SHE-HULK And 5 More Comic Book Movies And TV Shows That Were Review-Bombed By "Fans" (And Why)

SHE-HULK And 5 More Comic Book Movies And TV Shows That Were Review-Bombed By "Fans" (And Why)

Review bombing has become all too common, and it's making less and less sense as time goes by. With She-Hulk: Attorney at Law one of the latest victims, we're looking back at some other recent examples...

Feature Opinion
By JoshWilding - Sep 07, 2022 12:09 PM EST
Filed Under: She-Hulk

We live in a world where those unhappy with a movie or TV show featuring a Black, female, or LGBTQ+ lead will take to sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb to "review bomb" them. 

Their hope is that by doing so, they can convince others not to watch things they deem to be bad. For lack of a better word, the whole thing is pretty pathetic, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are among the latest victims of these online trolls with too much time on their hands. 

Those are far from the first projects to be review bombed, of course, and we're now taking a look back at some more recent examples, all of which are based on comic books. Why were they targeted? Don't worry, we attempt to explain that as well!

To take a look through this feature, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button below.
 

6. The Suicide Squad

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James Gunn is a really well-liked filmmaker in the geek community, making it all the more surprising that The Suicide Squad came under fire when it was released last August.

Despite being a significant improvement over 2016's effort, many Snyder Cut fans decided to bombard the reboot/sequel with negative reviews. Why? Well, because it was moving on from the darker tone of blockbusters like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and this movie's predecessor, Suicide Squad.

This was baffling when Zack Snyder's Justice League had already been shared with the world, but DC fans are sometimes their own worst enemy. Just in general, even non-Snyder Cut loyalists took aim at The Suicide Squad because it was somehow viewed as a betrayal of what David Ayer delivered.

Alas, those reviews did nothing to get Warner Bros. to #ReleaseTheAyerCut. 
 

5. Captain Marvel

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Captain Marvel served as a solid introduction to the MCU for Carol Danvers, but you'd never have known that back in 2019.

Oscar-winner Brie Larson is an outspoken feminist and hasn't shied away from making her feelings known on social media. That led to her being dubbed a "man hater" (seriously!), and prompted some fans to review bomb the movie in an ill-fated quest for revenge against the actress for daring to have an opinion. 

This negativity even extended to Captain Marvel before it arrived in theaters, as many men online decided that the character wasn't smiling enough in the trailers for their liking. 

By the time all was said and done, the blockbuster earned over $1 billion at the global box office and established Larson and Carol as major players in the MCU...whether some "fans" like it or not. 
 

4. The Boys

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Everyone loves The Boys, but the tide has changed in recent years.

It all started when Prime Video decided to release season 2 on a weekly basis. The first batch of episodes had dropped all at once, but the streamer clearly realised that the key to success with a show like this is to have people talking about it over several weeks, not forgetting it after a long weekend. 

Review bombing followed, reminding us why we can't have nice things sometimes. Season 3 stuck to the format, but came under fire for another reason.

When certain sects of the internet realised that The Boys is actually poking fun at the far-right rather than endorsing their ideology, they weren't happy. That's resulted in the hit series being deemed "woke," but real reviews remain positive and season 4 is on the way. 
 

3. Eternals

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Eternals didn't receive overly positive reviews from critics, and remains Marvel Studios' only "Rotten" movie. We'd argue that this was a little harsh, but there's no denying the film failed to live up to expectations. 

However, the reason this blockbuster was review bombed is that filmmaker Chloé Zhao was accused of bringing "woke" and "politically correct" Hollywood ideals into the MCU. For the record, those included a same-sex couple (the horror!) and some characters who either had their genders or race changed. 

None of that was a big deal with such an obscure comic book team, but it was all some people needed to find an excuse to turn on Marvel Studios. 

Given the middling reviews and disappointing box office numbers in the wake of pandemic, it remains unclear whether an Eternals 2 will ever happen. 
 

2. She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

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She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has been review bombed simply for daring to deliver a few home truths about how some men behave towards women. Nothing the Disney+ series has said is particularly groundbreaking or shocking, but it's enough to hit the nerves of some very touchy incels. 

Despite glowing reviews for those first four episodes, some people have had it out for the show since day one. 

Videos recorded on cell phones showing scenes from TVs with motion smoothing settings turned right the way up have been used to bash the VFX, while even poor old Abomination has been accused of being neutered by "woke Hollywood."

Most pathetic, however, is the reaction to She-Hulk twerking with Megan Thee Stallion. If that was Deadpool, it would be the greatest thing ever; it being a female superhero, though, is genuinely a real issue for some basement dwellers. 
 

1. Ms. Marvel

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Ms. Marvel remains Marvel Studios' best-reviewed TV series. While we'd argue that those underwhelming middle chapters and the show's villains don't make it wholly deserving of that status, there's no denying how brilliant it was.

Well, for most rational people, anyway.

You certainly don't have to love Ms. Marvel, but it soon became the worst-reviewed MCU show on IMDb because of racist and sexist trolls. There was a vile anti-Muslim sentiment surrounding the show and a lot of frustration that Marvel Studios was introducing another female superhero, even after male-led projects like Loki and Moon Knight.

The cast and creatives laughed this off, as they should. Still, it shows an alarming trend in which any character who isn't a white male comes under fire for no discernable reason. Get a life lads, eh? 
 

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HagridsHole1
HagridsHole1 - 9/7/2022, 12:01 PM
Why ?

People. The end.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/7/2022, 12:06 PM
imnotwearinghockeypants
imnotwearinghockeypants - 9/7/2022, 12:08 PM
#bots
mountainman
mountainman - 9/7/2022, 12:08 PM
I’m sure this comment section will be civil.

I didn’t like most of these - except The Boys and The Suicide Squad. I don’t leave reviews online anywhere though.

Why is it that whenever people don’t like certain properties, they are called “-ists” and are accused of review bombing? There are some hateful trolls out there, but there are also people that genuinely don’t like things for various reasons.

Nobody ever seems to talk about review inflating either, which is also a problem. Let people like or dislike whatever they choose. Even if they have stupid reasons to do so. Make up your own decisions around things and let’s move past this stupid culture war that’s infected everything these days.
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 9/7/2022, 12:29 PM
@mountainman - It’s not every time. When Inhumans or Morbius or Gotti or thousand different properties get bad reviews there is not widespread talk of review bombing. They just got bad reviews. But these companies have the data readily available, they can see when a movie is and isn’t following normal review patterns, when review bombing is occurring it’s obvious, and it’s not like everyone participating is even denying it.

And is review inflating really a problem? An unsuspecting innocent person might watch something they don’t like? Is that the scare? Versus people who have no idea what is happening who are just trying to find something to watch on a Friday night might skip over stuff they might love because of targeted campaign by people who often times didn’t even watch the show thereby leading to a show’s cancellation. They don’t feel equal.
mountainman
mountainman - 9/7/2022, 12:38 PM
@TheUnworthyThor - I think they are different phenomenon for sure. Definitely less of an issue with people who haven’t watched something giving high ratings. In fact, I think artificial review inflating is more common with reviewers than audience scores. Two reasons:

1. Some media reviewers will give positive reviews to certain properties so the studios continue to give them early access or so that they don’t anger large fanbases.

2. Some reviewers will give positive reviews less for story, acting, those things but because of representation or messaging. IGN is pretty big with this specifically.

Either way, I’m not denying that this never happens. I know there are hateful trolls that give low reviews to properties for unfair reasons. What frustrates me is when folks who have legitimate reasons that they don’t like something get lumped in. That’s it.
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 9/7/2022, 12:44 PM
@mountainman - And that’s the reason we should all be denouncing review bombing and no one should come on here and be defending it! Obviously when you are just looking at an aggregate honest thoughtful bad reviews and going to be lumped in with bad actors who are participating in review bombing because that’s what an aggregate is. But if we could actually successfully end review bombing then we would just be left with the actual bad reviews and people could actually see them and read them and discuss them and we wouldn’t have to defend against the nonsense.
mountainman
mountainman - 9/7/2022, 1:02 PM
@TheUnworthyThor - I’m not defending it. I think it’s gross. But it is a byproduct of being anonymous online. Outside of a way to verify if something has been watched - which would have to go through the streaming platform itself - how could we stop it? Requiring a written character minimum for all reviews could help a little but it wouldn’t stop it completely. Removing all bad reviews would take away some legitimate ones that actually watched it. Amazon does this with products in their site now I believe. They have to have had seen you purchase it in order to review it.
Origame
Origame - 9/7/2022, 1:16 PM
@mountainman - the boys and the suicide squad weren't even review bombed, or at least not to any extent that it effected the user scores significantly.

Also, @Natebest, can we talk about this kind of article? We just had the threat of the comments section removed partly due to flame wars, yet articles like this get approved which are like clearly designed to get things heated in the comments.
mountainman
mountainman - 9/7/2022, 1:28 PM
@Origame - Exactly. Just because some people disliked things for reasons some of us would find unfair, it doesn’t classify as a review bomb.
Origame
Origame - 9/7/2022, 1:50 PM
@mountainman - honestly I think the whole review bombing thing is overblown. There's nothing inherently wrong with showing how you really don't like something. Just look at captain marvel. It was considered review bombed and had all those reviews deleted, yet the score barely improved.
mountainman
mountainman - 9/7/2022, 2:05 PM
@Origame - Someone rating a show or movie they haven’t seen is a problem. But I don’t know how frequently that is happening. There have been some examples of actors or show runners accusing low audience scores on this even though there is no evidence to back it. Some people out there think that any person who doesn’t like a show or movie with a female or minority lead is because they are sexist or racist. And that is just lazy and dumb. We’ve seen these disingenuous tactics used in politics for years to where these terms don’t mean what they used to.

NateBest
NateBest - 9/7/2022, 2:26 PM
@Origame - I think there may be some confusion as to what gets posted and what doesn't... There is no "approval" process for any of the content. Anyone and everyone can contribute.

Posts can be removed if they break the content and quality guidelines, but I don't see that as the case here.

With all of that being said, the review bombing (up or down depending on your opinion) is definitely something that people are talking about, so I don't see the harm here.

People can agree and disagree respectfully, or ignore completely.
nhoj3
nhoj3 - 9/7/2022, 3:27 PM
@mountainman - Having all online accounts use people's real names and pictures would be a start. I for one think twice about leaving any comments when I'm logged in using my Facebook account. It's the online anonymity that's the problem, not requiring proof that you've actually watched something.
Origame
Origame - 9/7/2022, 4:19 PM
@NateBest - I do understand that you don't approve articles beforehand. But you do continue to allow these articles on your platform which is what I'm talking about it.

But moving on, the reason people want to talk about review bombing is because it's highly controversial and political. Politics are kept out of polite conversations for a reason. As mountainman here insinuated, these kind of articles have led to heated discussions before.

Josh also isn't making things better by making his views known and the other side of the discussion as unreasonable as possible. His initial comment about this being done specifically to projects led by minorities and women implies it's done because of it being led by them. Of course anyone who hates the projects listed here and agrees with the low scores is gonna take offense to effectively being called a bigot.

Now look, you can allow whatever you want here. But it's really not fair to put all of this on the commenters without also looking into the kind of articles here as well.

A suggestion is maybe not allowing review bombing to be a topic, or at least making it so the writer only states the facts on the topic, instead of his opinions.

But if you're genuinely hoping to find a way to keep the comment section, then I think it's only reasonable to look at these issues from both sides here.
Origame
Origame - 9/7/2022, 4:22 PM
@mountainman - I don't really see that. Especially since sites like rotten tomatoes have removed the ability to answer if you want to see something.

Besides, if you specifically want someone who has seen it, sites like Amazon do require that so there are options.
NateBest
NateBest - 9/7/2022, 5:28 PM
@Origame - Yes, I see your point. Sticking to the facts is a requirement for "news", but not editorials/lists.

I think a lot of his will probably clear up when I roll out the ability to turn comments on and off for posts. Posts like this (i.e. that aren't presented in a neutral manner) will most likely have their comments turned off.
Origame
Origame - 9/7/2022, 5:57 PM
@NateBest - considering he's done this on articles under news as well, I don't think it matters.

https://comicbookmovie.com/tv/marvel/she-hulk/she-hulk-attorney-at-law-stills-reveal-a-closer-look-at-megan-thee-stallions-memorable-mcu-debut-a196638#gs.blffa8

Also, allowing the comments to be turned off is effectively removing them. Eliminating the conversation you claimed was a reason it's good for this to be here.
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 9/7/2022, 6:08 PM
@Origame - it usually feels like Josh writes these kinds of articles so he can virtue signal.
Origame
Origame - 9/7/2022, 6:15 PM
@TheFinestSmack - yeah exactly. I just don't get how this whole thing can be so one sided. It's all just on the commenters instead of the writers. The writer effectively calling us bigots apparently isn't the problem, and the best solution is removing the comments section.

Is it really that out there of an idea to not have politics in a site about comic book movies?
NateBest
NateBest - 9/7/2022, 7:36 PM
@Origame - I must have missed something... I didn't see anything in that post where Josh called called anyone out...

Yes, adding the ability to turn the comments off on some posts *would* remove them for that particular post.

Just because the ability will be there doesn't mean that it will be used very often. I don't really see it being used except for in the rare instance where the comments have turned so toxic that there's not much of a choice.

I would rather be able to do that than remove the ability to comment all together.
Origame
Origame - 9/7/2022, 8:28 PM
@NateBest - he specifically says that no one would've had a problem with the twerk scene if that were Deadpool, implying a sexist reasoning behind the backlash.

And we've had comments here deleted for absolutely no reason other than going against the opinions of the poster.

Is there going to be any regulation on them being able to turn the comments off? Because users like Josh would definitely turn them off just to avoid different opinions.

And again, it doesn't have to be a one way or the other. At least not if you look at it beyond simply the comments. It's been a known problem with topics such as politics and more agitating users like Josh cause the most rage in the comments.

I just don't understand why, bare minimum, we start to consider removing political discussions from a site meant to discuss comic book movies.
NateBest
NateBest - 9/7/2022, 10:01 PM
@Origame - I'm confused and obviously missing something in the conversation here... Political comments on non-political-related posts are already against the rules. You do realize that's been a rule ever since the 2016 election, right? I delete comments like that pretty much every day and have even went as far as deleting "news" articles about different actors backing candidates.
Origame
Origame - 9/8/2022, 4:37 AM
@NateBest - but then I really don't understand why this is allowed. Review bombing is a political issue. It's a tangible power normal citizens have to influence major companies like Disney. And this is a power these companies are regularly talking about taking away from people. Politics isn't specifically tied to the government.

On top of that, the discussion of review bombing is also discussed in relation to representation. Representation being a social political issue. Thefinestsmack can also point out how Josh regularly does this to virtue signal.
NateBest
NateBest - 9/8/2022, 9:47 AM
@Origame - When I use the term "political" or "politics" it's in reference to government. So I'm perfectly happy to agree to disagree on this as I don't particularly see review bombing, in and of itself, as political.

I've updated all posts to show when something *may* include a user's opinion or be editorialized. I would suggest treating said content as such.
Origame
Origame - 9/8/2022, 10:05 AM
@NateBest - you might not see it as political, but it doesn't change the fact that it is by definition political. And with that comes the arguments that are always associated with political discussions.

But again, you've even agreed with me news shouldn't be opinionated, yet I've shown an opinionated news story on this site.

Seriously, if the goal is genuinely trying to keep the peace then looking at the articles people post here is a good place to start. It should be very easy to notice a pattern on what kind of articles are causing the hate and just implement basic changes (or not even changes since the guidelines already mention politics, despite what you define it as) in order to mitigate this. You got like 3 regular posters here. Are you really telling me it's a better idea to focus all your attention on the mountain of commenters instead of evaluating the content from those 3?

There's a subreddit about comic book movies, and if you look there they don't even touch on the subjects like diversity and review bombing. Because those are political.
JermareCBM
JermareCBM - 9/7/2022, 12:11 PM
Review bombing is a dumb term. Fans review things both positively and negatively without seeing them. Only the negatives get highlighted because most people are excited for most movies so positive review bombing is normalized.
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