- LISTEN TO THE FANS
Quoth the Stan Lee, “Never give the fans what they think they want.”
Indeed. The writer of Animorphs, Katherine Applegate, had a good answer to fan inquiries about the ending of the books.
War sucks. People die. I’m not going to write a happy ending. Deal with it.
Fans might want a happy ending, but the creator doesn’t always want the same. Fan-creator relationships can be fascinating, in the parasocial sense.
You can still have an unhappy ending that is satisfying. That’s the main issue. The example I use is what if, during Empire Strikes Back, a common rebel killed Vader in battle with a lucky shot, or a stormtrooper killed Luke with a lucky shot? Sure, that would be realistic. It can technically happen according to the rules of the world. It subverts expectations and people won’t see it coming. War is hell and respects no one. But that wouldn’t make a better story.