If there’s anything harder than launching a multibillion-dollar franchise, it’s ending one. The era of superheroes, dragons, and undead armies is rife with universes that light up both our screens and our hearts, making the 2010’s the best decade in pop culture history, but too often some of them leave a bad taste in your mouth.
So we asked you wonderful IGN readers which major geek franchise stuck its landing the best. Was it Game of Thrones, the Star Wars Skywalker saga, or Marvel’s Avengers? A whopping 25,000 of you responded, so read on below for the results.
Marvel’s Avengers – 87.3%
Coming in at an absolutely hulking 87.3% of our overall voting pool, a decade’s worth of Marvel superheroes, eventually coalescing into the four Avengers films, proved to be the IGN community’s favorite franchise to stick the landing. Though there were certainly stumbles along the way (pour one out for Thor: The Dark World), the vast majority of Marvel’s movie offerings proved to be moderately satisfying at worst and, at their best, triumphant displays of fan service that connected with diehard comic fans and casual viewers all the same.
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Of course, it all culminated in Avengers: Endgame, which itself only worked as the breakneck time-traveling odyssey it was because of 10 years of adventures with all these heroes, seeing them grow, stumble, and share a world together. What some franchises failed to do in three movies, or eight seasons, Marvel pulled off over the course of 10 straight years, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down. It’s pretty clear that the IGN community agrees.
Star Wars Skywalker Saga – 7.8%
Whether you loved or hated The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, you’ve got to admit that J.J. Abram’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker felt like two movies worth of plot exposition, retcons, and silly character motivations and dialogue. The conclusion of the arc between Rey and Kylo Ren was perhaps one of the weakest points for some. The franchise’s strong production values, action scenes, and the chemistry between the cast were about the only saving graces in our review.
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Of course, it didn’t help that they put one of the movie’s most important plot points in a Fortnite event.
Game of Thrones – 4.9%
Giant zombie battles, flying dragons, and even Cleganebowl couldn’t save Game of Thrones from having a universally disappointing ending. In all honesty, it was probably the expedited pacing that helped to derail the series’ usually tight and intricate court politics and fantasy. The final 35 minutes of season 8’s final episode could have arguably been an entire season. That’s not even mentioning a number of character decisions that, while believable, came about way too quick for it to feel natural.
If it’s any consolation, even major cast members like Kit Harrington and Lena Headey appear to be conflicted about the show’s ending. Oh, well.
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Agree with the poll’s results, or think the IGN community is way off the mark on something? Let us know in the comments below. Don’t forget to check out the best-reviewed movies of 2019, and every movie in 2020 we can’t wait to watch.
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Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.
Source: IGN.com Which Geek Franchise Stuck the Landing the Best?