The challenge with John Carter is that The Barsoom book series heavily influenced Sci-Fi works that came after.
Elements of the story are in Buck Rodger’s, Flash Gordon, Dune, Star Wars and as recent as Avatar.
As a result so much of what makes the character and his stories great, will seem like rehashing of stuff we have all seen many times before. Problem is it is the other way around.
Also Disney released a god awful version of the story in 2012 movie. God that movie was a mess.
I tried reading the book recently, and by gods… it’s… interesting to say the least. I think the writing for the female character(s) was really jarring for me. I can’t remember, but I couldn’t keep reading it. Some may like it, sure, but I certainly didn’t find the book enjoyable enough to keep going.
Edit: that being said, I watched the movie in high school and really enjoyed it. I hated that they never made a sequel. But, with the naming issue and it releasing at the same time as a blockbuster, it really didn’t get as much traction as they wanted.
The books are over a century old so while I didn’t click with them either it’s easy to set why they’re not up to modern standards.
The movie bombing had many more reasons. Disney got a new CEO while it was being made who didn’t believe in it, so it basically got no marketing at all. It also demanded script changes during filming, which is why the character of Dejah Thoris alternates between powerful woman and damsel in distress throughout the movie. And there was a dispute over what the movie should be called. IMHO John Carter is the worst title they could have gone for, my personal favourite would have been Barsoom.
But yeah, for everyone who missed it it is definitely worth a watch, it’s a contender for the most expensive and beautifully made B-movie of all time.
maybe nobody gives a shit about a franchise where a confederate is the protag?