Review-bombing is the process of flooding a piece of media's user reviews with negative ones, typically giving it the lowest possible score. Review-bombing is often done by people who have never seen or played the work in question, or by using fake accounts to artificially inflate low scores.

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The practice has become prominent in the past few years, with prominent works like Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Last Of Us: Part II notable for review-bombing campaigns. Some films have been hit harder, with negative reviews piling in before they have even been released – when the thousands reviewing could not have watched them.

6 Eternals Got Review Bombed For Its LGBTQ Characters

Phastos from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's 'Eternals'

Often, review-bombing happens over social issues, with fake accounts pouring scorn upon works for the inclusion of diverse characters or perceived 'social justice' storylines –  like feminism, race, or the LGBTQ community. The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Eternals is the latest example of this. Eternals saw a wave of negative reviews targeting the inclusion of the character Phastos, the first openly gay superhero of the MCU.

RELATED: The Eternals: Main Characters Ranked By Likability

Phastos has a husband and children, and is seen kissing his husband. Much of the review-bombing drew attention to this, accusing it of being 'woke pandering,' Even without its review-bombing, Eternals has some of the lowest review scores of any MCU property in years, but its diversity was one thing critics lauded.

5 The Promise Shows The Darkest Side Of Review Bombing

Mikael and Ana in The Promise film

Review-bombing already shows a darker side of discourse. 2016's The Promise, starring Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale, has its story inextricably linked with the Armenian Genocide, a crime against humanity committed during the First World War.

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Prior to its release, The Promise was flooded with thousands of one-star reviews, and a smaller number of ten-star reviews. It was judged that the one-star reviews were an organised campaign by deniers of the Armenian Genocide, with the ten-star reviews being a pushback against that.

4 Black Panther Was Controversial Before Release

T'Challa stands in Black Panther suit to challenge Killmonger

As it stands, Black Panther remains one of the most highly-regarded films of the MCU by fans and critics alike. Particularly in wake of star Chadwick Boseman's tragic and untimely death, the film is beloved by audiences, and grossed an excess of $1 billion dollars.

Nonetheless, prior to Black Panther's release (and even shortly after), there were review-bombing campaigns against the film. Telling the story of an African king and superhero angered some, who considered it to be a 'woke' display by Disney and Marvel, as did the depiction of Wakanda as a technologically advanced state with an Afrofuturism aesthetic.

3 The Suicide Squad's Review-Bombing Was Done By Other DC Fandoms

Rick Flagg, Bloodsport, King Shark, Peacemaker and others in The Suicide Squad

Review-bombing isn't always backlash to perceived or actual social/political messages. After the legitimately bad reviews of its predecessorSuicide SquadThe Suicide Squad met an unexpectedly positive critical reception and was considered an improvement. There was a small movement to review-bomb The Suicide Squad prior to its release, in complaint of its 'lighter' tone than the traditionally-gritty DC Extended Universe. The Suicide Squad was an action-comedy, despite its very present darkness.

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A smaller subset of this user-bombing was targeted to hurt its rating, and convince DC to continue letting Zack Snyder helm movies after the fan success of Zack Snyder's Justice League. James Gunn acknowledged the pre-emptive review-bombing, but claimed to be unbothered.

2 Ghostbusters (2016) Saw Every Type Of Controversy

Jillian, Abby, Erin and Patty in the 2016 Ghostbusters movie

Few films have been as controversial prior to their release as Ghostbusters (2016)Ghostbusters is a semi-sequel to the 1984 comedy classic that had four female characters making up the titular team, in contrast to the four men of the original film.

Despite being helmed by several acclaimed comedic actresses, and being relatively light on social justice or feminist concepts, Ghostbusters became near-instantly notorious upon its reveal and was condemned by some as an 'overly feminist' move. Review-bombing was not as well-known at the time, but part of the controversy of Ghostbusters saw it hit with a barrage of negative reviews prior to release.

1 Captain Marvel Saw Changes To Pre-Release Reviews

Carol Danvers about to fight Yon-Rogg in Captain Marvel

Movies of feminist-nature tend to be vulnerable to review-bombing. Captain Marvel, being the first female-led film in the MCU, has a story that emphasizes the struggles Carol Danvers has faced as a womanCaptain Marvel had coordinated campaigns to tank the user review scores before anybody could have seen it.

As a result, Rotten Tomatoes made changes to its rating system, outright preventing users from rating a film before its release. This change was much like IMDb, which doesn't allow ratings before a film is officially released.

NEXT: Marvel: 10 Controversies About The Company That Fans Can't Forget