Why do bad things happen to good fans? Whether it’s atrocious art, ridiculous writing or something else entirely - some crimes against fandom cannot go unanswered. When that happens, it’s time to say “BLAARGH!”

Comics and movies have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship in the past ten years or so. Some of the most successful films of the past decade have been based on comic book properties, though not all of them have been overall beloved by the comic book community. One of the most successful recent comic book movie franchises has been Warner Brothers’ reboot of the Batman movie franchise, which fell out of favor with Joel Schumaker’s campy, gaudy, and ultimately embarassing Batman films but was redeemed in the eyes of fans with Chris Nolan’s dark, relevant reimaginings in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Warners’ success with rebooting the Batman series has influenced other studios to start over on some of their own comic properties, though some may argue that they are not waiting long enough for audiences to forget about the previous incarnations. Their hastiness to reboot franchises that really didn’t need a “do-over” may hurt them in the long run.

The two comic book movie properties that will get major overhauls in 2012 will be Sony’s Spider Man movie series and 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four films. Both movie series have come under much fan scrutiny in their previous installments, but general movie audiences have enjoyed them for the most part. Spider Man 3 was easily the weakest of the Spider Man films, and most fans of the character thought it was one of the worst comic book movies ever released, but it still made a crapton of money and, until recently, Sony was ready to continue the series with a fourth installment. However, just as casting news began to leak about the fourth movie, Sony decided, at the very last minute it seemed, to pull the plug on the franchise and start from scratch with a new director, new actors, and a new origin story. The main change they wanted to do with the series was to keep Peter Parker in high school a bit longer and cast a younger actor to play the wallcrawler. This decision makes a little sense, but my argument is that they are not waiting long enough after Spider Man 3 to push the reset button. General moviegoers are still going to be familiar with the past decade’s Spider Man movie universe, and forcing them to forget those three films and start from scratch a mere five years after the last movie is a rather lofty request to make of them.

Another major comic book movie property set for a major shakeup in the next few years is 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four movie series. The last of these films also came out in 2007, which divided fans as far as the quality of the film but also made a lot of money at the box office. Earlier this year, Fox made the announcement that they will also be starting over with this franchise. While I understand the need for change in this movie series, I think it is still too soon to make such drastic changes to it so soon after the previous installment. Recasting the characters and making changes to the origin story may please hardcore fans of the comics but may leave general audiences confused and disappointed and may hurt its overall box office earnings.

These two studios have obviously been influenced by Warners’ wildly successful reboot of the Batman films, but they may have also made these decisions as a kneejerk reaction to the current crop of comic movies released by Marvel Studios. These movies are pleasing both casual fans and comic devotees alike with their entertaining and tonally faithful adaptations and the creation of a multi-character universe, which is a first for comic book movies. Fox and Sony are no doubt trying to get new, rebooted versions of their popular properties in an attempt to take advantage of the Marvel characters’ continued popularity, but I believe in the case of the Spider Man reboot, Sony just wants to get a Spidey movie out there to prevent the lapse of their rights to the character and the chance of their web-spinning cash cow falling into the hands of Marvel Studios. A reboot in this case makes perfect sense, since they can cast younger actors who would want to commit to multiple films. This plan may backfire, however, when Joe and Jane Q. Moviegoer start wondering why Peter Parker is back in high school again.

What Fox and Sony don’t seem to realize is that the Batman reboots clicked with viewers because enough time had lapsed for the Schumaker Batman movies to exit the public consciousness enough to make them ready for a new take on the caped crusader. There hasn’t been nearly enough time since the last Spider Man and Fantastic Four movies for the public not to think of those actors when thinking about the characters. Plus, I doubt these films are going to be that much different in tone from the previous films, and nor should they be. Say what you will about how faithful the Spider Man and Fantastic Four films were to the original source material, but no one can argue that the tone of both film franchises fit the properties just fine. Rebooting either film series into something darker or grittier, which some rumors are claiming Fox will do with the Fantastic Four, will not make for better movies. Of course, no one will know for sure until the new films are finally released, but the general consensus is that these studios should wait a bit longer to reboot their popular franchises in order to ensure that they will be successful and embraced by the comic book community and the general public alike.