The streaming wars have left plenty of casualties by the wayside, with Disney Plus becoming the latest culprit after it was revealed upwards of 50 film and television titles were being erased from existence to try and trim some financial fat. Of course, it would have helped had the Mouse House bothered to remind anyone of the fact these things even existed, which is already creating fear for the future of American Born Chinese.
On paper, you’d have thought the company would market the hell out of the project given the caliber of its cast and crew. For one thing, it’s a comic book adaptation executive produced and partly directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, a Marvel Cinematic Universe alumni who snagged Avengers: The Kang Dynasty after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hit big.
Then there’s the cast, which features Academy Award winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, along with fellow Everything Everywhere All at Once co-stars Stephanie Hsu and James Hong to complete a reunion from the movie that literally just swept the Oscars by winning almost all of the major trophies.
Then there’s the critical reception, which currently has American Born Chinese packing a stellar 95 percent critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which boggles the mind when you’ve got a star-studded, high concept, action-packed, and widely-acclaimed show that only dropped today, and yet you wouldn’t even notice unless you were already aware.
Where’s the promotional blitz? Where’s the campaign touting its credentials? Where’s the online buzz celebrating the collision between Marvel, Everything Everywhere, and Disney Plus in a big budget and action-packed episodic original? It’s nowhere to be found, which is nothing if not bizarre.
No wonder Disney Plus is cutting costs, because the people in charge of selling in-house exclusives to the masses really need to improve.