Line #65 Main/OldGuardVersusNewBlood


1	When something goes from one medium to another, it's because of two elements:
2	# It's popular!
3	# [[MoneyDearBoy Producers like money!]]
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5	Moving something to a new medium is a way of breathing new life into an existing product which generates two things. New revenue from the fans, and new revenue from potential fans who for one reason or another never were into it in its original medium, but might get into it here.
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7	This is where the problem arises. Take for instance a comic book being turned into a movie. Most comics have up to 70 years of {{backstory}}, cool sequences, and ranging from a handful to an army of cool heroes and villains. All that has to be crammed into a two-hour presentation or the longtime, diehard fans are upset. Meanwhile, it has to be perfectly understandable, and -- more importantly -- easy to follow, [[ContinuityLockout or else the new blood won't like it]].
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9	Ultimately this leads to a dangerous balancing act, one that is rarely done right, although producers appear to be getting better at it. You need to throw in enough of the classics and not change things too much or you alienate the fanbase, but at the same time you can't rely on in-jokes or backstory or you'll lose the new blood. While the fanbase may be more loyal, the new blood represents more money for the new genre, so as far as the scale goes it almost always tips to the new blood side.
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11	Before continuing, it's important to understand two things. First of all, any examples here are at best subjective. For this reason, an example could show up in more than one location under different arguments. This is allowed. Everything has an implied "arguably" in front of it.
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13	Secondly, an example being in any of the three categories does not necessarily indicate that it's bad. A movie that has nothing to do with the original premise can still be enjoyable, as can one that is very hard for newcomers to follow.
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15	One common way to balance the scales is to adapt the characters and styles, while only representing the original ''story'' in broad strokes, sometimes only keeping parts of the origin story. Most ComicBook movies produced around the 2010s follow this method.
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17	See also: InNameOnly for the more extreme New Blood cases, or TheyChangedItNowItSucks and PanderingToTheBase for the more extreme Old Guard cases. Also see NewbieBoom and ItsPopularNowItSucks.
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20	[[folder:Old Guard]]
21	* Almost the entirety of ''Film/TheFlintstones'' movie focuses on the comedy of turning the old visual gags into live action, while following a stretched-out plot from the cartoon series. And the [[CanonDiscontinuity less said]] about the ''second'' movie, the better. What makes it especially old-guard are the adult subplots and ParentalBonus material, such as Fred being seduced by a woman who knows he’s married. This kind of thing was common with cynical ‘90's updates of movies and series from more "innocent" decades, as if people were unaware of the missing themes just because those themes weren't present in movies and television.
22	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' is heavily catered towards the Old Guard. Granted, the ''Simpsons'' fanbase is so large that they could get away with this entirely. Still, it's packed with so many in-jokes that even long-term fans had forgotten a lot of them. Of course, the first thing the movie does is draw attention to the fact that it is virtually a giant ''Simpsons'' episode, so they probably knew that. ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsGame'' is the same way.
23	* ''Film/SinCity:'' Whether it works for it or against it is up to debate, but the movie religiously follows the comics (except when it comes to displaying nudity), to the point where the comics were literally used as storyboards.
24	* The ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse novels]], having mostly created the old guard in the first place, catered to them extensively. Some of the later books however were written with the mindset of drawing more people in, and avoided making too much reference to the older books.
25	* ''Film/SupermanReturns'', a film that, by all rights, ''should'' have been a reboot of the franchise, and yet ended up becoming a sequel to a movie that came out [[Film/SupermanII close to 30 years previously.]] Bryan Singer turned the movie into his own personal love letter to the Christopher Reeve movies. Critics and audiences who grew up with the original films showered it with praise, while [[CriticalDissonance new audiences were completely frozen out.]] The movie ultimately ended up disappointing at the box office.
26	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' took the opposite direction from ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'', it still has some significant AdaptationDeviation but overall it is much TruerToTheText. While much better received overall, this trope may explain at least part of the CriticalDissonance between critics and audiences, as critics were less likely to be familiar with the source material as audiences were.
27	* ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' is in the same situation as ''Sin City'', except instead they had to cut and compress more content for time (some re-instated in DVD), didn't keep the visual style (although keeping most of the framing intact), and deciding this time to ''keep'' the male nudity.
28	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' was not only a "back to basics" approach in its game mechanics, it brought back the protagonists of every previous entry as SummonMagic. These summons were given fully-voiced interactions with the entire cast, full of {{Mythology Gag}}s to their home games, along with side-chapters re-creating old maps. This approach may have backfired due to timing: the game was supposed to be a 30th anniversary celebration but Covid and TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment pushed it back several years, by which point only itself, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' (via Switch Online) were legally playable outside Japan. Furthermore, ''Three Houses'' itself had trigged a massive (and [[MagnumOpusDissonance unexpected]]) NewbieBoom via its [[LaterInstallmentWeirdness radically divergent gameplay]], GreyAndGreyMorality story and extensive social sim elements, all aspects ''Engage'' lacked.
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31	[[folder:New Blood]]
32	* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'' falls firmly into the New Blood camp, as not only are its gameplay and customization options more experimental than in previous games, but the advent of content updates and encouraging of online interactions means that while the base gameplay is functionally identical to previous installments, the game's essence appeals to newcomers who were swept in by a NewbieBoom as a result of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. Meanwhile, the Old Guard has resorted to claims of TheyChangedItNowItSucks and often feel alienated by the drastic gameplay changes and the progressive drip feeding of content.
33	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
34	** The TVMovie, which had been intended to start a ContinuityReboot, but flopped, alters the formula to resemble then-trendy series ''Series/TheXFiles'', gives a drastic SameCharacterButDifferent retool to the Master, alters the Doctor's backstory and (if the reboot had been made) would have focused on remaking popular Classic stories like "Pyramids of Mars" and "The Robots of Death". The BBC had even wanted to toss out the current incumbent Doctor, Creator/SylvesterMcCoy, in favour of having the more popular and recogniseable Creator/TomBaker regenerating into Creator/PaulMcGann, before FOX persuaded them not to. And yet the main criticism of the movie (apart from anger about all the kissing) is still ContinuityLockOut.
35	** When Creator/RussellTDavies soft-rebooted the series, he realised he could only do so if he did not cater to FanWank and aimed the show at the mainstream, as ''Doctor Who'' had been a mainstream show in its heyday in the UK, but was only regarded as a cult show in the US and during its AudienceAlienatingEra. Doing this required him to reboot it in the form of a GenreBusting drama, incorporating elements of SoapOpera, [[ThrowAwayCountry killing off the Time Lords]] [[ThePlotReaper to simplify things]] and provide opportunity for {{Mangst}}, and deliberately avoiding bringing up most of the show's continuity in the first season in favour of spending five episodes dripfeeding information about basic concepts like "who and what is the Doctor?" and "are those big metal pepperpots with plungers on them bad news?". There wasn't an unambiguous suggestion the revival even happened in the same continuity as the Classic series until the return of Sarah Jane and K-9 in Series 2, and the show avoids the issue of the Doctor's [[TheNthDoctor former selves]] until some drawings in a journal in Series 3, only giving it a [[IntroDump significant scene]] in Series 4 when the show was leading up to the Doctor's regeneration and needed to remind audiences that Tennant had not always been the Doctor. The monsters are largely new, with only the iconic Daleks, Cybermen and the Master, and the popular Sontarans, Silurians and Macra returning. While many members of the UnpleasableFanbase feel this occasionally turns the series into ''Doctor Who'' InNameOnly, the series was successfully brought back on television in a popular and highly regarded form, despite being remembered as a cheesy {{Camp}}y relic from TheSeventies with lots of SpecialEffectsFailure up until that point. After RTD left, Creator/StevenMoffat's tenure as showrunner shifted the show back towards the Old Guard side of the spectrum by dropping a lot of the soap elements, adding plot-important references to the Classic Doctors and reviving old-school story formats like GothicHorror and [[TheSiege Base Under Siege]] -- but also remained focused on grabbing new fans by [[SoLastSeason discarding all of the Russell T. Davies-era continuity that didn't directly affect the Doctor]], and only revived three Classic monsters that hadn't already been reintroduced to the series (Zygons, the Ice Warriors and the Great Intelligence).
36	* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon:''
37	** Both the [[WesternAnimation/DoubleDragon1993 cartoon]] and the [[Film/DoubleDragon1994 movie]] take the Double Dragon legends in different directions. The movie makes it a post-apocalyptic gang-war for a mystical medallion, whereas the cartoon turns Billy and Jimmy into ninja super heroes. Both are entertaining, but have little to do with the video games.
38	** The comic mini-series (released by Marvel) splits the difference; making Billy and Jimmy twin super-hero ninjas powered by a mystical statue. It also features an extended cameo by [[spoiler:Creator/StanLee as Billy and Jimmy's biological father.]]
39	* ''Film/DungeonsAndDragons2000'' suffers severely from conflicting ideas; they wanted to attract the ''Dungeons and Dragons'' fanbase, and at the same time alienate themselves from them for fear of being associated with "losers." As a result, the movie was written by somebody who had never played the game, and the movie has lip service to the game and nothing else: a token 5'4" dwarf, clerical magic being only accessible to elves, and beholders that don't take advantage of the fact that they can look in all directions at once are just a few of the conflicts.
40	* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' is deliberately set far away from anything related to the first two installments to allow a new team the freedom to operate without necessarily being bound by canon. This, combined with the jump to real-time and a first-person/over the shoulder view like ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', completely alienated much of the existing fanbase. Bethesda realized that they weren't going to get that set of the fans on board and didn't worry about it too much, playing to their strengths and going with the basic theme of a somewhat-farcical post-nuclear setting based on an exaggeration of TheFifties, while taking a few setpieces like the Brotherhood of Steel, ghouls and super-mutants and using them as they chose. The game is immensely divisive in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' fandom, but made exactly the profits you'd expect from a AAA title by Bethesda.
41	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'' draws the majority of its characters and gameplay elements from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', the two most recent games in the series at the time of its production, and the two that caused a massive NewbieBoom.
42	* ''Night of Dark Shadows'' came out in 1971 and, while ''Series/DarkShadows'', the television series it was based on, had only recently gone off the air, the plot and characters bear little to no resemblance to anything on the show.
43	* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestMaskOfEternity'': The game falls into the New Blood camp, since it focuses more on action and stars a new character who isn't related by blood to the royal family. While many hardcore fans hated it when it was released, newcomers who hadn't played any game in the series before, and even some prior fans, liked the game.
44	* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' is a rare case where the New Blood is mostly comprised of [[MagnumOpusDissonance the development team]] rather than the fanbase. Starting with ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', the series has drifted away from both the standard RPG gameplay (or in the case of ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', 2D platforming with RPG elements) and in-depth storytelling to become a series that prioritizes both experimental gameplay systems that try to defy standard RPG conventions and [[NoPlotNoProblem minimalist plots]] that focus more on [[DenserAndWackier telling jokes]]. The Old Guard barely receives anything resembling [[PanderingToTheBase recognition]], whereas the New Blood amongst the fanbase wouldn't begin to fully take root until ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' was considered a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel to ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash''.
45	* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' has a surprisingly large PeripheryDemographic of older fans who started watching the show when it began in 1993 and still do for the nostalgia it gives them. The powers that be have acknowledged this and started slipping in older references that the under-12 set simply won't get (the pilot episode of ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce'' is almost [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers "Day of the Dumpster"]] all over again). However, they also have said that, while they appreciate the older fans, they have to realize that the target demographic (and biggest [[MerchandiseDriven toy-buying market]]) is still young children, and that's something they simply have to deal with. For the most part, older fans are fine with this (as it's [[NarmCharm the show's campiness]] that they enjoy); they only really get upset if the Powers That Be use the fact that the show is 1) MerchandiseDriven and 2) For Kids as an excuse to be lazy and do the show badly[[note]]E.g. two of the weaker seasons of Power Rangers (''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' or the aforermentioned ''Megaforce'') were prone to {{Frankenslation}} or ShotForShotRemake[[/note]].
46	* ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'', overall, falls more heavily on the New Blood side. It's set in a completely different city from the previous two ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' games and features a mostly new cast outside of several series mainstays. It only loosely references the events of previous games, most infamously by [[PutOnABus sending Off the Hook on a world tour]] (information that is only revealed if you find a non-essential item). Gameplay, in general, skews in a more casual direction against the wishes of the game's competitive audience, with flatter, more open maps encouraging the use of long-range weapons. The game's higher ranks are generally easier to attain, with ranks for all modes being merged once again and making it possible to stay in a good group in Anarchy Battle (Series) or grind ranks in Anarchy Battle (Open) and "be carried" (instead of it always shuffling players for ranked battles) and once reached, they lack any mechanic to rank ''down'', not even in S+/X Battle. There's also a number of standing balance and connection issues from previous games left unaddressed. ''Return of the Mammalians'', in particular, feels like it was aimed at people who had never played ''Octo Expansion'' in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''; it has very similar level design, plot structure, difficulty, even the finale is extremely familiar. The game's DownloadableContent, meanwhile, is focused strictly on the Old Guard, allowing players to return to Inkopolis Plaza and Inkopolis Square alongside [[TheBusCameBack bringing back Off the Hook]] to star in ''Side Order''. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the complaints about ''Splatoon 3'' come from the Old Guard -- meanwhile, New Blood players, who don't have experience with older ''Splatoon'' games and are the target audience of the more casual direction, have much nicer things to say about it.
47	* The ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'' movie has plumbers, mushrooms (sorta), a princess, and a dinosaur, but other than that has [[InNameOnly nothing to do]] with [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros the games]]. The Bob-omb was its selling point.
48	* The main crux behind the increasing divisiveness over ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers''' direction since 2016 comes down to Old Guard Versus New Blood. The Old Guard wish that the series would stay how it was during the days of old when characters could say or do anything without any lasting consequences, ''[=SM64=]'' elements were prominent and the plots and characters were more parodic in nature. The New Guard are considered fans who came after 2016, when the formula began to shift toward the modern elements, and prefer the use of trending topics, stable continuity, the more generally toned down meme-based humor, and the inclusion of more fleshed out OriginalGeneration characters and lore. With these drastically different styles, both guards are constantly at war with each over what direction the series "should be" taking, with the New Guard feeling the old era's elements are simply inferior, outdated and obsolete, while the Old Guard decries the modern elements as going against everything that made the series entertaining in the first place and alienating them as a result. The series itself leans more toward the New Guard, utilizing most of the aspects of the new era while at times bringing back elements that appeal to the Old Guard.
49	* ''Film/{{Underdog}}:'' Instead of being about a shoe-shine boy in a city of anthropomorphs, it's about a pet talking dog with GreenRocks.
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52	[[folder:Balanced Scales]]
53	* With ''Film/{{The Batman\|2022}}'' starring Creator/RobertPattinson, it seemed like Creator/WarnerBros and Creator/DCFilms wanted to completely reboot the [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Dark Knight]] on film yet again, and a bit too freshly at that to some after Creator/BenAffleck seemingly left the role in 2019. Then ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' happened, Affleck was allowed to appear in new scenes for this version of ''Justice League'' and he was later confirmed to appear in ''Film/{{The Flash\|2023}}'', which means that this incarnation of Batman hasn't been completely forgotten/shelved by WB and DC Films (provided that ''The Flash'' isn't a WrapItUp for him).
54	* Fanboys and regular moviegoers alike love ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. Note that regular folks reacted to ''Film/BatmanBegins'' being made with "Batman? With the rubber nipples and terrible, campy villains? Why are you going back to that again?" and fanboys reacted to Creator/HeathLedger being cast as ComicBook/TheJoker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' with, "That Film/{{Brokeback\|Mountain}} prettyboy as the Joker? This is gonna SUCK!" Note further that both sides have since been forced to eat their own words in dramatic fashion.
55	* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' was intentionally made to bridge the gap between the ''Fallout'' old guard and new blood, starting by bringing in [[Creator/ObsidianEntertainment one of the successor studios of the series' creator Black Isle]] to do the game back on the West Coast, but doing it with the updated engine and SPECIAL system from ''3'' and continuing to innovate in storytelling and setting lore. The result is a game that both old-school ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' purists and ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' fans agree is an excellent entry in the series.
56	* ''House of Dark Shadows'', the 1970 film based on the cult hit soap opera ''Series/DarkShadows''. It was not only filmed and released while the series was still on the air, but actually retold one of the show's early story arcs, albeit with a "new" (though WordOfGod says this was the original plan) twist on the ending of said arc.
57	* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'''s power-creep is pretty damn noticeable, which makes older players cringe, and the younger ''Franchise/YuGiOh''-influenced generation squeal; however, the bar-none best cards are still those from well over 10 years ago, and the costs of these cards, whether the originals or in special reprint sets & decks, can easily run 40 bucks for a playset (4), making "veteran" formats like Legacy a nightmare for newer players to compete in. Let's just say that Magic is "balanced" in that [[UnpleasableFanbase it manages to delight and piss off both sides equally]].
58	* The ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie movie]] is enjoyed by fans for being a faithful adaptation, and moviegoers and critics enjoyed it for being a coherent action movie.
59	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' requires no prior knowledge of the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic cartoon it's based on]], nor does it require being a Brony to fully appreciate; however, it still has plenty of bonuses for the former two.
60	* Later Music/{{Radiohead}} albums try to strike this sort of balance; ''In Rainbows'' successfully, ''Hail to the Thief'' less so.
61	* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' tries to present a self-contained story, and enough back history on the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' [[TheVerse verse]] to be accessible to newbies, with enough nods to the series to please the hardcore fans. Ultimately, though, the amount of people who even knew what Firefly was at the time, much less get interested enough to go see it, [[SmallReferencePools was just a little bit low]].
62	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' makes sense if one hasn't seen the show, while still serving as a good episode of it.
63	* The Creator/JJAbrams ''Film/StarTrek2009'' films seem, to a neutral outside observer, to be pretty balanced -- perfectly comprehensible to a newbie, with enough {{Shout Out}}s to the Prime 'verse to satisfy even the most die-hard Trekkie. Indeed, the films were praised by critics and loved by fans new and old alike. Within the fandom itself, it is [[BrokenBase either]] a wonderful and necessary revitalization of the franchise or a travesty that has ruined Trek forever and brought a legion of godawful newbies down upon the heads of "real fans".
64	* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' tends to have a good mix of older series and newer (at least new at the time of production) series in the non-OriginalGeneration games. Traditionally, there will be a representative of the so-called "Holy Trinity": [[Anime/MazingerZ Mazinger]], [[Anime/GetterRobo Getter Robo]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Gundam]], and there are many games where the original pilots of those series (i.e. Koji Kabuto for Mazinger Z, the Getter Team for Getter Robo and Amuro Ray for Gundam) would represent the "old guard". What constitutes an "old" or "new" series naturally depends on when a particular game is made: in [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2 the second ever game]] (made in 1992), [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91 Gundam F91]] (released in 1991) was the "new" series. By [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact2 Impact]] (released in 2002), F91 would be an 'older' series.
65	** The series being split into multiple sub-series also means that different games tend to go in different directions. While the "main" games like [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha the Alpha trilogy]], [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ the Z trilogy,]] and the [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV V]] [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsX X]] [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsT T]] trilogy generally try to strike a balance, games like [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact the]] [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact2 COMPACT]] [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact3 subseries]] and [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsGC GC]] had a majority of their participating series be over a decade old at time of release, while most of the DS and 3DS entries have lineups made up of new anime (although [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsBX there are exceptions]]).
66	* 2007's ''Film/{{Transformers\|2007}}'' LiveActionAdaptation majorly rewrites the storyline, bringing in the US military and making it easier to follow. To appeal to the older fans, Creator/PeterCullen was brought in (this in fact being the origin of the SugarWiki/AndTheFandomRejoiced trope under the name Casting Cullen), and several quotes from older series were thrown in.
67	** The later films became less well received as time went on, for reasons ranging from FlatCharacter in regards to the Decepticons (they spend most of their screentime snarling and growling like animals), hitting some characters with InNameOnly [[note]] (Starscream never displays his trademark treachery, leaving it as an InformedAttribute; Hot Rod inexplicably has a French accent and doesn't even transform into anything resembling a hot rod-type car)[[/note]], making the Transformers themselves OutOfFocus in favour of the human characters [[note]](the [[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen second film]] spent much of the movie revolving around the human leads' romantic troubles, only for the [[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon next film]] to reveal [[PutOnABus they'd broken up off-screen]], the SignatureScene of [[Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction Age of Extinction]] was a discussion about age of consent laws)[[/note]] and an apparent lack of continuity [[note]] (most infamously in ''Age of Extinction'' Optimus departs to seek out the "Creators" who hired Lockdown, but in ''The Last Knight'' there's no mention of that plot point at all; characters will show up and disappear between films without explanation, exemplified by Jolt showing up out of nowhere in ''Revenge of the Fallen'' and never appearing again) [[/note]]. Up until the financial disappointment that was ''The Last Knight'', Paramount wasn't too concerned about any Old Guard complaints because enough casual viewers and New Blood came in to make those complaints irrelevant.
68	** While the live action films petered out as they went on (with ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'' being a financial disappointment due to making money but not enough to recoup its monstrous budget), ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'' appeals to the older fans with redesigned Transformers who closer resemble the old G1 designs as well as mythology gags and fanservice, while appealing to new fans with an emphasis on the friendship between new human friend Charley and Bumblebee. Despite easily being the lowest grossing of the live action films, fan and critic review was so positive that there was talk that the Bumblebee film could serve as a soft reboot of the live action series.
69	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' brought a new art style to the cartoon and placed more emphasis on human supervillains to keep the Decepticons from looking ineffective, winning over a lot of converts in short order via strong writing and good use of the MythologyGag.
70	* ''Film/VForVendetta'' stands about in the middle here. It updates the political context and generally makes it a bit more Hollywood-esque (stronger female protagonist, more action scenes, less moral ambiguity), while keeping a lot of dialogue, visuals and themes from the comic. On the other hand, the changes to the politics and moral ambiguity make it essentially a completely different story, leading to the creator disowning it.
71	* ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' overhauled the art style and featured a completely new set of storylines while keeping as many old characters as they could. Their main new character, Spyke, failed testing and [[PutOnABus was written out]] (and a version of him is even executed by Wolverine in the unrelated ''X3'' in a cool, but one-sided fight). ComicBook/{{X23}}, on the other side, became popular enough with only two episodes worth of screening to be ported into the comics.
72	** The original animated series also balances quite well, even keeping some of the original storylines and adapting them to the format of the show.
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76	* ''WebAnimation/BattleForDreamIsland'': Fans who started watching the show before ''WebAnimation/BattleForBFDI'' and fans who started watching after BFB tend to be at odds with each other regarding what sort of direction the writing should take. Pre-BFB fans often prefer the writing styles of Cary Huang, Michael Huang, and to a lesser extent, Sam Thornbury, for being more off the walls, unpredictable, and overall fun. Post-BFB fans, on the other hand, are more keen to Satomi Hinatsu and Pokey Soda's writing styles for giving each individual character their own development and story arcs, as well as seeing some characters and teams as more deserving of screentime than others. Pre-split BFB and the first two episodes of ''[[WebAnimation/BattleForDreamIslandThePowerOfTwo The Power of Two]]'' favored the New Blood, whereas post-split BFB and TPOT following the mass layoffs favor the Old Guard.
77	* ''Franchise/DCComics'': The 2010-2020 period has seen a bit of a roller coaster for this.
78	** ''ComicBook/New52'': A ContinuityReboot of the DC Universe that was aimed almost ''exclusively'' at getting new readership. It dialled back on concepts like LegacyCharacter heroes and focused almost exclusively on heroes who were introduced in the Silver Age ''or'' in the last few years by the then-current editing and writing staff. It also erased most of their history and continuity to reset everyone to an approachable status quo (with a 'rule' in place that no continuity went back further than ''five years''), with exceptions being made to writers who were given ProtectionFromEditors and franchises AdoredByTheNetwork. It failed spectacularly; though it caused enough of a NewbieBoom to endear a sizeable fanbase who liked the Ultimate-style universe, it alienated the existing fanbase thanks to the DarkerAndEdgier writing style enforced by the editors, as well as a feeling of RunningTheAsylum, so much that readership quickly dropped and never recovered.
79	** Subsequently, ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' did the ''opposite'' of that, attempting to bring back the fans they lost. It restored several Legacy Characters, retconned in many abandoned aspects of the old continuity, and had a MythArc about what happened to the universe to make it so different in the first place. Sales massively improved and fan approval with it, though resulted in a BrokenBase thanks to fans of the New 52 feeling that they were being sidelined to appeal to older fans.
80	** Unfortunately, ''Rebirth'' was plagued by the fact the people behind the New 52 were still in charge, and in some cases, weren't happy with how the New 52 was received. As a result, when Creator/GeoffJohns (who had kickstarted the ''Rebirth'' initiative after being promoted and [[TheAtoner regretted the New 52]]) stepped down from being Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment to focus on writing, it was scrapped and the problems of the New 52 resurfaced immediately, with Darker and Edgier storylines once again taking over, and the [[ComicBook/WallyWest Legacy Character at the heart of the Rebirth initiative]] being put in a storyline designed to make them untouchable. Sales took a nosedive and got so bad that it likely played a major part behind the major layoffs that came during 2020. Unsurprisingly, the relaunch for 2021, ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' is aimed at restoring faith in the line and doing better by the characters.
81	** Outside of comics, this has been a major issue with DC's attempts at live action properties.
82	*** The early Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse films under the lead of Creator/ZackSnyder suffered from this majorly as they tried to take characters like Superman in a completely different direction than had been done on film, depicting the character in a heavily deconstructed narrative that played the character as a somber, troubled, ClassicalAntiHero. Subsequently, Batman was played as an unstable FallenHero who has lost his way, inspired by ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', while everything/everyone else took after the aforementioned ''New 52''. The results have been heavily mixed, as while it brought on new fans and appealed to people who dislike the MCU's approach to the genre, it has alienated a good part of the comic fandom (though ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' later corrected that to great effect, only this time, Creator/WarnerBros and Creator/DCFilms are reportedly not willing to continue from there).
83	*** Similarly, CW's ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' line of shows have been largely aimed at adapting the New 52-era incarnations of the characters, albeit written with the CW's demographics as the intended audience. This saw characters being YoungerAndHipper and HotterAndSexier (except for characters who were introduced as young teens, being made college-aged and re-written as younger brother figures rather than surrogate children), written with a lot of angst and romantic drama, and given a Seasonal BigBad arc every year, not unlike how many of the CW's other famous long-lasting shows worked. While it worked to introduce newer fans to these characters, it was quickly ''very'' alienating to the comic audience, and caused a massive FandomRivalry between the two groups.
84	* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' has been in ''every'' major media type in the world. It started on [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978 the radio]], then it was [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxyTrilogy a series of novels]], then [[Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1981 a TV show]], [[VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984 a text-based adventure game]], [[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005 a movie]], a stage play, a comic book, a towel, it's been released on LP, CD, and cassette. About the only thing there isn't is a ''Hitchhiker'''s ballet. But every single re-release is different from ''all'' the others. Invariably, of course, people start to complain about the things that were added and the things that were left out, with nobody being able to say which is the definitive version or which version is pandering to whom.
85	** You can be certain that Creator/DouglasAdams himself found that fact very funny.
86	*** "The book is, as the title suggests, a collection of all the radio scripts, as broadcast, and it is therefore the only example of one Hitchhiker publication accurately and consistently reflecting another. I feel a little uncomfortable with this -- which is why the introduction to that book was written after the final and definitive one you are now reading and, of course, flatly contradicts it." --Douglas Adams, The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, Introduction, referring to a recently published book of the complete scripts of the radio version
87	*** This got to the point where, when asked exactly how much material was going into the film version -- would it be closer to the radio series or the books? Would it collect the whole story or just the first installment? Adams answered that the film would "directly contradict only the first book".
88	* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
89	** Marvel's [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate line]] was an attempt to bring casual and new fans into the fold by reimagining their most popular characters and teams including ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'', the ''ComicBook/XMen'', ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', and ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' from the ground up. Although almost all villains and heroes are generally familiar, they all received major makeovers and had their [[BackStory backstories]] {{retool}}ed and modernized. Unfortunately, as time went on, the Ultimate universe was perceived as going through an AudienceAlienatingEra, with many criticizing how multiple characters underwent AdaptationalJerkass [[note]]When Peter Parker and Wolverine [[FreakyFridayFlip swapped bodies]], the latter had no qualms attempting to commit statutory rape by trying to seduce Peter's girlfriend Mary Jane (who naturally thought he was Peter); Nick Fury was a ManipulativeBastard who gleefully told people how he played everyone like puppets[[/note]] or even AdaptationalVillainy[[note]]Bruce Banner actively enjoyed being destructive as the Hulk, while Black Widow murdered Hawkeye's family ForTheEvulz, and Hank Pym being an outright [[DomesticAbuser wife-beater]] who even joined the arc villains in the second volume[[/note]]. A feeling of TooBleakStoppedCaring set in with the ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' event and its aftermath (which killed off many characters in gruesome if not spiteful ways, many of them [[KilledOffscreen offscreen]]). As readership dwindled, the Ultimate universe was eventually destroyed in a CrisisCrossover, with some elements shifting over to the "main" Marvel universe.
90	** The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is generally seen as performing an admirable job of appealing both to New Blood and Old Guard, streamlining decades of history to make the characters appealing to newcomers while including enough nods to the source material to keep older fans happy. However, some cases (usually where [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks major changes were applied]]) had divisions.
91	*** ''[[Film/IronMan Iron Man]]'', fittingly enough for the first MCU film, is a good example. It moves the events that lead to Tony Stark building the first Iron Man armor from the Far East to the Middle East (in the original comics, this was due to the Vietnam War), Obadiah Stane is a corrupt businessman who opposes Tony in his own, more powerful version of Iron Man's armor (except instead of being a business rival, he's one of Tony's own employees) and skips the many versions of Iron Man's armor he's worn over the years (from the original to the gold version to the famous "horned" helmet to the Centurion armor to the... [[OverlyLongGag you get the idea]]) to get to one of the sleeker modern versions.
92	*** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' is likewise well regarded for adapting a divisive CrisisCrossover event into a more enjoyable story, [[AdaptationDistillation maintaining the key clash between Iron Man's Pro-Registration and Cap's Anti-Registration sides]] while making it much easier to agree both sides have a point. In one of the most important deviations from the source material, Iron Man does '''not''' resort to recruiting supervillains into hunting down his own friends.
93	*** One of the major flies in the ointment is the characterization of Spider-Man post ''[[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Civil War]]'' in both his solo films (''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' and ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'') as well as his appearances in the Avengers films ''[[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Infinity War]]'' and ''[[Film/AvengersEndgame Endgame]],'' specifically how he is closely tied to Tony Stark. Older fans who recall Spidey as primarily being a solo hero for much of his career dislike how he is portrayed as an inexperienced youngster who looks up to Iron Man as a mentor (especially since Spider-Man was specifically imagined by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko as a teenage hero who ''didn't'' have a mentor). Newer fans feel it makes sense for someone as dirt poor as Peter Parker to happily accept mentorship and aid from the much wiser, experienced, and wealthier Tony Stark. [[note]]It should be pointed out that in the original comics, part of the reason Spidey was primarily a solo hero is that he was one of the Marvel Universe's first big superheroes outside of World War II characters, both in-universe and out. There simply weren't many other heroes around at the time, and the types of villains Spider-Man tended to fight were generally beneath the notice of other heroes like [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the Fantastic Four]] or the Avengers. As an example, the closest Spidey had to [[BigBad Big Bads]] of that era (Doctor Octopus or Green Goblin) had no greater desire than to be a DiabolicalMastermind.[[/note]]
94	*** Even more divisive was ''[[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 Captain Marvel]]''. A big part of the clash between New Blood and Old Guard in that case is that unlike every other MCU film up to that point, it was perceived that there wasn't even an attempt to pay homage to the comics. Among other things, the Skrulls were reimagined as a defeated, peaceful people trying to escape the warmongering Kree (whereas in the comics, the Skrull and Kree Empires were in a ForeverWar, and famously invaded Earth using Skrulls disguised as various heroes and villains). Worse, in the comics Carol Danvers was [[LegacyCharacter the fifth Captain Marvel]], but of her predecessors, the original Captain Marvel (Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree Empire) was [[GenderFlip genderswapped]] and [[StuffedInTheFridge casually killed off]], Monica Rambeau was [[AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul reimagined as the daughter of Carol's close friend and acted as a surrogate daughter and fangirl]] (instead of being a contemporary and experienced hero in her own right) and both Genis-Vell and Phylla-Vell (children of Mar-Vell) [[AdaptedOut don't even exist]]. New Bloods point out that MCU Captain Marvel ''isn't'' the comics version and so shouldn't be beholden to the comics version, and furthermore, Mar-Vell is a non-entity only notable for [[NeverLiveItDown dying of cancer]]. The Old Guard point out that transforming the Skrulls into a race of peaceful downtrodden refugees removes several notable villains from the MCU (which already has a dearth of villains) and that Mar-Vell was considered a WorthyOpponent by Thanos even decades after his death, so simply flipping the MCU's version into a woman and then [[DeathByOriginStory killing her off without even a hint of the comic version's history]] came off as lazy.
95	** The success of the MCU is also a bit of a bone of contention, as while the Old Guard acknowledge it's a fine product and appreciate how it brought a great deal of success and recognition to the Marvel Universe, a large part of said Old Guard resent how a lot of modern Marvel media is taking and incorporating elements from the MCU. This has led to complaints that everything Marvel is making has become cookie-cutter. For example, ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' began the series with a comic-accurate line-up (Hank Pym as Ant-Man, Janet Van Dyne as the Wasp, the Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man, with Captain America joining not long after the series began). Since then, big-name projects like ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' and ''VideoGame/MarvelsAvengers'' (or even smaller projects like the ''VideoGame/MarvelStrikeForce'' mobile game) use the MCU lineup of Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man.
96	** The ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'' initiative of 2015 was meant to help draw in new readers by replacing many of Marvel's most iconic heroes with [[AffirmativeActionLegacy younger and/or more modern versions]]. Among others, [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Steve Rogers]] passed the shield and mantle of Captain America to longtime friend and partner Sam Wilson (aka, the Falcon), [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Peter Parker]] became the head of an international corporation and left [[Characters/MarvelComicsMilesMorales Miles Morales]] to act as Spider-Man (though Peter would also put the webs back on when necessary), [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] was killed and his codename taken up by his OppositeSexClone [[Characters/MarvelComicsLauraKinney X-23]], and Jane Foster became a new female [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]]. While there was indeed an influx of new readers, many older fans were upset at such a dramatic change in the status quo. At least part of this can be explained by the fact that Marvel doesn't have as many [[LegacyCharacter legacy heroes]] as DC (e.g. while in DC there are some readers who grew up with the Barry Allen Flash, others the Wally West Flash, and others still maybe even the Jay Garrick Flash, whereas in Marvel, Steve Rogers has always been Captain America [[note]] barring the times when others like John Walker or [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Bucky Barnes]] took on the mantle temporarily[[/note]]).\
97	Worse still, while there was an influx of new readers, actually ''retaining'' them after the initial gimmick wore off was a different story. Sales dropped as the new readers left, and coupled with the loss of many of the older readers, things were dire enough that in 2017, Marvel's Vice President of Sales at the time observed that based on what Marvel was hearing from retailers (e.g. comic book shops), there just didn't seem to be much of an interest in the diversity initiative. Of course, the fact that several divisive CrisisCrossover events had taken place in that period (including 2016's ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'' and 2017's ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'', the latter of which introduced the infamous Captain America-as-a-secret-Hydra-agent angle) also played into the inability to gain and retain new readers while also driving away older ones.
98	[[/folder]]

Context Main / OldGuardVersusNewBlood