Once upon a time, there was a young girl who said, “Give me all of your comic nerd shit! Keep feeding me until I bust.” That girl never would have imagined that there’d be a Marvel series of 22 movies, 8 DC movies, 13 seasons of Marvel shows on just one online streaming site, a 6 show DC crossover event, and too many in general DC shows to count because while Arrow and Gotham are obvious, shows like iZombie are in that list too.

Whew! That’s a lot. And growing up, there was a feeling of being grateful for whatever comic show or movie crumb was given to you. Even if it was turrible, you swallowed it with a smile.

Now with plenty of options but a much smaller wallet, I let myself be picky. No one will break into my house and steal my collection of dvd/blu-rays or books because I no longer deserve to own them after skipping Iron Man 3 or Justice League. I’m not less of a nerd for making sure that every time I go to the movies to watch a caped crusader, it’s going to be an enjoyable experience. Other fans probably appreciate not hearing me curse the movie out under my breath(definitely would have happened with Justice League or Batman vs Superman) while they like it a lot more. So when I do go for movies like Wonder Woman, I’m not carrying the baggage of prior disappointment with me. That joy is still there.

Stepping back let me add that same approach to the DC/Marvel shows. I like most of them, but I couldn’t watch them and the movies at the same time. Since the movies are finally slowing down, I can get back into the DC shows and catch the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover when it premiers. Again, letting myself take a break is what’s keeping up my enthusiasm for this. Afterwards, I’ve set time for completing the Netflix Marvel shows or Disney streaming shows depending on what’s happening then.

In conclusion, you don’t have to watch everything at once if it’s hurting your enjoyment of comic book movies/shows. Companies have invested too much money in these ventures for them to disappear overnight.