Rotten Tomatoes is propping up corporate entertainment with inflated critic scores, exposing a massive disconnect between the establishment media consensus and the everyday Americans who actually spend money on these products.
Forbes reports that X-Men '97 just set a Rotten Tomatoes record with a 99% score, but the real story is the glaring critic-audience divide. Ms. Marvel sits at a baffling 98% on the aggregator, yet the show was canceled and the movie she co-led, The Marvels, was the lowest-grossing MCU feature in history. Forbes framed Ms. Marvel's failure as her "deserving better"; CNN buried the Rotten Tomatoes disconnect entirely, opting instead to cover the Earth Photo 2026 Awards on wildlife trafficking.
According to Forbes, season 2 of X-Men '97 premiered to a perfect 100% score from over two dozen critics, pushing the show's overall score to 99%—the highest in Marvel history. The top of the Rotten Tomatoes leaderboard reads like a list of corporate media priorities: X-Men '97 at 99%, Ms. Marvel at 98%, and Black Panther at 96%.
But follow the money, and the consensus collapses. Forbes notes that Ms. Marvel, despite its 98% critical adoration, "never got a second season." Furthermore, The Marvels, which featured the character, was the lowest-grossing MCU feature ever. Rather than questioning why critics are out of touch with audiences, the establishment press spins the narrative to protect corporate IP.
The X-Men '97 success also comes with its own corporate drama. Forbes reports that creator Beau DeMayo was fired right before season 1 aired, though his work bleeds into season 2. He will not be involved in the already-greenlit season 3. The institutional machinery rolls on, discarding creators while protecting the brand. Even the Forbes reporter directed readers to X—still called Twitter by the legacy press—underscoring that real discourse happens outside the mainstream media's walled gardens.
Meanwhile, the broader establishment press is distracted by trivialities. CNN devoted its coverage to the Earth Photo 2026 Awards, highlighting wildlife crime photography. While fighting wildlife trafficking is a fine endeavor, the network's complete omission of the cultural disconnect in entertainment is telling. When legacy media isn't ignoring the story, it's spinning it to protect corporate interests.
Critics can hand out perfect scores all day, but the box office doesn't lie. As long as Rotten Tomatoes acts as a shield for corporate entertainment, the gap between the establishment consensus and the American public will only widen.
