Note: Due to technical difficulties, the audio after the 20 min mark of this episode is not ideal. We've done what we can to clean it up, however it’s still not up to our standards. Thank you for your patience with this and please accept our apology. We expect to be back to our normal high quality next episode.

Some days during the pandemic it feels like Hollywood has gone to sleep, with not a drop of news. Other days, the news comes at you so fast you forget you’re even in a pandemic. This last Wednesday was one of those days. Between the news of Gina Carano’s firing from Disney, and Joel and Ellie’s casting for ‘The Last of Us’, it felt like the good ol’ days on Twitter. News coming in so hot, that before you can even formulate a thought, it’s been debunked or some other news bit is thrown at you. It was exciting. So with at least one news day worth of stories to discuss, the ToB Crew takes a look back at a busy day on Twitter as well as a ton of other stories from the last couple weeks, amd to end the show, the guys discuss the latest goings ons with ‘WandaVision’ in a full spoiler discussion. All that, and so much more, on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!

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Movies

Gina Carano fired from Disney and ‘The Mandalorian’.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay have been cast as Joel and Ellie for ‘The Last of Us’ series coming to HBO.
More disturbing news of Joss Whedon’s behavior, this time on the set of ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’.
Christopher Plummer passed away at the age of 91.
Trailers:
- Fast 9
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
- The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
Marvel still has no plans to release ‘Black Widow’ on Disney+, remaining firm on their commitment to a theatrical release.
The director of ‘Godzilla vs Kong’, Adam Wingard, is set to direct a remake/sequel/requel of the Nicholas Cage and John Travolta cult hit, ‘Faceoff’.
The sequel to the last movie most people saw in theatres, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ has an official title, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’. It’s expected that Knuckles the Echidna will make his debut alongside Tails.
The Matrix 4 is officially called ‘The Matrix: Resurrections’.
The buzz for Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ continues to ramp up as we approach the release in March, and with it comes new images of Jared Leto’s Joker.
Jamie Lee Curtis will join Kevin Hart and Cate Blanchett in the feature adaption of the ‘Borderlands’ video game. It will be directed by Eli Roth and written by ‘Chernobyl’ creator, Craig Mazin.
Marvel has found a writer for it’s ‘Blade’ film. ‘The Watchmen’ writer Stacey Osei-Kuffour has begun working on a script for the Muhurshula Ali vehicle.
A film following the events of the Gamestop stock situation called ‘The Antisocial Network’ is in the works at MGM.
Edgar Wright reveals the script for ‘Baby Driver 2’ is complete.
A direct sequel to the original ‘Cloverfield’ is in the works. It won’t be a found footage movie.
Four new DC Showcase animated shorts to be released in 2021 and 2022.

TV

The 2021 Golden Globe nominees have been released.
Marvel is working on a ‘Wakanda’ series for Disney+.
Nintendo scrapped a live-action ‘Zelda’ series with Netflix after news of the project leaked online.
An animated ‘Game of Thrones’ series is in the works at HBO.
Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller Bridge to create and star in a new ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ series for Amazon Prime.
‘Brooklyn Nine Nine’ is set to end with season 8.
HBO is in talks with new writers as they look to find a new voice for ‘True Detective’ season 4.
The creator of ‘Over the Garden Wall’, has been tapped by Netflix to create a ‘Redwall’ series for the streamer.
The CW and HBO Max are in talks to co-finance original shows to premiere on HBO Mac with a next day airing on The CW.
A revival of ‘Frasier’ is being considered for Paramount+.
‘Titans’ gets another new Robin. Season 3 will introduce Tim Drake; played by Jay Lycurgo.

What We’ve Been Watching

WandaVision (spoilers)

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 161 - One Crazy Day... on Twitter

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