Watch the Miraculous movie...
Before the rest of season 5
After the rest of season 5
Other/I want to see results!
Honestly, I don't plan on watching it at all.
Being tactful as to why. Long old man ramble follows.
Point one: I loathe musicals as a genre. There are very, very few exceptions to that rule for me, and they're generally ones in which either the musical numbers can be jettisoned with no impact on the plot, and are just there because that's what movies were back then (old-timey stuff), or ones that deliberately play around with the tropes of what a traditional musical is (like, say, Cannibal! The Musical).
I find it hilarious that if there was one episode that pretty much EVERYONE in the fandom points to as being its low point, it's the Christmas special, with the leads bravely warbling their way through some ill-advised songs. I'm gobsmacked that they went back to that well.
Point two: It's not canon, it can't be canon, it can basically never even approach canon.
I'm not going to begrudge Zag the opportunity to put nicely-animated meet-cutes on a bigger screen. I mean, I write fanfic. That's my own take on starting with a canon framework and diverging wildly, isn't it? So Zag can do the same, if he chooses to.
If I, just putting it out there, was in charge of a multi-multi-million-dollar enterprise with a popular television series that just finished its first multi-season major story arc, and I was quite proud of that story and how it was told and how the fans responded to it, I don't know that making its big-screen debut a complete reboot/rewrite of the series, changing several core dynamics AND delivering resolutions that the canon series is not likely to ever reach would be my method of choice.
But that's me.
Point three: It puts the canon series in a very awkward position.
Given the above, I ask you this. If I am new to the series -- not an existing fan, but intrigued by this big-budget film that popped up on Netflix -- and I like what I see in the movie, what will I see when I tune into the series?
Whether I pick it up with Season 6 or start with earlier episodes on Disney, not much is going to match up. The big things that happen in the movie -- especially near its end -- won't be reflected in the series. I'm going to be more than a bit confused.
And if I am a diehard fan, aren't the big things in this movie teasing me, giving me there what I'm pretty sure I'll never get in canon?
If the Miraculous series was over and done with -- and I remain firm in my belief that for all intents and purposes, it should be now, and that S6 and beyond are Supernatural-style padding unless the writing turns out to be VERY clever -- the movie would be a nice little valentine for the fans, either as a recap/retelling or as a continuation of where the series stopped. But it isn't.
Point four: I SAID IT'S A GODDAMNED MUSICAL. EEEUURGH.
Point five: Pacing!
I know that the series has been a very long slow burn. We spent five seasons watching our heroic couple slowly overcome their fears and doubts, grow closer in various combinations, grow as individuals and finally emerge where we've wanted them to go. That's a long trip, and there are aspects of it that are still underdeveloped IMHO, and there's still more to be done to flesh it out.
Now. Can you do all of that, going from the very first meet-cute to the end of the ride, BEYOND where the series will have gone after five seasons... in an hour and a half... and do it at all credibly, especially with songs taking up running time as well? Audience members have literally grown out of the show's target age range in the time it's taken Marinette and Adrien to get to the kissing parts. How does one portray that kind of personal transformation in an extremely rapid manner, and make it work and make it resonate?
Point six: Personal reasons.
I have an inordinate fondness for this show, as should be obvious from my having pumped out seventy-one stories and a million-and-a-quarter words about it to date -- and that's not counting dozens and dozens of story prompts to encourage others to do the same.
The endless leaks that spoiled pretty much everything about Season 5 really poisoned the creative well for me as a writer. I did a few one-shots, I have a short piece in progress right now filling in a timeskip gap in the S5 finale, but I felt unable to put anything substantial together given their impact.
I don't like several things about how S5 ended, how several aspects were handled, and where it appears to be headed. There's a character who'll be prominently featured in S6 that I don't like, whom I consider to be a half-baked idea that's only gone further off the rails with every appearance, and I don't plan on writing for them if I can help it. And as noted, I just feel like...
...can I begrudge Team Miraculous for getting one grab at the brass ring that connected, one hit show, and riding that pony as long as it's possible to go? Nah. I might choose the exact same route if I was invested in its development.
But I would rather see a story told well that contains one of a story's most important elements -- its ending. And if a non-ending goes places that I might not care to follow... we'll see if anything follows on my end.
This is not "Goodbye, Miraculous." There is certainly a chance that things that emerge from here on out will inspire me in one way or another... and I wish Team Zag good luck in taking the post-S5 world somewhere that makes sense and does exactly that for me.
Just not betting on it except in spits and spurts, though. ;)
