We were feeling pretty optimistic last week, black joy and all that, but then I heard Dr. Fauci on the radio say that we might not have community spread under control until nearly 2022, and so once again the pendulum swings.
Is there any point in looking forward to new movies? Is it even responsible to look forward to new movies? Sure, there are movies that were basically in post-production when the pandemic hit, there are your Snyder Cuts, if that’s what you’re into. But then what? Getting excited for trailers seems like barely more than an exercise in masochism!
(The California wild fires have severely eaten into my already quite limited outside time, I’m not sure if you can tell.)
Take the new The Batman trailer. I saw that and thought, hell yeah, I’m ready to see the third re-cast of batman in a decade. Stephanie Meyer’s Midnight Sun release got me in the mood for some more Robert Pattinson, so I’m in. And days later, what happens? Who’s tested positive for corona virus on set? By beloved Bat-tinson!
And sure, Robert Pattinson is young, but that’s no guarantee he’ll pull through! The man’s British, he looks like he could drop dead of consumption off stage at any moment! Maybe it’s just his sharp cheek-bones and vampire make-up, but he’s never exactly looked like the paragon health. (That’s why we love you, R-Pats, I say this all with affection and a strange attraction.)
In all seriousness though, why was The Batman putting its cast and crew in danger by filming again in the first place? It could be an earnest, premature response to what only ever seem to be temporary dips in COVID case numbers. It could also very much be a bid to grab as many of our hopeful little dollars as possible.
Maybe it’s time to stop tossing our coins into the void and hoping it will grant our wishes for the speedy return of the summer blockbuster. Voids are screaming into. We might as well just accept our fate: an eternity of Netflix nostalgia watches that we really forgot were that problematic.
Watchlist for the Apocalypse 