Robert Kirkman is no less than a visionary in the comic book world. From creating the dystopian apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead to creating the spectacular one-of-a-kind superhero tale with The Invincible comics, Kirkman has many astounding credits to his name. Yet that is not all that he should be praised for, it is thanks to the subsequent transmedia adaptation of The Walking Dead that gave impetus to the creation of many more transmedia adaptations.
After being such an instrumental force in the creation of comic book adaptations and more, there is still one thing that Kirkman absolutely hates that even Marvel has been guilty of. In an interview, the comic book writer revealed his absolute resentment for how the film industry tends to ‘dumb things’ down for the audience while making on-screen adaptations.
Robert Kirkman Dislikes The Film Industry’s Knack For ‘Dumbing it Down’
Transmedia adaptation, although not new, have long been criticized for not being faithful to the original source material. See Disney’s live-action reboots, Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation, or pretty much any other comic-to-screen adaptation, fans often point out how things are changed for each subsequent audience in the name of quality.
Yet, instead of changing the ‘quality’ for the sake of making it better, these quality changes end up making the content less and less worthwhile. When it comes to comic book adaptations, these quality changes are more often in the form of dumbing things down for the audience of visual media.
And this precisely is what the creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman has grown to hate. While talking to Games Beat, the screenwriter-producer stated how the industry has a lot less respect for the original work.
“[There is] definitely less respect for the original work, and this mentality of, ‘We know how to make good things. We’ll take this thing and improve it…”
While Kirkman did state things have somewhat turned for the better, giving examples of the recent Sonic The Hedgehog and The Last of Us adaptation, he maintains there is still a long way to go. And he isn’t wrong for even now studios like Marvel are always at the end of fire dumbing things down for their visual consumer base instead of treating their audience like adults.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe And Its Knack For Making Thinks Dumb
Remember the Hammer-wielding, blue-eyed formidable God of Thunder from Marvel Comics? Well, you won’t if you have been a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite the presence of a God of Thunder, Thor has turned into more of a sluggish goofiest, clown-like character with no real resemblance to the actual comic book character (no fault of Chris Hemsworth) other than the physicality, perhaps.
And this is just one of the many reasons why Marvel’s MCU has been criticized ever since its very inception. Faithful fans of comic books have often pointed out how for the sake of pleasing fans (of visual media) Marvel often encourages the creation of a more ‘appealing and pleasing’ narrative no matter if the said narrative is a spew of absurdities with no relation whatsoever to the source (see Reddit).
From altering the narrative to changing actual characters, there are many instances throughout the course of Marvel’s MCU that loyal comic book fans have found problematic. Not only are complex yet intriguing narratives broken down to spoon-feed the audience, but characters are left undeveloped for the sake of catering to mass appeal and Thor is just one example of many.
Even though transmedia adaptation is certainly not without challenges, the transformation of beloved characters into parodies of their former selves illustrates a broader trend within Marvel’s MCU. By prioritizing mass appeal over narrative integrity, the MCU has left many faithful comic book fans feeling disconnected from the source material they once cherished. And this is what Robert Kirkman and many others have pointed out over the years.
While The Walking Dead can be streamed on Netflix, the MCU can be streamed on Disney+.
