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Popular Culture Without... Star Wars

I also found out that without Star Wars, Marvel Comics would have gone bankrupt and possibly been bought out by DC. Also Anime would be a more fringe industry. Also New York, New York doesn't bomb so Scorsese doesn't have his breakdown or make Raging Bull.
 
Like I mentioned in the main Star Wars thread, it is most amusing to consider that the number-two movie of 1977, behind the outer space fantasy adventure, was about Burt Reynolds delivering beer.

The other comment I made there, which I ought to make more appropriately here, is that I'm not sure if Lucas or Spielberg would direct Body Heat, because I believe it was something that Lawrence Kasdan brought to Lucas as something he'd written and wanted to try directing; it was his pet project.
 
I also found out that without Star Wars, Marvel Comics would have gone bankrupt and possibly been bought out by DC. Also Anime would be a more fringe industry. Also New York, New York doesn't bomb so Scorsese doesn't have his breakdown or make Raging Bull.

Hadn't considered either these, some more to add to the pile! I'm curious about the anime development not being wholly familiar with the genre, was Star Wars a big early influence?

Like I mentioned in the main Star Wars thread, it is most amusing to consider that the number-two movie of 1977, behind the outer space fantasy adventure, was about Burt Reynolds delivering beer.

The other comment I made there, which I ought to make more appropriately here, is that I'm not sure if Lucas or Spielberg would direct Body Heat, because I believe it was something that Lawrence Kasdan brought to Lucas as something he'd written and wanted to try directing; it was his pet project.

Yes without either film it's possible Kasdan doesn't get involved with Lucas, but wanted to stretch the point to show the sort of material they could have been doing.
 
I also found out that without Star Wars, Marvel Comics would have gone bankrupt and possibly been bought out by DC.

And that would nuke out the Claremont X-Men before they've finally hit their stride, loses John Byrne a bunch of early jobs that gets him ahead, means Jim Shooter isn't getting an EIC job that shapes how 80s Marvel superheroics operate, means Frank Miller will find it harder to get a writing job, gives DC a dominant position so it never feels the need to do Crisis On Infinite Earths and the sweeping changes on multiple characters, possibly ends Marvel UK before Alan Moore can work there and possibly would butterfly away Dez Skinn's Warrior with Marvelman & V For Vendetta...
 
Based on how they did the Fawcett acquisitions and others, there'd probably be an Earth-M where the retained Marvel titles got to live.

(This is fun for the Avengers, as many of their solo titles are probably cancelled and so anyone writing Avengers can do anything with those characters now, the dream of dreams for team-up book writers!)
 
Very good piece. I'd be interested in a world without (the first thing that came to mind) The Simpsons.

The Simpsons is one of the things I have been thinking about for a future article. The second article is already with @AndyC and covers something a bit more obscure but with wide reaching consequences.

I can be interviewed as a consultant on this topic because I effectively live in that TL.

No Simpsons = VHS remains dominant home video format?
 
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