Read The Hottest Rumours On The Latest Disasters In The Comic Book Movie Industry

It’s time to address a problem with how the journalistic world handles the comic book movie industry. Although to say that this issue only exists in the world of comic book movies would be completely untrue. It’s everywhere and we’ll talk about that a little further down. For now though, let’s think about the comic book movie industry specifically. 


Today (happy V day guys), I, like many others awoke to yet another rumour. Ben Affleck is trying to get out of his commitment to being the star of ‘The Batman.’ Where did that rumour come from? John Campea briefly mentioned it in one of his videos. However, last week we were told two other rumours about ‘The Batman.’ The first was that the script is starting again with a page one rewrite and the second? Affleck and Warner Bros are both thrilled with the script and will be moving forward. You see the problem? We constantly get completely conflicting rumours and this leads to one fact. Someone here is lying through their teeth. 


No More Than An Excuse For Gossip And Hearsay



There are now journalists who are using random sources to validate publishing rumours. There was a time when journalists would only publish stories if they had two or more reputable sources, but it’s clear those days are behind us. Now, you might say: what does it matter? After all, it’s not like comic book movie news is that important or particularly relevant. If you have that view, I ask but one question: What on earth are you doing on this site?

Or perhaps you’ll argue that just because journalists are using unreliable sources it doesn’t mean the story at the heart isn’t true. But to that I say, where do we draw the line? It’s not unknown for stories from reddit to be posted as a rumour. Reddit, is at best fanfiction and yet the reports there are almost as credible as the ones labeled as rumour on movie media sites.


At this point, anything can be a rumour and I’ll show you how. All the writers on Comicbookmovie.com have a dolphin fetish. It’s true! How do I know? Well, I have two sources that I say are credible. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you who these individuals are because I have journalistic integrity. You might then say, surely if you have journalistic integrity you wouldn’t be reporting on rumours at all. Exactly!


The Problem At The Source



Of course, the issue isn’t entirely the fault of new media journalists. Instead, we need to go to the sources themselves such as Heroic Hollywood. My absolutely favourite rumour reported from this site was that Iron Man would join up with the Guardians of The Galaxy in the post credits scene of Iron Man 3. Or, how about the fact that Hulk would be blasted off into space at the end of Age of Ultron? Fun rumours sure, but they never came to fruition and there is no proof that was ever in the plans. It was a rumour reported as a fact by the original source. The journalists that republished the story reported it as rumour but that is an important issue to remember. At the source, this was hinted to be a factual story. Defenders of sources like this will claim that in the past they have had ‘scoops’ that turned out to be true. The most famous would perhaps be the report of Heath Ledger being cast as the joker. But if you weigh up all the rumours, you’ll find there’s a lot more false reporting than fact here and that’s not the only concern. 


When An Unfortunate Incident Becomes An Unprecedented Disaster

 


We then have to think about what happens when the story is republished because here’s where things get really fun. This where the story evolves. One news outlet might report the source accurately, stating it is a rumour or an old favourite expression that it should be ‘taken with a pinch of salt.’ This, it seems gives the author an escape clause. Hey, I never said it was fact. Then there are other outlets that will report the story with headlines like: “Wait Ben Affleck Doesn’t Even Want To Star In Batman!?” It should be noted this was a headline after a Forbes story analysing the state of the Batman Film. In that report the writer speculated based on personal opinion that Affleck might drop out. However, when this story was picked up by news outlets this opinion turned into fact with ‘credible sources,’ never mentioned in the original article. At this point, reporting the story becomes a game of chinese whispers. Each time you head to a new site you’ll find more opinions added in and more rumours thrown through the blender.


The Impact On The Industry



I would then question as to whether this type of practice is actually harmless. It’s setting a worrying precedent that to be honest, is as of now, cemented into this industry. It’s not just happening in the movie biz but we’re still focusing on the movies we love right now. By reporting rumours you are adding fuel to the fire of speculation. By reporting rumours as fact, you can, with the right credibility shape the narrative. 

It worth questioning whether the original sources actually ever have any inside knowledge of the film industry. Or are they just guessing and getting lucky every so often? Perhaps a more accurate term for this practice would be guesstimating. They are looking at the facts they know that have been reported, analysing trends and then making potential predictions. 


For instance, tomorrow someone could report based on their sources, that WB is going to make ‘The Batman’ a comedy because Lego Batman was so critically acclaimed. There’s no evidence to support this but there is precedence. After all, we know that DC have acted on impulse based on what was popular, greenlighting SS and then Gotham City Sirens. We know that Lego Batman was popular and we know that there have been reports of trouble behind the scenes. So, it almosts makes sense to suggest this might happen and it might only be a matter of time before that rumour is reported. But let’s not kid ourselves. These reports have no more credibility than an average man claiming he once had a wild night with Scarlett Johansson. I can’t prove it didn’t happen, you can’t prove it did happen, but that doesn’t change the fact it’s probably nonsense. 

So perhaps it’s time we started treating these rumours exactly as they deserve to be seen. Not with a pinch of salt but rather a roll of the eyes and...move on. Perhaps than journalists will stop reporting on these rumours and claim back a little integrity they have so clearly lost. I dare to dream.