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So they're finally making The Movie of your favorite franchise (probably from The Eighties). And you hate it. They're doing the casting wrong, they have the wrong director, they're raping your childhood and so on.
And then they bring out the one thing that makes you go, "Holy crap, this is going to be awesome."
The reasons for this can vary depending on the individual production and the individual fan. It seems that the most common instance of this happening is getting someone involved with the original to come back either in a major role or at least give their approval of the new direction. Other times it may be an actor or director who has proven themselves as a Promoted Fanboy. Or it isn't until a real demonstration of costumes or a performance that the fans gain respect. Probably the rarest is when the fans petition for a certain individual and actually get them.
This trope is named for Peter Cullen, the voice actor for Optimus Prime in the Transformers Generation 1 cartoon. When it was announced that he would play Optimus Prime in the 2007 film, the Transformers Wiki put it best : " And there was much rejoicing. (One person started complaining. He was torn limb from limb, skewered and eaten.)"
Of course, it didn't silence all of them—we're talking about fanboys here—but it did get the fandom to rally behind the movie and arguably make it the success that it was. Another big rally cry here was the very impressive trailers that showcased brief images of the actual robots, including Optimus Prime transforming with the classic sound effect.
Images, trailers, concept designs and set reveals all count in this regard, any pre-release material that causes this reaction. This trope will be a real case of Your Mileage May Vary, but if there is a near universal agreement on whatever was revealed, then it counts.
Please note that for an announcement to count, either:
- The fanbase has to be indifferent to the project at best beforehand.
- If the rest of the fandom was already happy before the announcement, then a good deal of the Fan Dumb stops raging and shuts up upon the reveal (in that situation, the reactions of the others are negligible).
- In the case of initial announcements, previous lackluster track records are accounted for.
- In the case of the project being a brand new intellectual property, people are subsequently frothing with demand for it following the news.
As a side note, this is a term describing a reaction. In a surprising inversion of Sturgeon's Law, most of the time this is a very good omen as to the quality of the production. But there are always those productions that screw it up even after such a moment. That is not this trope; see They Wasted A Perfectly Good Plot, One Scene Wonder and Adaptation Decay for more on that.
Contrast Tainted By The Preview.
Examples:
Anime and Manga
- Lucky Star's getting dubbed? Oooookay... Wait, dubbed by the same people who brought us Haruhi Suzumiya? DARLING DARLING PLEASE!
- When Batman: Gotham Knight was announced, fans were unsure about whether or not a Batman anime was a good idea... until they learned that Kevin Conroy was gonna play Batman again.
- Wow, the Devil May Cry anime is licensed in America. Let's hope FUNimation knows what they're- hold up, Reuben Langdon as Dante?! This party's gettin' crazy!
- Sengoku Basara had an animation series, and then FUNimation picks it up for dubbing. We know the disaster of Devil Kings so I guess they will dub them as Devil Ki—HOLD UP, THEY ARE DUBBING IT AS THE ORIGINAL SOURCE OF SENGOKU BASARA!?!? LET'S PARTY!!!
- Season two of Haruhi Suzumiya was such a let down... we didn't get any Disappearance episodes... wait, a movie... BASED ON THAT NOVEL?!!!! "Endless Eight", you are officially forgotten.
- The Legend Of Zelda Phantom Hourglass Manga. Akira Himekawa, what have you done to Astrid?! Linebeck?! Or, Link and Tetra, for that matter?! OK, this is, offically, the worst Manga adaption since Oracle of— Princess Zelda goes badass spirit-form?! Screw the DS game, this should have been in Brawl!
- Black Lagoon dubbed by Canadians? Oh crap, not another disastrous dub...WOAH! They had more fucks than the Japanese original!? In good English!? With actual, belieivable accents!? This is going to be fun!
- Johnny Yong Bosch as Lelouch? Boy, talk about bad casting...Wow, he actually pulled it off! With an even better evil laugh!
- Another Full Metal Alchemist anime? Sigh, you know what they did the last time....Hey, isn't that Ling Yao and Lan Fan!?
- The dub will be reuniting most of the cast of the first anime as well. So far, only two or three characters needed replacements (the choice of Maxey Whitehead as Al has been quite well recieved so far) and while not confirmed, recent events hint towards Scott Mc Neil retaining his role as Hohenheim.
- The English dub of Hellsing Ultimate got this when it was announced that pretty much all of the English cast for the TV series, including Crispin Freeman, would be returning. Rightly so, considering that, if anything, the dub of Ultimate is even better than the original series' dub.
Comic Books
- Gail Simone being named as the writer for Wonder Woman.
- When Brian K Vaughan announced his departure from Runaways, there was much speculation as to who the "worthy replacement" he promised could possibly be. It turned out to be Joss Whedon. Unfortunately, Whedon's Runaways arc was not terribly popular with fans. But at the time, it sure shut up complaints. His replacment Terry Moore on the other hand was more of a WTH Casting Agency moment, though.
- and yet again with Kathryn Immonen (writer of the Hellcat mini)
- The entire existence of Jason Rusch run of Firestorm was full of these, having reappearances by the supporting cast of the Ronnie Raymond days, including: Firehawk, Pohzar/Mikhail Arkadin, and several of the original Firestorm villains (Killer Frost, Multiplex, Typhoon, even Cliff "Thinker" Carmichael). Raymond even came back from the dead in a story arc, and eventually Rusch would be joined by Martin Stein himself to form Firestorm. In one issue, Rusch even makes a veiled fourth wall reference to the Cue Cullening in his book, as he comments about how he fashioned his costume to look more like the "classic" Firestorm design.
- The disastrous Ultimatum event caused many fans to quit Ultimate Marvel until Marvel announced an Ultimate Iron Man miniseries, written by Warren Ellis and an Ultimate Avengers series written by Mark Millar.
- Amazing Spider-Man #611 will feature a showdown between Spider-Man and Deadpool. A showdown that will, apparently, degrade into an insult battle. And it's being written by Joe Kelly.
- For X Men fans upset by the recent direction the books have taken, the release of the Reboot series X-Men Forever, written by Chris Claremont himself ha sbeen a bit of a Cue Cullen (Cue Claremont?).
Film
- Perhaps the original example of this trope is with the first Tim Burton Batman film and the decision to cast Michael Keaton in the title role. Batman fandom did a collective, Michael Keaton?!?!? and complained so loud and so furiously that Warner Brothers decided to take action with some emergency marketing. The centerpiece was a quick teaser that proved so popular that it silenced many fan complaints with the hope that Burton and Keaton were right after all. People were attending theaters just to watch the trailer and walking out when it was over, not even seeing the movie they paid for.
- Probably the ultimate trump card to play when someone complains that "X is going to be Y" and they don't think it'll work out. Just tell them, "Mr. Mom was Batman? REALLY?" We can argue ad infinitum as to whether Keaton was the "real" Batman or Tim Burton's Batman. The point is, he did something no one expected he could do.
- Just about any casting decision and armor image for the Iron Man movie, which proved to be very good omens.
- Marvel has also cast BRIAN BLESSED as Odin in The Mighty Thor!
- Aaaaaaaaaaand slapped down by Anthony Hopkins, who is also a decent casting choice.
- For Australian fans, the casting of Chris Hemsworth as Thor. The casting of Natalie Portman as Jane Foster is also a bright spot in the cast.
- A live action American produced Dragon Ball movie has been rumored since 2002, and there has been some murmuring of the people involved and the young and relatively unknown actors playing the heroes. Then James Marsters is playing Lord Piccolo... and he's a fan! Plus Shenron being voiced by Christopher Sabat, the man responsible for more voices in the official dubs than anyone else.
- The trailer for Watchmen. The fact that they salvaged a good song from Batman And Robin and made it even more awesome really says a lot.
- Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, who heard about it thanks to a fan petition to get him the role.
- And after downright stealing that movie out from under everyone else involved who isn't named Dave Gibbons, he was able to succeed Robert Englund as Freddy Kruger and be met not with fan dumb outcry, but universal acceptance.
- The casting of Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. There was wank over Helena Bonham Carter and the script and that kiss... then the fans saw their Luna and promptly shut up.
- In a similar vein, the casting of Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge. Which turned out to be a good omen for her performance in the film.
- Bill Nighy as Scrimgeour in the Deathly Hallows films. Is it possible to read the books and not immediately picture Nighy as Scrimgeour?
- One example that almost doesn't count, in a weird way: as soon as the book Half-Blood Prince came out, a good many fans read the character Horace Slughorn and simply said, "Well, that's Jim Broadbent". Throughout the casting period these same people were just wondering when they would announce that the role had gone to Jim Broadbent. Then they announced that Slughorn was going to be played by Jim Broadbent. Perfect casting, but nobody was really excited because the casting was so perfect it was obvious.
- In order to mitigate the fact that it's a sequel to T3, the first thing we get to know about the fourth Terminator movie is that John Connor is played by Christian "Batman" Bale.
- There had been doubts in the fandom over Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Cue the awesome, awesome trailer.
- Also the announcement of the return of Karen Allen as Marion, reuniting the OTP for just about everybody.
- The makers of the new GI Joe movie may have just pulled this off by releasing The first pictures of Snake-Eyes.
- Christopher Eccleston playing the villain Destro◊ is enough to make fans yell, "Fantastic!!"
- They hired Larry Hama, author of the long-running comic book and shaper of the franchise, as creative consultant, and they appear to have listened to his advice.
- That's the big one. Let's just say that the Joe fanbase would be perfectly fine with GI Joe being turned into a yaoi storyline as long as they were assured Hama was involved somehow. Even if it ends up not so good, as long as Hama's involved, at least it will stink in a respectful way...
- Sean Connery being cast as Alan Quatermain in the film adaptation of The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen!? Fuck the rest of the movie....he's the reason I'm watching this!
- And that, my Troping Friend is what is known as the Sean Connery Principle- any movie is automatically cooler because it is Sean F*cking Connery!
- "They're making an X-Men movie? I don't know... What? Patrick Stewart as Professor X? OH HELL YES!"
- Snikt. As soon as the audience heard Wolverine popping his claws at the end of the first trailer, they started to believe...
- What brought up some people's interest was the fact was that the screenplay was done by David "Solid Snake" Hayter (who notably didn't do the screenplay for the third film).
- The Last Stand ended up with mixed reviews, but quite a few people's expectations were raised when it was leaked that the film would feature a certain mutant announcing himself with a quote from a popular internet X-Men Gag Dub, to wit: I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH!
- Though people had been decrying X-Men Origins: Wolverine as just more over-exposure for the most popular X-Man and the "fourth Wolverine movie", the trailer at Comic-Con convinced some people that it could actually be a good movie in its own right.
- Deadpool movie? Oh man, it's just going to suck cause it's going to be based on the Wolverine movie...oh wait, they put him in the uniform? And they're ignoring the last movie in favor of a reboot? He broke the fourth wall? Hooray for Ryan Reynolds!
- When they announced that there was going to be an Avatar The Last Airbender Live Action Adaptation directed by M Night Shyamalan, fans were worried. These fears were calmed somewhat when it they found out that Shyamalan was chosen because he was a fan of the show, and that the shows creators would be very much involved with the production.
- Jesse McCartney was announced as being a prime candidate for Zuko, which set the fandom ablaze. Then came another one saying Zuko would instead be played by Dev Patel. Reactions are mixed (many saying the roles for Zuko and Sokka are backwards), but it's generally seen as an improvement. Sort of.
- On a completely unrelated note, many took interest in the upcoming Avatar Nick comic when they found out it would be drawn by Gurihiru Studios.
- The first pictures of Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight silenced those who thought he'd just be a pretty boy in facepaint.
- Alice In Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton and with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.
- Then again, many fans were turned off by the fact that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp were collaborating again. Then it was announced that Alan Rickman and Crispin Glover would be in the movie and there was much rejoicing.
- "Burton's doing Alice in Wonderland? Feh." "Stephen Fry is the Cheshire Cat? When do tickets go on sale?"
- Star Trek's fanbase may waver between unpleasable and near-catastrophically broken — especially when it comes to the new movie — but there isn't a Trekkie alive who doesn't think Michael Giacchino's score is going to be awesome.
- Having Zachary "Sylar" Quinto as Spock also helped. Cue "Spock's Brain" joke.
- If that doesn't do it for you, try Simon Pegg as Scotty on for size.
- Not to mention the fact that they're bringing back Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, aka the First Lady of Trek, to play the Enterprise computer voice again. WIN. Unfortunately, it was her last role before her death.
- Michael Giacchino, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, even Majel Barrett... all pale in comparison to the fact that Leonard Nimoy is returning to play Future Spock. Nimoy being thrilled with the film is what actually brought over most of the fanbase.
- And for you technical geeks, the fact that Ben Burtt did the sound design. For those of you who are unaware, this is the guy who invented the lightsaber noises, the TIE Fighter scream, Huttese and Vader Breath. Oh, and the voice of WALL-E too. Sweeeeet.
- Hoo, what do those have to do with trek..... :)
- It means he's very, very good at his job, which is making Most Wonderful Sounds.
- Peter Jackson. Guillermo del Toro. The Hobbit.
- Guillermo is also really in touch with the fanbase- he actually posts on theonering.net message boards.
- When the Live Action Adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion was announced, fans were in an uproar. Then they found out WETA was in charge of special effects. Then it fell into Development Hell.
- A Tron sequel movie? What's the catch? ...Jeff Bridges is coming back to play Kevin Flynn? NIIIIIICE....
- And Bruce Boxleitner as the program himself? REALLY NIIIIIICE....
- Though Boxleitner was a given considering the fact that he reprised his Tron roles twice in Tron 2.0 and Kingdom Hearts II.
- And Daft Punk is doing the score. No, seriously!
- When the cast for the film of Twilight was announced, to say that fans went into an uproar would be an understatement. From complaints that Robert "Cedric Diggory" Pattinson wasn't good looking enough to play Edward, to people whining that Bella was not being played by Emily "Violet Baudelaire" Browning, there was Internet Backdraft to be seen miles away. And then promotional pictures, trailers and behind-the-scenes stories came out, winning back the fandom's support. Even so, there remained a small, but nonetheless vocal, faction still complaining about anything they could think of. All of them still went and saw the movie on the day it came out.
- Genndy Tartakovsky is going to direct that Dark Crystal sequel? Sweet!
- Will Ferrell in a Land Of The Lost movie? I'll watch the trailer... lame... lame... lame... lame... SLEESTAK! Okay, you sold me.
- Way back in 1982, many fans of The Last Unicorn couldn't believe that any animated film adaptation could possibly capture the magic of the original... until they saw that the original author, Peter S. Beagle, was writing the screenplay.
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Michael Cera as the titular Scott Pilgrim, yawn. Mary Elizabeth Winstead playing Ramona Flowers, could be interesting. Edgar Fucking Wright directing the film, SCORE!
- The live-action adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are. Hmmm, not really feeling it...wait, you said Spike Jonze is directing this? And Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is writing the score? And the teaser trailer uses a rare acoustic version of Arcade Fire's Wake Up?!? Two tickets, please!
- Then there's the promo video in which the book's author Maurice Sendak gushes over how great the film is.
- For many, the Cue Cullen moment came when they saw the first trailer and saw, holy crap, real puppets instead of 100% CG.
- The World Of Warcraft movie will be directed by Sam Rami, of Evil Dead, Spider-Man and Xena fame. HELL YES.
- The Edge Of Darkness film adaptation. For some it was Mel Gibson and Robert De Niro (later replaced by Ray Winstone). For some it was Martin Campbell, director of GoldenEye, Casino Royale and the original miniseries. For others, it was that Andrew "Lantana" Bovell was writing the screenplay.
- It's recently been confirmed by Fox that there will be another Alien film. "Ugh, you got to be kidding me, another Alien movie? It better not be another crappy AVP movie... HOLY SHIT!! Ridley Scott is directing! And it's a prequel! Redemption is at hand!"
- Okay, there's The Princess And The Frog, with one group of people complaining that Disney's going to screw up and make it all racist and another group whining how Disney's caving in and making it too politically correct. Out comes the second trailer... Whoops, everyone's busy squealing with excitement now!
- And Keith David gets a villain song?!
- With composing god Randy Newman doing both the score and the songs, who can't be excited to listen?
- It may be premature, but Muse wants to do the next James Bond theme. Yes, that Muse. Can someone make this happen? Please? Like, now??
- They're making a movie out of Mamma Mia? Oh God, musicals have just hit a new lo- wait. Did you just say they cast Meryl Streep as Donna? Fuck yes!
- There was much wailing and rending of garments on the news that Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law had been cast as the leads in, and Guy Ritchie was to direct, a Sherlock Holmes movie. Most were absolutely convinced it would be a disservice to the stories and a blight on the mythos. Then came the trailer, in all its steampunky glory. Many minds were changed.
- Interest in a fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie was fairly low until it was revealed it would be a new story ejecting pretty much everything apart from Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush, whose awesome-cred had survived even the third movie intact. The departure of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley was much-welcomed, but not as much as the news that movie would be based on Tim Powers' book On Stranger Tides which had inspired both the first Pirates movie and also The Secret Of Monkey Island, which is often heralded as also inspiring the series. There is now much greater interest in the project.
- A Doctor Strange movie? Yeah, cause it worked SO well before... Guillermo del Toro you say? Well, I suppose it might be at least watchable - hold the phone, Neil Gaiman? ... I think I wet myself.
- While you probably heard of this movie and dismissed as yet another low-budget disaster-themed Summer Action Flick that was one step up a direct-to-cable movie, everyone remembers when they first heard this movie's name: Snakes on a Plane.
- People were uneasy about the Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time movie adaptation, admittedly with good reason. Details trickled out such as the casting of Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince...Dastan, giving a name to the previously nameless Prince. Then Jordan Mechner, the man behind the original game, was revealed to be involved very heavily with the project, and photos trickled out, mostly of shirtless-Gyllenhaal. No one seemed to be willing to commit to a strong opinion either way even after these revelations, though. It was the trailer, which contained intense action sequences containing Le Parkour that was so emblematic of the Prince, as well as his trademark snark, that had people saying "holy crap, this might actually be the greatest video game movie ever!"
Literature
- A new The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy book? You're kidding... Eoin Colfer is writing it?... Okay, while the torches and pitchforks remain on stand-by, the frenzied mob invitations have not yet been sent out.
- Black Library's new Eldar trilogy. "Man, this is going to be bad, usual Black Library stuff. Eldar dying, all the time. Just like G- wait, what? GAV THORPE is writing it? AWESOME!"
- Inversion. After Frank Herbert's death, the Dune series ended on what could be interpreted as a massive cliffhanger, so fans were reasonably interested when it was announced his own son, Brian Herbert, would be collaborating with another author to fill out the story with several prequels and sequels. While many fans were apprehensive or mildly curious, a good portion were eagerly anticipating how it would hold up... Until it was announced the writer Brian would be collaborating with was none other than Kevin J Anderson, a writer most known for writing some of the most hated entries in the Star Wars, X-Files, Starcraft, and countless other universes' expanded universes. All interest immediately dropped, and not even the claim that the new books were based on "lost notes" could save them, since everything points to milking the cash cow and nothing else.
Live Action TV
- The news that Christopher Eccleston, a high-profile "serious" actor, had been cast as the Doctor for the new Doctor Who series — prior to this it was worried that the new series would merely be a campy, slightly snide over-parody, and previous casting rumors hadn't helped matters. So much so that when it was announced that he was quitting after one season, many fans didn't take it at all well.
- And then cue his successor, David Tennant, to much the same effect. Including the fans not taking his departure at all well.
- And HIS successor, Matt Smith, has already won over most of the western hemisphere with his wiggly hand movements in an interview. Only time will tell...
- Preceding the announcement of Smith as the new Doctor was the absolute shitstorm of win kicked up by Steven Moffat accepting the job of showrunner. There will be much awesome and subsequent hiding behind couches.
- When Karen Gillan was announced as the new companion, the fan base were very happy. Think about it...
- Law And Order Criminal Intent had two. After it was decided to bring in a second pair of detectives (due to D'Onofrio becoming clinically exhausted), it was announced that the second pair would have Chris Noth, reprising his role as Mike Logan from the original series. And recent trailers have revealed that the next detective on the show, the one replacing Logan, would be played by Jeff Goldblum.
- The new Knight Rider show has a fair share of haters, especially fans of the old series. But it seems like the producers were paying attention to the Transformers fandom and they have revealed an episode where a villain from the old series returns, KITT's Evil Counterpart KARR. To top it off, they also brought back the original voice actor for KARR, who is... yes, Peter Cullen. The show is still hated, but no one can argue that bit of casting.
- Given that the new KARR looks more like Optimus Prime than the old KARR, one wonders if this isn't just a happy coincidence.
- Power Rangers RPM? Oh joy. Huh? What's this? WHOA! THAT was POWER RANGERS!? AWESOME!!!
- The fact that "Venjix" was the name of the Big Bad in the (in)famous episode "Forever Red" also helps.
- Not to mention the return of long-time PR writer and story editor Judd Lynn.
- After Eddie Guzelian was ousted...Or So I Heard.
- Power Rangers Dino Thunder? Wait... did I just see a Red T-Rex Zord? What is this...? IS THAT TOMMY?!
- Family Feud, in the first John O'Hurley season, fashioned the set into an updated version of the classic Richard Dawson/Ray Combs set.
- What's this? Million Dollar Password? Oh, they're just twisting the classic to fit in with today's big money shows. It's actually more like Pyramid and...
- Oh, Betty White is going to be on an episode? When's it on????
- They're making The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a TV show based on the Terminator franchise, WITHOUT Arnold Schwarzenegger? - Hold on - they're replacing him with RIVER TAM!!!
- The New York television station WPIX 11 is known for doing this a lot. Even as they became an affiliate of The WB and later The CW (obviously having to use their programming as well as others that appeal to modern audiences; i.e. Jerry Springer, Friends reruns, etc.), they would often present nods to their past, especially for those who grew up with the station in the '70s and '80s. Among them have been: Honeymooners marathons on New Year's Day; a retrospective on The Magic Garden; the Halloween 2008 return of Chiller Theatre; and one of the most popular, the return of the Christmas Day Yule Log since 2001. For a time they used to have a prime time block of '70s sitcoms on Saturdays, and for their 60th anniversary, a marathon was dedicated to classic programs that used to be seen on WPIX.
- Of course the most visible Cue Cullen now would be the fact that the station has stripped itself of the "CW" initials and goes by "PIX 11" (complete with slightly updated version of the "Circle 11" logo it used in its heyday.
- With Season 2 gone and done, and Season 3 scripts about three-quarters of the way through, Heroes was looking less and less like must-see TV. And then they rehired Bryan Fuller of Pushing Daisies as Writing Counselor. Yes, the guy who wrote the episode "Company Man".
- Kamen Rider Decade worried the fans with the cherry red, plastic-looking costume for the eponymous hero. Then came the trailers showing practically every Rider from the 2000s involved in a single, gigantic battle against an unseen foe (It was the very virst scene of the series). Not to mention the Samurai Sentai Shinkenger crossover and the Kamen Rider Black RX arc (the latter complete with Tetsuo Kurata reprising the role of Kotaro Minami).
- Five words: All Riders vs. Great Shocker. The Cullens continue to pile up with each new bit of news, including the fact that Black and Agito will be played by their original actors (Note that the former was before the Black RX arc was announced). Those appearances ultimately amounted to nothing more that ending cameos.
- Just recently it was announced that pop singer Gackt will be playing Riderman, whose original actor has passed on. It may sound like a YMMV situation, but the fact that Gackt is One Of Us and has healthy respect for Kamen Rider means it counts as a Cullen.
- With George R.R. Martin being personally involved, fans were quietly optimistic about the adaptation of A Song Of Ice And Fire. The first bit of casting news, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion, was widely accepted as a perfect bit of dream casting. Then we get Sean Bean as Ned Stark. Yeah. It's perfectly OK to be excited now.
- A remake of The Prisoner? Oh man, it's gonna be a lame Americanized hack job, etcetera... But then, Ian McKellen said... "Be seeing you". And there was much rejoicing.
Music
Tabletop Games
- Exalted's fanbase had been somewhat divided about the idea of including the Infernal Exalted in Second Edition. Not so much about the Green Sun Princes existing, as about just what the hell they were supposed to be like. When it was announced that Michael Goodwin, the writer for Manual of Exalted Power: The Abyssals, was going to be doing the Infernals, all the backdraft shut up and we're waiting to see what he'll come up with.
- Wait's over. It turned out pretty damn good.
- The spoiled plane cards in Magic The Gathering's Planechase box set surprised quite a few fans when some older planes were announced. Who woud have thought they'd bring back Segovia, which was mentioned on only one card (Segovian Leviathan) and created entirely to explain that card's abnormally small power/toughness? Who would have thought they'd bring back Moag, which appeared only in one of the books? Who would have thought they'd bring back Shandalar from the 90's Card Battle Game? Needless to say, many old-school fans were happy.
- And then they went and upstaged even those. I mean, Bolas's Meditation Realm?
Theatre
- The Royal Shakespeare Company are still trying to develop that stage musical of Roald Dahl's Matilda they've been working on for years? Pff, when are they going to learn ... wait, what? They've asked Tim Minchin to write the score?! When do tickets go on sale?!
- A musical of Little Miss Sunshine? I don't know. The score's being written by William Finn? Yep, that'll work!
Video Games
- Command And Conquer fans: Hell. March. Three. Oh, dear God, yes.
- And here it IS!!!
- The announcement that Red Alert 3 will star Tim Curry, JK Simmons, and George Takei.
- Not to mention Peter Stormare, in his signature 'scientist' role.
- The original teaser for Command And Conquer 3 had a Cue Cullen moment of its own. There's a news broadcast mentioning the Brotherhood of Nod and Kane's apparent death, which is abruptly turned off... by Joseph Kucan! KANE LIVES!
- 'Ho hum, another boring expansion for Red Alert...wait, Malcolm Mc Dowell is in the game? And Ric Flair? WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
- Command and Conquer 3 getting a meh reaction until it was confirmed that not only was Joseph Kucan back as Kane but that Tricia Helfer and Grace Park from BSG and Josh Holloway from Lost were going to be in it. And Michael Ironside! And Billy Dee Williams! And someone from House! Too! Much! Awesome! And then the fanboys started complaining that the Tiberian Sun mechas weren't still around, so the programmers shove them in the expansion purely to please them.
- Command And Conquer 4? Seriously, how long can they keep churning out - wait, Joseph Kucan's back? AGAIN? KANE LI- er, STILL LIVES!
- The announcement of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was largely met with apathy and dread from MK fans, DC fans, and gaming press alike for separate reasons. And then the video of Joker's fatality was released. Ironically, the fact that they later censored it to get the T rating seems emblematic of why response to the game was so tepid: if you want to Cue Cullen for the Mortal Kombat series, you don't change it into a Gory Discretion Shot (Keyword being "change", as UMK3 had one from the get-go.).
- To be fair, this and one of Deathstroke's fatalities are the only ones censored and only in the U.S. release. Europeans lucked out and got theirs uncensored.
- Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots? Another lame Nick game? ...what's this? Stimpy and Rocko are playable? Wow, Nickelodeon still remembers that they exist!
- Richard Jacques not only returning to compose Sonic The Hedgehog music (Cue inevitable Sonic R reference) in Sonic And The Black Knight alongside Jun Senoue but also being joined by Tommy Tallarico? Freaking sweet!
- Many people were hyped when it was announced that Crush 40 would be recording some songs for Black Knight after not recording any songs for Secret Rings or Sonic Unleashed.
- In an inversion, people were extremely psyched when the first footage of Sonic Unleashed was unveiled, showing Sonic blasting through what ended up being the daytime stages at mach speeds, while seeming to combine 2D sidescrolling gameplay with Secret Rings-esque 3D behind-the-back running - a combination many could not fault. Then the Werehog showed up...
- When Valve initially announced that the Heavy of Team Fortress 2 was getting an upgrade that allowed him to rejuvenate health, the initial reaction was anger over the Heavy becoming too unbalanced. Then they released the Sandvich trailer. It promptly became the best update ever.
- Forget that. Remember when people called this game "Vapor Ware," given its looooong history? And now remember everyone's stunned silence when they showed that first trailer in its final form. Followed by the Squee.
- The reveal that the Sniper Update would in fact be the Sniper Vs. Spy Update, together with the brilliantly produced Meet The Spy.
- A Ghostbusters video game? I dunno... what? Almost all of the actors are back? Even William Atherton, Type Casting Obstructive Bureaucrat supreme? AND it's being written by Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis? DO WANT!
- Indeed, the game was essentially pitched as a Ghostbusters 3 of sorts.
- Ironically enough, the success of the video game has apparently kick-started interest in the production of an actual new Ghostbusters movie.
- Dissidia: Final Fantasy is just going to be another crappy Final Fantasy spinoff with Cloud and Sephiroth stealing the lime— Ooo! Kefka! It just got more Cullens from there.
- Well, we got Shantoto, so we'll probably get a secret FF12 rep too...holy crap, it's Judge Gabranth!
- Many of Final Fantasy XIII's detractors kept mocking the game for the character names, the Shiva Bike, and huge lack of gameplay information at the time. Then Square Enix revealed Sazh Katzroy —a savvy Dual Wielding black man with an afro (used as a nest by tiny baby chocobos) who calls himself "Daddy"— and the mocking turned into frothing demand. Though sadly, this has tapered down into "Stop showing us those lame pretty boys and show more Sazh!"
- Just as the Sazh afterglow faded and gamers began to constantly mock Hope Estheim for being a kiddy girlie character, Square finally reveals that his summon is Alexander. Who hasn't been usable since Final Fantasy VIII and was last seen in a brief cutscene in Final Fantasy IX. Suddenly everyone wants to play Hope.
- Kingdom Hearts 2 got this in a pretty major fashion in terms of voice acting. Square Enix not only got access to several actors from Disney movies featured in the game (examples being Hercules' original VA Tate Donovan and James Woods as Hades), but spared no expenses on roping in some pretty well-known names for other characters, such as Jesse Mc Cartney for Roxas as well as Haley Joel Osment and Hayden Panettiere (better known as Claire from Heroes) reprising their original roles. The best and most shocking though, was for DiZ/Ansem: none other than veteran actor Christopher Lee.
- When Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden was announced, many people seems rather unpleased that they will rehash the bonus section of O Gs 2.5 first, and they just see the continuation of the story, with the premise of Lamia being Killed Off For Real, and they ruined the suspense of Fiona's fate thanks to one trailer. And when the game nears its release date — WAIT A MINUTE, CRY WOLVES OF SRW MX!? AXEL AND ALFIMI COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD!?. This game is moving up already!
- Mark Hamill returning to the role of the Joker in the video game Batman Arkham Asylum.
- While there was some debate over whether or not he'd do it so soon after Gotham Knight, Conroy once again agreed to voice Batman for the game, which promptly shut up a lot of critics once they realized that one of the most dynamic duos in voice acting were back together for this.
- And Arleen Sorkin has decided to reprise the role of Harley Quinn. (Much like the Samuel L. Jackson one further up the page, this is another example of it being perfect casting due to the character being based on the performer.)
- Activision announcing a "Smash Hits" edition of Guitar Hero? Lame, more money-milking... Wait, all master tracks? And "Freebird", "Godzilla", and a live version of "Cowboys from Hell" are confirmed, with fans getting to vote songs in? Oh hell yes.
- Man, it hasn't been that long since Guitar Hero: World Tour and they're releasing Guitar Hero V already? And from the sounds of it there's not much by way of innovation. Man what a rip- wait, did you say Blink 182's 'The Rock Show'? Blur's 'Song 2'? Nirvana's 'Smells Like Team Spirit'?!?!?! BEST MUSIC GAME EVAH!!!!!
- Hell, they had most people at Ring of Fire.
- If Guitar Hero can pull this twice, then so can rival series Rock Band. More precisely, Lego Rock Band. Harmonix shut up most people whining about the "kiddyness" and supposed cash-cowing with a good deal of its setlist, including two Queen songs, the Ghostbusters theme, and "The Final Countdown" among others. And to clinch it, the announcement that its songs can be exported to the main Rock Band games. Ooooh, here goes those people's money.
- And that's not even getting into the fact that the game is to have Lego-ized likenesses of some bands playing their songs (and their songs only) - including Queen. With Freddy Mercury.
- For Mask of the Betrayer look no further than the suddenly halted wank over the details on the female PC romance option, Gannayev. In summary: "A hagspawn? Guys get a bald-but-still-completely hot Mad Scientists Beautiful Daughter, but we get a friggin' hagspawn? I don't care if the guy who writes his dialogue is totally awesome, it's just not fai—Wait, that's Gannayev? Naw, that can't possibly be...Really? And he's voiced by Crispin Freeman on top of it?... I'll be in my bunk."
- Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii version) - "Yawn, another Godzilla fighting game, same old boring monst-IS THAT GODZILLA 1954?! Biollante? King Caesar? The original Mechagodzilla?! This is gonna be awesome!"
- Likewise, fans were very happy upon learning that, through a power-up, you can play as "Burning Godzilla".
- The PS 2 version got fans excited with the inclusion of Battra. Too bad he turned out to be simply a Palette Swap version of Mothra, though...
- Bethesda developing Fallout 3? Yuck, just'll be Oblivion with gu-wait, was that Ron Perlman?!
- Would that really count? I mean, Ron Perlman's voice is practically a must for the franchise, I mean even Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel had him narrate. On the other hand Fallout's Cue Cullen aimed specifically at the anti-Bethesda Fan Dumb (after Bethesda proved their chops to the rest of the Fallout fandom, that is) would be hearing that Fallout: New Vegas is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment, which is (coincidentally) run by refugees from Black Isle Studios (who made the first two Fallout games).
- Another major case of a Fan Dumb-only Cullen would be Nintendo's E3 2009 conference, which made those raging so-called "hardcore gamers" claiming that Nintendo was killing their hobbies with casual tripe rip their vocal cords out of their bodies. Everyone else was generally happy, but as we stated in the opening paragraphs, it's the "hardcore" that we're concerned about here. This Penny Arcade strip pretty much sums it up.
- Blizzard has recently announced that Robert Clotworthy will be reprising his role as the Terran hero Jim Raynor in Starcraft 2, after a earlier announcement that he would not.
- What do you mean they changed Kerrigan's voice actor? What the hell is this— wait, Tricia Helfer is now voicing her? OH MY GOD!
- Fears were briefly raised that since it had been ten years since the last game (closer to twelve when it comes out), a lot of the intricate storyline from the first game would be neglected. Instead, it was confirmed that the sequel would pick up on all the plot threads left dangling from the expansion, even that one that only appeared in a special bonus mission you could only access by performing an arcane ritual at 3am on the vernal equinox or something.
- IGA's stellar track record with Castlevania ever since Symphony of the Night made the 3D versions look mediocre at best. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow looks to change that with the one-two punch E3 announcment of development by Hideo Kojima and voicework by Patrick Stewart. It counts because previous 3D Castlevania titles were all victims of the Polygon Ceiling; did you really think the fanbase would immediately enjoy another 3D game after that track record?
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans went Ruined FOREVER when it was revealed that Ubisoft's favorite Spotlight Stealing Squad, the Rabbids, would be Guest Fighters in Smash-Up. Considering that the game is primarily based on the 2007 film and 2003 TV series, it took a spotting of the Technodrome from the 80's cartoon in the Comic-Con 2009 trailer to raise back their optimism (They're still complaining, but an improvement's an improvement.).
- A new Mario and Sonic Olympics title? Yawn. It doesn't take much imagination to think that they're just doing it to cash in on the hype of the Olympics for a quick bu- Wait a minute... Was that Metal Sonic? On a home console game for the first time since Heroes, no less! SEGA, consider it sold.
- And a Perfect Chaos cameo.
- How many Mega Man fans are you willing to bet wet themselves in excitement when most found out Mega Man 9 was retraux?
- Tetris: The Grand Master 4. Disillusioned TGM players thought it was going to be yet another mangled-to-fit-the-Tetris-Guideline game with the "TGM" label slapped on it. One news story for Sega's Amusement Machine Show later, fans were, flowery graphics aside, excited to find out that it's a proper TGM game.
- Ugh, DJ Hero. Another attempt by Activision to get people to buy plastic par—- wait, Daft Punk is in the game? And they're making 11 mixes for it? Sold!
- For others, it's Grand Master Flash, DJ Jazzy Jeff (Will Smith's old partner) and Jay-Z being in the game.
- Feep's experience with Scribblenauts was the spread of a meme that managed to persuade people into getting it: I FUCKING TRAVELED THROUGH TIME AND JUMPED ON A DINOSAUR AND USED IT TO KILL MOTHERFUCKING ROBOT ZOMBIES.
- People were going "It's Easy, So It Sucks" over New Super Mario Bros. Wii due to Nintendo making it the flagship game for their patented "kind code" which lets the computer take over and allows players to jump back in whenever they want. A few months later, the "kind code" (named "Super Guide" in the game) was revealed to only be available after failing a level eight times, and allowed for the developers to make the levels themselves "devilishly difficult" while still letting less-able players see the whole game. The comments have been oddly positive since, and the game (and the feature) has since been released to near universal-acclaim.
- Meanwhile, old-school fans that were still bitter about Bowser Jr. having replaced the Koopalings became overjoyed when they learned that they would appear together for the first time ever.
- Not just appearing together, but from the gameplay videos, but you'll fight them in essentially the same way you fought them in Super Mario Bros. 3. If that isn't the definitive Cue Cullen that puts all of the nostalgia freaks in their place, I dunno what would be.
- Yoshi anyone? Shame you can't take him out of the levels he appears in, but the Super Mario World memories are more than enough.
- Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing? Eh, just another Mario Kart clone... Hold the phone, Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue is playable? And he can drive a forklift? Wow, Sega hasn't forgotten about Shenmue!
- Relic buying back the rights to their classic, name-making RTS game Homeworld after losing it in a company buy-out saw fans weeping with joy and looking forward to a new game, which Relic have said should eventually appear.
- Frank West and Zero in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars instantly convinced hordes of people who did not care about the game in the first place to buy a copy.
- For some fans, the Arbiter wasn't worth it until, "The Cable. I'm going to cut it."
- No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle has several of those. Where to even start? First, there's Santa Destroy becoming more compact (in response to complaints about the city being "too big" to navigate). Next, there is the side jobs not only having their entry fees getting reduced, but the side jobs themselves becoming 8-bit games! Among other things, there's also optional dual beam katana-wielding, the side assassination missions getting tied into the plot, more interaction with Jean the cat, 50 bosses (including multiples and successive ones) and, last but not least, the opportunity to play Shinobu and Henry.
- When The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was first revealed, some fans were displeased about how the title seemed too similar to Phantom Hourglass, a somewhat controversial title among the fanbase. Then this trailer was shown in November. In addition to gameplay improvements, (such as being able to skip parts of a dungeon you've already played) fans learned that the story was a bit less conventional than saving a kidnapped Zelda. Zelda dies within the first hour of the game, and her spirit accompanies Link throughout the rest of the game. The assisting "Phantom" seen in earlier trailers, which accompanies Link in some dungeons is possessed by the spirit of Zelda herself. All of this caused a massive shift in the previously divided fanbase.
- When Epic Mickey was originally announced, it was met with a general 'Meh' from the gaming crowd, expecting at best a Kingdom Hearts-lite. They they announced that Warren Spector was in on the project, and that they'd be taking a Darker And Edgier route on the concept- fans were still skeptical, until they the concept art. And Oswald the Lucky Rabbit- the predecessor to Mickey, whom Disney lost the rights to over 80 years ago- is a Forgotten Childhood Friend turned Anti Villain. If that wasn't enough Retraux for ya, Mickey's Karma Meter allows him to act like his original personality as a mischevious jerk, the modern hero or somewhere in between. Disney seems to be clawing their way out of their Dork Age in a Crazy Awesome way.
- ...Not that the Wii Fan Haters are having any of that, throwing hissy fits about how much the game is destined to suck because it's not on an HD console. More Cullens are necessary to win over a larger audience.
Western Animation
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