Does Inhumans Deserve The Backlash?

Marvel’s Inhumans TV series appears to be falling apart by the day. Critics and fans seem to be going off on how bad Inhumans is just for the sake of doing it. The TV series, set to premiere in IMAX theaters September 1, is flailing in internet space and everyone seems to have an opinion about it, even though nobody has actually seen it (some outlets have seen the first episode, but reviews are not yet up). Regardless of the presumably negative impressions (considering the tweets by the media) and reviews, aggressive personal attacks at the cast and creative team are not appropriate--it’s fastly approaching internet bullying. So what, you dislike a TV show? At this point fans are enjoying watching Inhumans fail more than they would if the show turns out to actually be good.

It all started when the internet brutally made fun of the very first teaser released by ABC. The hate subsided (a little) when the full trailer was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con. But one early review of the series, which dropped last week, called it “simply awful” Now, critics have shifted their attention to statements from the 2017 Television Critics Association panel, where questions were asked about the presumably “terrible” series and the event was actually wrapped early.

Here are some of the most telling quotes from the creative team and stars-- Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb, ABC President Channing Dungey, Anson Mount, who plays Black Bolt, and Director Roel Reine. While the following comments are certainly cause for concern, maybe just hold off on the social media roasting until the series actually drops? And when you ask a question, don’t insert your negative opinion based on an hour’s worth of footage from an eight-hour show. And if you do, then have a formal review to back it up.

“I can tell you that it was written on the material that you were given, that the show that you have seen is not the finished product,” Loeb said, according to Variety, when asked about the quality of the project compared to previous Marvel efforts.. “If you’re asking me whether or not it was done, it’s not. So to be perfectly honest, I don’t understand your question.”

When one reporter said Marvel’s Inhumans is “not suitable for IMAX screens,” Loeb replied, “I think you’re making an editorial statement, and I’m wondering what the question is.”

And if you think this is worrisome--considering Loeb is never really at a loss for words--Reine actually explained in detail why he’s disappointed in the footage released so far, except for the second trailer. He even singles out Medusa’s hair effects, admitting he believes the visual effects were not ready and the footage shown at TCA was released “too early.”

“I was mixed about the first trailer as well,” Roel Reine said to Metro. “I felt like it didn’t give you the scope, it didn’t give you a lot of secrets or visual effects ... So I was really nervous about it and would think the fans would not really like it.”.

“The trailer was made by other people, so I was really nervous about it when I saw it. So I was like, ‘oh guys maybe we should hold off,’ but it was too late because it was already in the open,” he said.

However, Dungey laid out a different argument. He thinks viewers shouldn’t rule out Inhumans yet.

"A lot of the first stuff was a reaction to Medusa's wig. Fans, as you know, feel very passionately and very strongly about that." Dungey said, according to IGN. "We released some new footage at Comic-Con that I think has reversed some of that conversation. This is still a work in progress. We're really down to the wire on some of the special effects."

Mount even compared himself to the “sad Ben Affleck” memes during press for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. “You’re making me feel like Ben Affleck right now,” he said, according to Uproxx.

All of this is quite unfortunate, and journalists are going to feel like idiots if this show does work out the kinks ahead of the the IMAX premiere and run on ABC. Sure, it’s going to be disappointing if it’s bad, but hey, Marvel tried it? The Inhumans are cool, but are they anyone’s favorite comic book characters anyway?

Do you think fans and press have gone too far? Inhumans does have the extremely difficult task of creating Lockjaw in full CGI (a first) and Medusa's hair is not an easy job to master. In our interview with series star Mike Moh at San Diego Comic-Con, he called some of the negative reactions “bullying behavior.” Iwan Rheon said, for journalists, reporting the facts just aren’t enough anymore. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments.