Beth's Bendy Tin Hat Theory Time
Cause I've been thinking about it, and I've got one for the tin hat ages lol
Under the Keep Reading, this one is a kinda cynical ngl
TLDR: The Bendy Franchise is in for a possible Soft Reboot
I have been thinking about the Cage's status as being "put on ice" [read: it's being scrapped and harvested for Bendy 3, let's be real] and I think I've got a reason for why.
To put it bluntly, I think B3ndy/Bendy 3/Mike and Meatly really should've thought about the title before announcing it is going to be a soft reboot of the franchise.
The Cage, even marketed as "How Henry Escaped the Pit and Arrived Just in Time", is a story that has to address something that both Mike and Meatly have been trying to avoid; Henry and Joey's relationship and how their friendship and falling out impacted the studio, themselves, BATDR's retconing and attempt at a redemption arc, etc
Aka Making Solid Answers Regarding Canon
You know, stuff that the boys have shown that they're not good at and have shown they don't like doing because the fans don't get the vision/"appreciate" how they go about telling us the information (Ex: the Norman and Thomas Situations on X/Twitter; The whole "Henry and Allison aren't real People in the Cycle"; etc). And that isn't also factoring the concept of answering the questions people have so they can have closure with the series/not be strung along for the next project (Granted this last one is a very cynical take, especially since I would hope that these two would not /intentionally/ try and manipulate their audience to stick around, especially after the past few years, but ya know, there's unfortunately evidence to prove me wrong).
So why do I say a soft reboot vs a hard reboot?
Given my understanding of what the difference is between Soft vs Hard Reboots, I think a soft reboot give the two the flexibility to "redo", for a lack of a better term, the parts of Bendy’s story that they no longer like and aspects that have gone too far into the "the fandom have adopted this as Canon and it's significantly better than our writing" camp, but it's not enough of a change to scare off people and risk alienating their customers fans. It's a compromise that can work in the short term long enough that enough new fans can get introduced to this new version of Bendy that they can essentially "bury" the old version and then continue on their merry way making bank without the pesky reminders of the past interrupting them unless they decide to shift gears and focus on Cakey (allegedly).
Now, full disclaimer, do I think this is the absolute, end all be all reason why they announced the icing of the Cage? Probably not, this is a tin hat theory after all, and it's more likely that Meatly wasn't thinking of the consequences of making the only new video game related news the cancellation of the Cage, and figured that enough eyes were on 4/14 that he wouldn't need to repeat himself ad nauseam if he made the announcement then and not later. I don't want to assume malicious evil villain intent, even if seem as reasonable as reality.
But what do you guys think? Do you have your own tin hat theories on Bendy's future? Do you think that a reboot is the best course of action? If so, what do you think a reboot, hard or soft, would entail?
Feel free to let me know what you guys think.