Every person who studies fans, fan culture, and fan history can tell you *different* reasons why naming and elevating "superfans" into a focus group is a very bad idea.
"The fans suck." - the majority of community managers I know.
They’re basically going to employ Gamergaters as creative directors.
The original spark that started the franchise is long dead.
Yeah. Understating the dynamics feels necessary in this day and age, but to base decisions off it? The best explanation I’ve seen so far is like making the food your toddler wants and then them still having a meltdown.
Also their ideas for movies suck.
out of context I'd be of a divided mind about it, considering on one hand many long running franchises do have creative teams made of the fans of the original release. on the other hand: weird shipping from fans turned creators. In context however, corporations + focus groups = this will just suck.