In its latest content purge, Max announced the removal of three superhero movies from its expansive streaming library.
The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer is constantly changing, with plenty of titles coming and going.
In fact, the service just recently got a trilogy of Marvel films on the platform, despite Marvel being owned by its direct competitor's parent company, Disney.
However, as the ever-increasing reality of the streaming landscape comes into focus, Max (along with other players in the space) has had to re-evaluate its library, making more cuts than ever before.
Three Superhero Movies Leaving Max
Three superhero movies will be removed from the Max streaming service as part of the service's September content update.
The trio of forgotten super-powered films will no longer be available for subscribers starting on September 30, so fans eager to take them in one last time only have a matter of weeks to do it.
The three movies are listed below:
1.) Spawn (1997)
- Average Tomatometer: 17%
- Average Audience Score: 37%
This live-action adaptation of Todd McFarlane's' beloved comic book series sees covert government assassin Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) double-crossed and killed by his boss, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen). From there, he is sent to Hell, where he is tasked with leading an army to Earth as a super-powered hellspawn.
Despite the Spawn character's notoriety in the 1990s, 1997's Spawn film failed to capitalize on the name, delivering a critical disaster for the character's first foray into live-action.
It is worth noting that Spawn will be removed from Max just under two months after it landed on the service on August 1.
2.) Steel (1997)
- Average Tomatometer: 12%
- Average Audience Score: 19%
Steel stars NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal as John Henry Irons, a scientist-turned-chrome-coated-superhero who goes on a conquest to hunt down stolen technology he spent his life researching.
The Steel character is loosely based on the DC character of the same name but took plenty of liberties from the source material, using completely original protagonists and antagonists.
Just like O'Neal's prior film Kazaam, Steel is often considered one of the most critically maligned movies of the 1990s (if not all time), making a dismal $1.7 million at the worldwide box office.
3.) Jonah Hex (2010)
- Average Tomatometer: 12%
- Average Audience Score: 20%
Before taking on the role of Thanos in the MCU, Josh Brolin cut his comic book movie chops on 2010's Jonah Hex.
This DC Comics adaptation follows Brolin's Jonah, a Confederate soldier who - after he cheats death - can summon supernatural powers to track down anyone or anything. Given his new enhanced abilities, Jonah hunts down his mortal enemy Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich) before Turnbull can unleash Hell on Earth.
Jonah Hex was a critical and financial failure for Warner Bros. The movie made just over $10 million in its run in theaters, garnering two nominations for Worst Actress (Megan Fox) and Worst Screen Couple (Josh Brolin's face and Megan Fox's accent) at the 31st Golden Raspberry Awards.
Why Were These Movies Removed from Max?
Looking at these monthly lists of titles coming and going for any number of streaming services can make one wonder, "Why were these particular things removed?"
When it comes to Spawn, Steel, and Jonah Hex, there could be several reasons why they will be pulled from Max at the end of September.
Most likely, Warner Bros. (WB) was just not seeing the numbers on these movies to keep them on the streamer.
As time goes on, Hollywood becomes more aware of the financial realities of upkeeping these streaming libraries.
It is not free to just have these titles sit on these servers ready to be viewed.
Yes, these sorts of removals happen all the time on services like Max. As WB continues to make its streaming pipeline as efficient as possible, cuts like these will persist.
Spawn, Steel, and Jonah Hex will be removed from Max on September 30.
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