With awards season now firmly behind us, the ToB Crew can start concentrating in the things that REALLY matter again - things like the Batsuit! Matt Reeves released a brief (and very red) test footage clip of Robert Pattinson in the new Batsuit, so Julian, Jeremy, and Dan combed through each frame to pull out all the possible clues. Meanwhile, rumour has is that Sam Raimi is in talks to direct Dr. Strange 2, the new James Bond theme was released, the insane set technology used on The Mandalorian was revealed and much more! Plus the guys recap their picks from the Oscars!

FYI, this month’s ToB Film Club pick is “Days of Thunder”.

Also, congratulations to Jason Telford for winning our Oscars Patreon Contest!

If you enjoy the show please subscribe and leave a nice review on Apple Podcasts, and check out Patreon.com/TowerBabbleCast to become one of our latest patrons.

Show Notes

Movies

The Batman - Robert Pattinson's Batsuit.
Warner Bros talks about the why they changed the name of “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Haley Quinn” to “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey”.
BIllie Eilish releases the theme for “James Bond: No Time to Die”.
“Sonic” has a 94% audience score on rotten tomatoes and making money at the box office.
Untitled Sony/Marvel movie coming in October 2021.
Sam Raimi is in talks to direct “Dr Strange 2”.

Television

Kevin Smith’s “Masters of the Universe” reboot announces an epic voice cast, featuring Mark Hamill as Skeletor, and Kevin Conroy as Merman, as well as Lena Heady and Sarah Michelle Geller.
“Stranger Things 4” teaser.
The Obi Wan Kenobi show delayed to 2021 for rewrites.
“The Mandalorian” S2 coming in October.
Disney is also considering spin-offs for characters from “The Mandalorian”..
The crazy new set and lighting technology used on “The Mandalorian” has been revealed.
A remake of “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” might be in the works at EA.
Unreleased footage of “Star Wars: Underworld” was released online
The Marvel Shows coming to Disney+ this year got a Super Bowl teaser. The dates for the shows were also released:
- August - Falcon & Winter Soldier
- December - WandaVision
A “Transformers” reboot may be in the works based on “Beast Wars”.
The “Uncharted” movie delayed (again) to 2021 after losing the director (again).
A live action “Bambi” remake is in the works.

Oscar Results

WHO WILL WIN

Julian: 3
Daniel: 4
Jeremy: 6 (Winner)

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian: 3
Daniel: 6 (Winner)
Jeremy: 4

Best Picture

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: 1917
Daniel D’Souza: 1917
Jeremy Kozier: 1917

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: 1917
Daniel D’Souza: Parasite (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: 1917

Best Director

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: Quentin Tarantino
Daniel D’Souza: Bong Joon Ho (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: Sam Mendes

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: Sam Mendes
Daniel D’Souza: Bong Joon Ho (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: Bong Joon Ho (Winner)

Best Actor

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: Joaquin Phoenix (Winner)
Daniel D’Souza: Joaquin Phoenix (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: Joaquin Phoenix (Winner)

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: Joaquin Phoenix (Winner)
Daniel D’Souza: Joaquin Phoenix (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: Joaquin Phoenix (Winner)

SIDE BET

Julian Meush: Jonathan Pryce
Daniel D’Souza: Adam Driver
Jeremy Kozier: Leonardo DiCaprio

Best Actress

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: Scarlett Johansson
Daniel D’Souza: Scarlett Johansson
Jeremy Kozier: Renee Zellweger (Winner)

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: Scarlett Johansson
Daniel D’Souza: Scarlett Johansson
Jeremy Kozier: Scarlett Johansson

Best Supporting Actor

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: Tom Hanks
Daniel D’Souza: Brad Pitt (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: Brad Pitt (Winner)

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: Al Pacino
Daniel D’Souza: Joe Pesci
Jeremy Kozier: Al Pacino

Best Supporting Actress

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: Florence Pugh
Daniel D’Souza: Florence Pugh
Jeremy Kozier: Laura Dern (Winner)

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: Florence Pugh
Daniel D’Souza: Florence Pugh
Jeremy Kozier: Florence Pugh

Best Adapted Screenplay

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: “Little Women,” Greta Gerwig
Daniel D’Souza: “Joker,” Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Jeremy Kozier: “Little Women,” Greta Gerwig

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: “Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi (Winner)
Daniel D’Souza: “Joker,” Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Jeremy Kozier: “The Irishman,” Steven Zaillian

Best Original Screenplay

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino
Daniel D’Souza: “Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho, Jin Won Han (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: “Knives Out,” Rian Johnson
Daniel D’Souza: “Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho, Jin Won Han (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: “Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho, Jin Won Han (Winner)

Best Cinematography

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: “1917,” Roger Deakins (Winner)
Daniel D’Souza: “1917,” Roger Deakins (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: “1917,” Roger Deakins (Winner)

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: “1917,” Roger Deakins (Winner)
Daniel D’Souza: “1917,” Roger Deakins (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: “1917,” Roger Deakins (Winner)

SIDE BET

Julian Meush: “Joker,” Lawrence Sher
Daniel D’Souza: “The Lighthouse,” Jarin Blaschke
Jeremy Kozier: “The Irishman,” Rodrigo Prieto

Best Original Score

WHO WILL WIN

Julian Meush: “Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir (Winner)
Daniel D’Souza: “Little Women,” Alexandre Desplat
Jeremy Kozier: “Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir (Winner)

WHO WE WANT TO WIN

Julian Meush: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams
Daniel D’Souza: “Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir (Winner)
Jeremy Kozier: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams

May 27, 2026

SSSW - The Mandalorian and Grogu

It's hard to believe it's been so long since the last Star Wars movie hit theatres. After years of announcements, failed projects, and even a change in leadership at Lucasfilm, the first movie in nearly a decade is a follow-up to the first ever live action Star Wars show. Maybe that's fitting for a new era, under new management. The film itself is a fast paced, action-packed, adventure that hails back to the old serials that George Lucas loved. While it is certainly a fun time at the movies, with exciting set-pieces, characters inclusions from across the lore, all of which set on planets with diverse biomes (i.e. some of the things Star Wars does best). Unfortunately, the movie lacks compelling stakes, character depth (where's Din's arc?), much of any plot to speak of, or even a sense of real "importance" - and while that may be a bit intangible, it prompts the question: why was THIS movie the first to bring Star Wars back to feature films in almost a decade? Julian and Rachel try to answer that question and dive deep into all the nerdy details.

May 6, 2026

SSSW - Maul: Shadow Lord - Chapter 9 & 10 / Season Finale

There it is, folks - the season finale to the latest creation from Lucasfilm Animation. It was certainly gorgeous to look at, with the new painterly stylings, and there was no shortage of thrilling action to sink your teeth into, nor did they skimp on the stakes. But while the season started off on a welcomed unfamiliar foot, by the end of this season, and certainly in these final two episodes, the hallmarks of what we've come to know from Star Wars animation showed their head. Early on, the admitted inspirations from films such as 'Heat' and 'The Dark Knight', provided a needed grit to a show which was ostensibly following a villain. This provided the show with a fresh personality - distinguishing itself from it's predecessors in animation. Unfortunately, the creatives couldn't seem to maintain that tone, as by this two-part season finale the old tropes and predictable beats of 'Clone Wars' rose into prominence. And while the appearance of a certain fan favourite character adds some very cool action, the unoriginality from a narrative perspective robbed the final moments of the needed pathos and drama required to land the plane in the most satisfying of ways.

April 30, 2026

SSSW - Maul: Shadow Lord - Chapter 7 & 8

There's two of them now?! With the arrival of another Inquisitor things really start to escalate on Janyx. We see Maul at his lowest since probably his spider-leg days (he goes on a self-guided therapy session/vision quest that results in something quite inspiring actually!), providing us a deeper understanding of his motivations, beyond simply "revenge!". Meanwhile, Devon continues to be the most interesting character on the show as she takes two steps forward, one step back, flirting with the dark side (though bonus points for the slick ride she acquires for their getaway). On the action side, the show continues to bring the goods, with dynamic, large scale battles (heavy on LAATs which is always a treat), intimate lightsaber combat, and a special shout out to the speeder chase this week that included a new Star Wars techno track (get outta here Niamos!), which combined for a chef's kiss of a sequence. The finale is next week, dropping on Star Wars Day (May the 4th), so stay tuned to see how much the show wants to tie up and how much it wants to leave dangling ahead of season 2!

April 25, 2026

Episode 205 - CinemaCon 2026 + News Roundup

It's been a minute since Matt and Julian sat down to cover the latest in film and TV news. Some might say it's been dearly missed. Well wait no more folks because this week it's all news and nothing but the news so help me god! If the last few weeks (months?) of stories weren't enough, CinemaCon 2026 also just concluded which had it's own news deluge. The guys unpack it all (well most of it anyway)! Of utmost priority is the news of Michael B Jordan and Austin Butler's reboot of 'Miami Vice', which is close to Matt's heart. Plus 'Spaceballs 2' gets a title and release date, trailers for 'Dune 3', 'Clayface' and 'Street Fighter' all surprise (in a good way), and a new 'Lord of the Rings' movie is announced (and you won't guess who's writing it!). Plus, a 'Game of Thrones' movie, more 'Transformers' and is 'Avatar' over? All this and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!