Happy Halloween ToB fans! Julian, Daniel and Jeremy are back to discuss the latest in film and TV news on this spooktacular episode. The guys discuss Shazam! casting news, Fincher turning down Star Wars Episode IX, Netflix tidbits, some fun Halloween themed stories and everything is wrapped up with a spoiler-free review of Stranger Things 2. All this and so much more on a frightful episode of the Tower of Terror Podcast!

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Show Notes

Movies

According to THR, James Mangold is apparently working on an X-23 (Daphne Keen) spin-off.
The Venom movie has officially begun production and we also learned that much of Tom Hardy’s performance will be motion capture.
Ben Mendelson is up for the villain role in the Captain Marvel film according to Variety.
Justice League will only be 121 minutes long including credits, making it the shortest DC(EU) movie to date.
THR is reporting that Justice League is looking to open at around $110 to $120 million range domestically.
Zachary Levi has been cast in the lead role for the Shazam! film.
Deathstroke is getting his own movie and, The Raid director, Gareth Evans is in talks to write and direct.
We finally know the official name to for the Han Solo, solo movie, simply called Solo: A Star Wars Story.
David Fincher, in an interview with Empire, revealed that he met with Lucasfilm to discuss directing Episode 9.
- Check out this great video that examines Fincher's visual style.
It looks like Justin Lin will return to direct Fast and Furious 9 and 10. Although not officially confirmed, Vin Diesel, speaking on Facebook HEAVILY hinted at it.

TV

CBS has announced that Star Trek: Discovery will return for a second season. Unfortunately for american viewers it will still be on CBS All Access.
Deadline is reporting that Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin will return for season 3 of Daredevil.
Marvel’s The Punisher will premiere on Nov 17th.
Marvel TV exec Joeph Loeb confirmed in an interview with Inverse that they made the decision to bump back the release of The Punisher due to the events in Las Vegas.
Netflix aims to release 80 original films over the course of 2018 according to an interview by Variety with chief content officer Ted Sarandos.
Sarandos also said that they plan on spending $8 billion dollars next year across their original film and television projects.
Netflix revealed some info on what they call “binge racers”: people who watch an entire season of a show within the first 24hrs of its release, and what were the most "binge raced" series on the platform.
A recent episode of Arrow on CW name dropped Bruce Wayne and Gotham.

Halloween!!

C4 Comic Con - Jeremy’s impressions.
Exploring the year's top Halloween costumes according using Google's "Freightgeist" tool.
Discussing Julian's "Recipe to a Horror Fan" blog post.

What We've Been Watching

Stranger Things 2
This Is Us

May 22, 2025

SSSW/ToB Film Club - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

It's hard to believe that 'Rogue One' premiered nearly a decade ago. At the time, it was fairly well received, considered to be a decent first step into the standalone Star Wars movies, if not a bit messy. As the years passed, we learned more about the production. Gareth Edwards, who retained sole directing credit, was assisted by Tony Gilroy to "fix" the project. Tony went so far as to call it a "corpse" when he came aboard for rewrites and reshoots. It was Tony's inclusion that brought us some of the movies most memorable moments, and ultimately led him to leading the charge on 'Andor', a prequel project that flew under the radar as hits like 'The Mandalorian' hogged the spotlight. With 'Andor' now complete, considered by many to be a masterpiece in storytelling, not just in Star Wars but on television in general, now is the most appropriate time to reexamine the movie that spawned the Cassian-centered prequel series with fresh eyes. 'Andor', which leads directly into the events of 'Rogue One' recontextualizes much of the film, creating a unique viewing experience that pays off a multitude of threads that are brilliantly laid over the two seasons of 'Andor'. It takes the movie, which was already pretty good, and makes it great. Now existing as part of a whole that weaves a cohesive narrative from the nascent moments of the Rebellion all the way through to the destruction of the Death Star in 1977 (the seed that begat ALL Star Wars, and what we appropriately align our Star Wars BBY calendars to). It all feels wholistic and considered when viewed from the broader perspective - an accomplishment that should set a shining example of what Star Wars can and should aspire to.

May 15, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 Finale

After only 4 weeks - the blink of an eye - it's all over. The best Star Wars story since the Original Trilogy has graced our screens and left us in awe. These final three episodes weren't able to reach the emotional highs of last week's arc, but that wasn't the goal. Instead, it provides time to look back at what brought us here, and sets the stage for the climax of the story to take place not in this moment, but within the now recontextualized film that birthed all of this in the first place, 'Rogue One'. And while the show may carry Cassian's name on the title screen, it's been the cast of characters we've met along the way that truly elevated this experience. Not to pick favourites, but in particular, Luthen and Kleya, who get an episode all to themselves this week are the standouts. And what an episode it was, as their story which shepherded much of the series came to an end, as we all expected it would have to. Embracing those feelings of closure, in the final moments of the series, as Cassian flies off into 'Rogue One', we are treated to our last glimpses of our heroes and villains. From Dedra to Vel and even Perrin, we are left to consider their fates as the story marches with inevitability into what begat all of this way back in 1977. Will we ever see Kleya, Vel, Wilmon, or Bix again? One can only hope - and rebellions? Well, they're built on hope.

May 9, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E7 - 9

When dealing in the world of prequels, it’s impossible to escape the inevitable - Anakin will fall, Han will win the Falcon, Cassian will die on Scarif. Somehow, in the midst of some of the most thrilling episodes of television ever put to screen, Tony Gilroy and his team found a way to address that impending doom and weaponize it against the audience to induce some of the most gut wrenching and heart breaking moments we’ve yet to see on ‘Andor’ - “There’s some place he needs to be”. At a larger scale, the show continues to outdo itself on a weekly basis, proving that the Star Wars galaxy provides a colour pallet of some of the richest hues from which to paint bold and personal stories. Proving you can go beyond the larger than life stories of heroics and grandeur to human stories of loss and pain and everything in between. That’s without mentioning the deft touch in pulling in themes that resonates with the contemporary while remaining timeless - a feeling that is a staple of Star Wars. Every detail is considered, every character is deep and interesting. There isn’t much more that can be said about such a powerful piece of art, except that not even the audience can escape the inevitable - only one week remains of this masterpiece.

May 2, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E4 - 6

I'm sorry to tell you all, but we're already halfway through this final season of 'Andor'. Fortunately, the quality hasn't dipped one bit as we accelerate into the finish. Join Julian and Rachel as they savour every minute of this 3-episode arch that takes us to Ghorman for the first time on screen. Tony Gilroy and the team at Lucasfilm outdid themselves yet again in crafting every detail. The size of the set alone is impressive, but they take it a step further by developing a unique culture and even language different from anything we've seen in Star Wars before. It all fits seamlessly into this next chapter of the story that has a heavy emphasis on spycraft as the pressure ramps up for both the Rebellion and the Empire.

Episode 104 - Stranger Things 2

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