What a crazy time of year. With D23 leading directly into San Diego Comic-Con the news just pours in. Luckily Julian, Daniel and Jeremy are all back together to unpack it all for you. Starting with the Emmy nominations then moving into a Disney heavy movie news segment. The guys also discuss some new Young Justice details as well as break down the rumour of a possible N64 Classic. All that and so much more in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast.

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Show Notes

Emmy Nominations

Predictions for who we WANT to win and who we think WILL win.

Movies

George A. Romero passed away at the age of 77 due to lung cancer.
Quinton Tarantino has revealed what his next film will be. Sources close to THR report that Tarantino will write and direct a film based on the Manson murders with rumours of Brad Pitt and J Law in talks to join the project.
D23 happened last weekend and at the big Disney convention they revealed the full cast of Aladdin:
- Mena Massoud will play Aladdin, Naomi Scott (Power Rangers) will play Jasmine. They also confirmed that Will Smith will play Genie with Guy Ritchie directing.
Disney also revealed some information about their new Dumbo movie:
- Tim Burton is attached to direct with the film set to release in March 2019.
- The cast will include Colin Farrell, Danny Devito, Eva Green, Michael Keaton, Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins.
Director Brad Bird revealed at D23 that the main cast of The Incredibles will reprise their roles for the sequel. Except for Spencer Fox who played Das who is now too old.
Star Wars: Edge of the Galaxy.
- Star Wars “Westworld type” hotel.
Wreck it Ralph 2 goes to the internet with more video game companies on board and ALL the Disney princesses.
Fox is apparently “reevaluating" the Alien franchise.
Variety is reporting that Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts is in talks to direct the sequel.
Variety is also reporting that the Sony spinoff movies will be very distinct and possibly be R rated if it fits the project.
- Rumours are saying that the Venom movie will be a John Carpenter/David Cronenberg-esque horror film.
Speaking to Variety Mark Ruffalo who plays Bruce Banner/Hulk in the MCU clarified, AGAIN, that we won't get a solo Hulk movie because Universal owns the rights.
According to sources at THR, Warner Bros is apparently working on a “graceful” way to transition Ben Affleck’s Batman out of the DCEU.
Speaking to Yahoo! Movies Geoff Johns revealed that Dwayne Johnson will not be appearing in the Shazam movie.
Todd McFarlane has announced a new Spawn movie and that he will be directing it.
At the end of the Legion panel, creator Noah Hawley dropped the mic by revealing he was working on a film with Fox with only two words “Doctor. Doom.”

Agree or Disagree

Speaking to Indiewire, Christopher Nolan had some pretty pointed stuff to say about Netflix and their release strategy.

TV

A new trailer for The Defenders was revealed at SDCC along with the premiere episode.
Iron Fist season 2 was announced at The Defenders panel.
At Comic-Con new images were revealed for Young Justice season 3 showing off new character designs for the main cast.

Games

Telltale announced that the fourth and FINAL season of their Walking Dead series will be released in 2018.
Nintendo has filed a trademark application for various game controllers. One of which being for the N64 which have sparked rumours that the company is starting on its next mini-console.
Kingdom Hearts 3 coming in 2018

Comics

Grant Morrison revealed at Comic-Con that he is working on a sequel to his acclaimed graphic novel "Arkham Asylum: A serious House on a Serious Earth".

What We've Been Watching/Playing

War for the Planet of the Apes
Baby Driver
Spider-Man: Homecoming

Nerd Association

Theme: Comic-Con

Round 1: Comic-Con
Round 2: Comic Book
Round 3: Comic Creators

Jun 5, 2025

SSSW - Tales of the Underworld

Lucasfilm Animation has been hard at work on their next major project, 'Maul: Shadow Lord', but they've found the time to deliver another installment in their "Tales of" anthology series. The first ones covering the Jedi and the Empire, they now turn their focus towards the Underworld. However, be warned, this is a bit of a misnomer. Don't expect any crime syndicates or really any large scale criminality here. These 2 mini-arcs instead focus on Asajj Ventress (I know, not the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the Underworld) as she assists a young Jedi on the run from the Empire, and the origin story of Cad Bane. Which admittedly is closer in line with the criminal underworld concept, but is really more interested in telling a western style revenge story instead. All in all, despite the always great visuals and sound/music design, and few interesting ideas, there's not enough meat on the bone here to satisfy most viewers. But most disappointing is its failure to capitalize on the potential of the Underworld concept.

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.

Episode 101 - Comic-Con and More