I write these threads with full intention of not replying to a single comment. With this mentality, I ensure my ideas are airtight, perfectly conveyed. This thread in particular started in July of last year to give you gauge on how long this process takes.
Though for this one instance I will respond, if only because I wanted to respond to a post of yours from a few months ago, but didn't have the time:
The three movies in your post (The Matrix Resurrections, Evangelion 3.0+1.0, and Spider-Man: No Way Home) were exactly the three examples I had in mind one morning when thinking about the future of this remake series. I thought to myself, "Roundhouse beat me to it!"
--- MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ABOVE MOVIES FROM HERE ON OUT FOLKS ---
What do these three movies have in common with FFVII? For starters, the timeframe of their initial releases. Neon Genesis Evangelion began airing in 1995, Final Fantasy VII released in 1997, The Matrix graced audiences in 2001, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man followed in 2002. Between the mid 90's and early 00's, these titles changed the way people perceived anime, video games, action movies, and superheroes. The next coincidence is that each title received some "continuation" in the 20's. And what common theme do these new titles are share? Healing.
At the end of Evangelion 3.0+1.0, Shinji resolves the trauma between himself, his father, Rei, and Asuka. In Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Spider-Men from previous theatrical series are able to save a handful of their respective villains, most notably Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin. And finally we have The Matrix Resurrections, which reverts the deaths of Neo and Trinity and places control of the matrix, of that world's entire future, in their hands.
One has to ask themselves: "Why is it that all these landmark series are re-evaluating themselves?" "Why is it that they all choose to reverse the trauma from their initial stories?" "Why is it that they focus on healing?"
Time. The answer is simply time.
20 years or more have passed since these characters first took root in our hearts and minds. Though the credits rolled long ago, we lived on. We continued to process their emotions, their situations, their actions. With rationalization came acceptance, and with acceptance came healing. These new titles reflect that. They reflect the end versions of these characters that exist in our hearts.
Cloud vs Sephiroth is quite possibly the biggest rivalry to exist in gaming. We've seen them battle again and again and again. But the end of conflict is not in victory, it's in release. “Catharsis” and “forgiveness” as I wrote it. There is no where else to take these characters. Time will win again, as it always does.
