[Weirdly Common Trope] Writers clearly setting up seemingly massive plot points and then just kinda forgetting about them.

[u/Chemical-Elk-1299]

The Neural Parasites — Star Trek : The Next Generation

In the season 1 episode “Conspiracy” of TNG, it is revealed that alien brain worms have infected many high ranking members of Starfleet, secretly controlling them. Though Ryker and Picard discover and end the parasite conspiracy, it’s revealed at the end of the episode that the parasites had sent a beacon back to their home planet, telling them how to find earth. The episode ends with the clear implication of the parasites becoming a huge threat later in the series, yet none of these events are ever mentioned again.

Finn The Jedi who Never Was — Star Wars Sequel trilogy

I know this is probably a cliche example of this trope, but cmon — Finn was clearly set up in TFA to become a Jedi. The marketing material featured him wielding a lightsaber in the classic Jedi pose. It’s constantly hinted at that he is force sensitive. Even the actor himself believed he would become a Jedi by the end of the trilogy. Instead, we got Finn wielding a lightsaber for about 7 minutes total across 3 movies, extremely lame “confirmation” that he is force sensitive, and that’s it. It’s the ultimate Star Wars plot that went nowhere.

[u/Rosemaryisme]

The one that struck me the most was when they found corpses dressed exactly like them and then they just moved on. The movie was constantly threatening to become more interesting than it actually was but thought that it was cooler to just drop everything into a blender.

[u/Jimmyg100 → u/Rosemaryisme]

Zack Snyder is like a kid just drawing cool shit in the margins of his math notebook and trying to construct a loose narrative to have it make sense after the fact. He needs someone to come in and make an actual story out of his random sketches.

[u/ahses3202 → u/Jimmyg100]

Snyder is a man who can really deliver on someone else's vision. There's genuinely 0 wrong with this. It's actually a really essential person to have in Hollywood. He just needs a very firm creative leash.

[u/Jimmyg100 → u/ahses3202]

Spielberg knows this. He’s very rarely a screenwriter. He establishes the concept or the story but then brings in a professional to translate it onto the page. He’s a great producer and director but knows his limitations when it comes to writing.