At the Emmys, as Everywhere Else, IP Is King as ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Star Wars’ Land Key Nods
variety.comAlison Herman TV Critic For a few years in the 2010s, TV was seen as a refuge from the intellectual property boom engulfing blockbuster filmmaking.
Original, mid-budget stories aimed at adults were no longer welcome at the multiplex, but they could often find a home in a prestige-hungry medium newly attractive to A-list talent.
Beginning with the launch of the streaming service Disney+ in 2019, however, “cinematic” universes like Star Wars and Marvel established a presence on the small screen, while the conclusion of “Game of Thrones” that same year kicked off the arms race for the next crossover genre hit.
The Primetime Emmy Awards have acknowledged this trend in the past. “WandaVision,” “The Mandalorian,” and “The Boys” all earned series nominations in prior years, affording artistic legitimacy to these franchises in addition to their popular success. (The first two series were the small screen debuts of Marvel and Star Wars, respectively; “The Boys” is a superhero satire that is itself adapted from a comic book, with a budget and fandom to match that of its targets.) But for its 75th annual honors, the Television Academy fully embraced the IP extravaganza that’s enveloped the rest of culture.
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