I am old enough to remember the infancy of the internet.
Somehow, as a child, I had a friend find a copy of the script for Star Trek: Generations. He printed it out on one of those dot matrix printers you see in old movies. I must have read it a dozen times before seeing the film in my local theater. And I was disappointed.
You see, the finished film cut out an orbital skydiving scene that would have been cool, excised a scene of torture that made a line that stayed in the final cut significant, and the overall pacing of the film was different than what I saw in my head. I still found enjoyment, being a Trekkie, but I left the theater feeling like I saw an incomplete version of the movie. It was like something edited for television, but it was on the big screen.
The internet, of course, exploded, and the crowdfunding of documentaries made behind-the-scenes vanity projects possible. But for every What You Leave Behind, looking at what was, we get a documentary about the what-might-have-been, like the documentary about Tim Burton's Superman movie.
Recently, Armie Hammer's Batman Cowl appeared on the internet. Fans have begun dissecting it, comparing it to the reveals from the upcoming Batman movie and the previous Batflicks. A quick look at the comments shows the danger of the what-might-have-been as fans are soundly batbashing Ben Affleck's cowl from the now-sorta-defunct DCEU.
The reality of the entertainment industry is that we, the fans, make up the majority of the people consuming the entertainment while a select few get the chance to make that entertainment. Yes, many of the writers and directors were fans growing up, but through talent, luck, and good connections, they got the chance to make the entertainment we consume. A lot of times, their vision is not what we saw in our heads. Sometimes, we get angry at a new direction that we would not have done, and we find ourselves railing against the media we used to love.
We tend to imagine something better than what we got, which in the case of Justice League: Mortal, may have actually been the case. The Justice League movie we got was a poster child for too much studio interference, and even the stars are demanding the release of the Snyder Cut. However, in the case of Man of Steel vs. Superman Lives, it is hard to make the argument that the failed Tim Burton movie would have been better.
This phenomenon continues, with unused concept art appearing daily and a script for the last Star Wars movie dividing fans even more than the movie did. Nothing ever dies on the internet, so a quick Google search of any failed movie will find materials. This creates the belief that the what-might-have-been is better than the what-is. It might not lead to good.
Except when it does. Sonic the Hedgehog looks a lot better now because of fan backlash. And maybe that's the lesson of the what-might-have-been. Development for movies takes a long time and ideas end up on the cutting room floor. These images and leaks give us a peek behind the curtain, one that very few of us are lucky to get firsthand. It is a power we need to learn to use for good.
I will never be a Hollywood producer making movies of the properties I love. And that reality is what makes finding the what-might-have-been dangerous. But it does not have to be. I have read everything I can find on the lost Justice League movie, but that did not impact my dislike for the current movie. I disliked it on its merits. Justice League: Mortal just gave me more reasons to. But I will try to like the upcoming Batman movie and not dismiss it before seeing it.
And if you have the right talent, luck, and good connections, take the what-might-have-beens and make them part of what you want to accomplish. The danger lies not in the information we find, but in allowing our impotence to to turn to rage.