It would be an understatement to say that longtime fans of the franchise have been left devastated by Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny debuting to a tepid critical reaction, with the fifth and final entry in the iconic franchise still sitting on a distinctly average Rotten Tomatoes score of 50 percent at the time of writing.
Nobody would have guessed Harrison Ford’s swansong would be faring worse than the despised Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but maybe the theory that nobody but Steven Spielberg was capable of tackling the globetrotting saga was right on the money. Either way, one underwhelming movie doesn’t make anybody a bad director overnight, but DCU defenders have nonetheless decided to jump to the most knee-jerk conclusion of the year so far.
Mangold was only confirmed to be writing and directing Swamp Thing at the beginning of April, but before we’ve even reached the end of May, a Reddit thread has questioned whether or not he should be fired from the project. Of course, this is the same person who helmed one of the greatest comic book adaptations of all-time in Logan, as well as classic crime story Cop Land, multi-time Academy Award-winning biopic Walk the Line, underrated serial killer thriller Identity, and high octane racing drama Ford v Ferrari among others.
It’s ludicrous to even suggest a change behind the camera is worth considering based on the response to a solitary film – one that’s more than likely to eat the box office alive come the end of next month – but it just goes to show how ready and willing superhero supporters are to turn on any project at the drop of a hat.