Now everyone is a Marvel nerd!

It began with Lord of the Rings. An epic, cinematic trilogy to rival the first Star Wars trilogy. With that, came the rise of the pseudo-nerds. People who would otherwise, never touch science or fantasy fiction. People who would rather proclaim themselves stupid than go anywhere near an intellectual topic. But when the LotR movies came, these people became "experts". They wanted their friends to know that they are "experts". They announce trivia and speculate about sequels. "My friends, I am the expert. Listen to me." And then there is the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

It is great to see so many comic book movies being churned out at such rapid rates. As of now, Captain America: Civil War is in cinemas, and X-Men: Apocalypse is slated to follow. Some thing is lost because of all this. The intimate exclusivity fans have with the comics and publishers. The fans who were there before the movies. The Marvel Zombies. The DC fanboys. And not the least, fans of Image, Top Cow etc. We hear these pseudo-fans proclaim in our face how awesome Marvel is. Sure it is, and that is why we were there before the cinematic universe. We were the first to get excited over Samuel L. Jackson's cameo in Iron Man. We dreamed about Avengers and Justice League going onscreen, long before they did. We speculated about these movies, then only imaginary, long before they did. We were disappointed when we thought these movies would forever stay imaginary. We the fans, were so happy, when talk of an Avengers movie started. We didn't think it was possible. But it came, and the outsiders joined us in celebration. We couldn't believe how lucky we were.

To the pseudo-fans, I just want to say this. I know you want to be an expert. I know you want to impress that girl with your knowledge. Or your friends, or your family, or relatives, or even colleagues. We are glad you have joined us. But seriously, that knowledge is just comic book trivia. It is only entertainment. A lot of it has no value. Not every comic book is The Killing Joke or Sandman. Your knowledge, that you found and learned easily just by googling and browsing wiki pages. It's popcorn. I hope you feel very proud of and smart about yourselves, finally having "special" knowledge. And don't you forget, us fans... we were there before you were. We supported Marvel and DC and Image and Top Cow etc with our money, long before you did. You get to be an "expert", only because of us. Cheerio.