How to Get Your Blockbuster Kicks With No Blockbusters
With COVID-19 continuing to be a debilitating pandemic in most parts of the world, cinemas have been crippled by a lack of big-budget blockbusters. There have been some great smaller films released into those cinemas that are still open and we did at least get Wonder Woman 1984 and Tenet in some territories but overall 2020 was a year almost entirely free of those big event movies that bring in the crowds and gets everyone talking. Even with the arrival of the vaccine, it’s unclear when things are going to return to even a semblance of normalcy so even films that have been long-delayed having been delayed further while some are going straight to streaming.
It’s not just the cinemas that suffer. Geeks and film fanatics of all stripes may thrive on smaller, more interesting films, it’s hard to deny just how much we’ve missed our regular injection of the latest Marvel movie or the seventy-eighth installment of Fast and Furious.
While we wait to get the chance to see the Suicide Squad or Black Widow on the big screen, here are a few other places to get your genre kicks.
TV
The most obvious choice for killer movie-like entertainment, TV really rose in prominence over the past year and with some studios releasing their big event movies to streaming at the same time as in cinemas where possible, it’s going to get even bigger this year. Plus, with cinema stalwarts like Star Wars and the MCU now invading the TV landscape with multiple series each, you’ll be more able than ever to get that big-screen experience in your own home – albeit without the irreplaceable cinema experience.
Video Games
The gaming industry also exploded in 2020, improving on an already multiple billion-dollar earning past decade or two. You may not be able to see new Spider-man or Star Wars movies on the big screen right now but you’ll be able to play them on your console, PC, or tablet. Movie tie-ins are so major a cottage industry, in fact, that you can even find casino games at an online casino with big-name movie themes. Especially on video slot machines.
Books and Comics
Being at home all the time also makes finding a few minutes lost in a good book or graphic novel can almost be even more of an escape than a trip to the movies. And if you think there are plenty of movie tie-ins in video games and on TV, that’s nothing against the countless tie-in novels to all sorts of major properties, including long-finished ones like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Comics have, if possible, even more, to offer. Marvel has just started publishing Alien comics and their Star Wars line continues to be strong while Boom has been killing it with alternate-universe Buffy comics. And if you’re missing superhero movies, you’ve really hit the motherload with the medium that birthed DC and Marvel’s superhero universes in the first place.
So, yes, we all want to go back to enjoying spectacular blockbusters in a crowded cinema but until then, we have more options than ever before.