of creators under the cunning guise of a politely worded petition on Change.org, but when fanboys hop on that bandwagon, and don't get what they want? The claws are bound to come out.
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