2008's Iron Man was an incredible surprise to those who saw a failing Marvel Studios whose assets had been scattered make this dark horse of a superhero film that was entirely character centric. It was a massive gamble for Marvel but at the time it was the best move that they could do. They effectively had leftovers from their sale of some of their characters to FOX, and the Sony deal for one of their most profitable characters, Spider-Man.
It is interesting how now the fans of franchises become the enemies of the filmmakers. We are in a particularly interesting time. Am I saying that filmmakers should always cater to their fans every whim? No. Absolutely not. But the remarkable hate exhibited by Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy toward their own cash flow is abhorrent. I'm going to be completely open, I did not like The Last Jedi. At all. However, the reactionary hate filled rhetoric by a vocal minority of Star Wars fans is detestable.
