Chapter 297: Animal Rights Blackmail

After the release of the Lucy 3 trailer, even without any promotion, it quickly made headlines in numerous newspapers and became the focal point of discussions.

Countless fans and bloggers online shared their opinions on it.

The majority expressed excitement and anticipation. Even the few pessimistic voices were drowned out by the overwhelming enthusiasm.

Even professional film critics had a positive outlook on Lucy:Final Curtain War. With the foundation of the original manga and Ethan as the director, failure seemed almost impossible.

After all these years, Ethan had never disappointed audiences with his films.

Thus, some who had concerns about the movie's quality shifted their focus to its runtime.

"If this movie has seven filming locations, I worry that the final storyline might feel incomplete. Even if it's three hours long, I still think that's too rushed because this arc is the most crucial part of Superbody."

This viewpoint resonated with many Comic fans.

However, Vincenzo dismissed these concerns as unnecessary.

"Seven filming locations don't mean the film will fully depict all seven places. Filmmaking is an art of selection and balance. I trust Ethan will deliver a perfect answer and bring a satisfying conclusion to the Lucy trilogy."

While fans engaged in relatively mild discussions, the internal meetings at major film studios regarding Lucy were far more intense.

Inside Marvel Studios' conference room, Kevin Feige, the then-president, slammed a stack of investigative reports on the table.

"Look at these numbers. 69% of moviegoers said they would go to theaters to support Lucy 3. Another 21% said they were considering it, and only 10% said they knew about the series but weren't interested."

"Now compare this to our Avengers data—43% say they'll watch, 35% are undecided. Meanwhile, Lucy's Comic sales are skyrocketing, and they're on track to becoming the third-largest comic company in the U.S."

Kevin Feige tapped his fingers on the table. "If this continues, their films will eat into Marvel's audience. This is no joke."

"Sir, I believe the reason for the high interest is that Lucy has reached its climactic arc. I've studied their Comic—this is a major turning point. But after this, they won't be able to generate the same level of hype." The vice president of Marvel Studios explained.

"I know that!" Kevin Feige replied. "That's why we need to act fast. Every genre has a limited audience, and people's interest in any one genre fades over time. Today's young viewers love superheroes, but they won't love them forever. We need to capture this market quickly and turn them into lifelong Marvel fans."

"You're absolutely right."

"How's Avengers 2 progressing?"

"Filming is complete, and it's entering post-production."

"Find out Lucy's exact release date. I need to know when it's coming out. We can't afford a head-on clash."

Initially, Kevin Feige had considered having Avengers compete directly with Lucy, hoping to siphon some of its audience.

But now, Lucy had grown into an unstoppable force. Given its current level of hype, unless it suffered a dramatic drop in quality, it would undoubtedly dominate the box office in its release month.

So rather than competing directly, Feige opted for a different approach—digging up dirt on Lucy and using online campaigns to smear it.

In fact, every major IP that achieved mainstream popularity inevitably attracted a wave of haters.

These people didn't necessarily dislike Lucy itself. Many hadn't even watched a single film in the series.

Some just disliked a particular actor, some held a grudge against Ethan, while others simply resented the dominance of big studios and franchises.

As a result, whenever someone praised Lucy, these people would emerge, accusing them of being paid shills and nitpicking irrelevant details.

For example, in the trailer, there was a scene where a dog was seen fleeing from an explosion. Since the trailer didn't show what happened to the dog afterward, some began speculating that the animal had met a tragic fate.

Seizing on this speculation, they reported Lucy to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), accusing the production of animal abuse.

When Ethan heard that an animal rights group was accusing him of mistreating animals, he almost laughed out loud.

"They watched a trailer and decided I was abusing animals?" Ethan scoffed.

"Yes, and they're protesting outside the office," Yuffie added, exasperated. This group was like a persistent parasite—always attaching themselves to potential profit opportunities.

Ethan stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and picked up a pair of binoculars.

Sure enough, a group of women in bikinis wearing dog-head masks stood outside, holding large protest signs for passing pedestrians to see.

"What do their signs say?" Ethan asked.

Yuffie listened to her earpiece, then replied, "The signs read: 'Stop animal cruelty! Lucy's Crew must apologize!'"

"Ridiculous." Ethan smirked. "How many media outlets have covered this?"

"Six, but none of the major outlets. They only ran brief reports."

"So how much is their leader trying to extort from us?" Ethan put down the binoculars.

"They're demanding we release the full, unedited footage of the animal scenes and donate five million dollars to animal protection causes."

"Quite a big appetite." Ethan sat back in his chair. "Tell production to stall them—don't agree to anything. Meanwhile, get the animal trainers we've worked with to issue statements refuting these claims."

Ethan didn't say exactly how to handle it, but Yuffie immediately understood his intent.

"Got it." She turned and left.

Ethan then dialed a private investigator. "I've got a job for you, buddy."

"Go ahead," said a voice on the other end, its tone making it impossible to determine gender.

"PETA. I've heard they practice animal euthanasia. Investigate them—get photos, and make sure the animals look as miserable as possible."

"Understood."

After hanging up, Ethan put the PETA matter out of his mind.

In the U.S., PETA was notorious for its hypocrisy. Under the guise of protecting animals, they constantly launched harassment campaigns. No industry was safe—whether it was movies, television, or even video games.

For example, when Nintendo released Animal Crossing, PETA criticized it for including fishing and bug-catching, calling it "anti-vegan" and urging a boycott.

The Final Fantasy series also became a target due to its fishing mechanics.

Even more absurdly, PETA once suggested replacing cows with women and using human breast milk instead of cow's milk—claiming that milking cows was animal abuse.

Ethan couldn't help but wonder: shouldn't feminists have torn PETA apart over that statement?

It all boiled down to one thing—business, not ideology.

Ethan wasn't afraid of these people. No matter how loudly PETA shouted, they had no real evidence. On the other hand, by coming after him, they had just made themselves a target.

Sure enough, three days later, the investigator sent Ethan the photos.

Although Ethan already knew about PETA's shady practices, he was still surprised by the sheer extent of their cruelty.

It turned out this organization had far fewer ethical boundaries than he had imagined.

....

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