Movies gain and maintain favor for a variety of reasons, but in many cases, films garner a large, dedicated fanbase, or “fandom” that help the movie in its success. According to Collins Dictionary, a fandom is defined as “…the state of being an enthusiastic fan of something or someone”. Nearly every corner of American culture could and does have a fandom, including books, music, and TV shows. Television series can actually occasionally match movie fandoms in their loyalty and multitude. Some popular TV fandoms include Game of Thrones, Supernatural, Friends, Lost, The Walking Dead, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, movie fandoms are arguably the largest and most devoted genre of fandoms—but which are the most expansive ones today?
5. Star Trek
As one of the oldest film series on this list, this fandom has proved their loyalty with how long-lasting their fans’ admiration has spanned. Star Trek began as a television series in the 1960s, but its popularity led to the creation of a feature film, and Star Trek has only grown and evolved since then. As of now, Star Trek has thirteen movies and twelve television series. Affectionately called “Trekkies”, fans love to stand behind their favorite film, ship’s captain, or crew member. Whether it’s Jean-Luc Picard, Spock, or William T. Ryker, nearly every leading character has a fan-following. This fandom isn’t going to die out anytime soon, as multiple shows and films are set to be released, including the movie: Star Trek: Section 31, starring Michelle Yeoh as Captain Phillipa Georgiou.
4. Alien
Alien was a culturally significant movie on multiple levels, so it’s no surprise that it has a large following. The practical effects for the aliens on the film, the horrifying visuals and suspense, and the strong performance from Sigourney Weaver all combined to make an instant classic. The film was followed by its sequel, Aliens, and then four more followed. Fans all tend to universally agree that the original Alien was the strongest out of the movies, but arguments follow about the second strongest, or the weakest out of them. But despite these disputes, the Alien fandom can unite on their excitement on the newest addition to the franchise: Alien: Romulus.
3. The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings films, created from the famous Tolkien books, has a huge following. The movies were created with plenty of charming performances, beautiful shots, and a wonderful soundtrack. The visual effects, costumes, and makeup brought the fantasy world to life, and overall brought Tolkien’s vision to the big screen. The Lord of the Rings fandom continues to thrive with the second season of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power set to release on August 29th of this year.
2. Marvel
This fandom is unique in how large the range of movies included are. Because the Marvel Cinematic Universe is so expansive, there are many sub-genres of the fandom, which follow the different films within the company’s portfolio of movies. The movie that began the franchise was Iron Man, which came out in 2008. Since then, fans have been introduced to dozens of other characters to root for, such as Steve Rogers, Wanda Maximoff, Peter Parker, Natasha Romanoff, Loki Laufeyson, and many more.
Marvel has been experiencing a bit of a rough patch in the past couple of years. After the shattering success of Avengers: Endgame, which made over two billion worldwide, Marvel had to move in a different direction and begin new storylines with new or less well-known characters. Hopefully, with the return of both the Russo brothers and Robert Downey Jr., Marvel’s upcoming films will please their fanbase.
1. Star Wars
The Star Wars fandom is likely the largest and most dedicated fanbase for movies. There are nine main films, including “the original trilogy” (Star Wars: A New Hope, Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi), “the prequel trilogy” (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith), and “the sequel trilogy” (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker). Star Wars also has several spin off movies and shows which add to the canon and lore for this particular film series.
The Star Wars fandom is a powerful one, seen through the way that it helped bring back the genre of science-fiction and created Star Wars Day, the holiday set on May 4th. However, its massive scale not only leads to influence, but also many disputes. One of the many highly debated topics is the argument over which trilogy is the best. Many fans say that the original three films are the best and that the prequels fall flat in comparison, while a large number of others defend the prequel movies.
This list of fandoms is not comprehensive, as there are many other extremely strong movie fan groups that exist. Some honorable mentions not listed above are: Transformers, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, The Hunger Games, and Avatar. The existence of all of these fandoms is encouraging, as it reveals a culture of passion and admiration for films and the industry behind them.
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