It feels like a lifetime since we did a news show. What with ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ coverage, reviews of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Dr Strange’ sucking up all of our time, it’s no wonder it’s been so long! Ultimately, this means that Julian and Jeremy have a smorgasbord of movie and TV news to unpack. Not the least of which being the all sorts of fun stuff coming out of the mounting ‘Avatar: The Way of the Water’ press barrage, which includes not only the teaser trailer, but also some VERY fun comments from the legend himself, James Cameron. Next up, is another round of DC related news out of Warner Bros. Between the ‘Flash’ movie now being in limbo, the lackluster trailer for ‘Black Adam’ and the constant befuddlement of their new CEO, there’s practically enough there for a whole episode on it’s own. But we have more! The guys also cover the odd reactions to Marvel’s CG in ‘Thor’ and ‘She-Hulk’, the box office success of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, another ‘Game of Thrones’ spin-off series (this time it’s interesting I promise!), and a metric ton of “what we’ve been watching”. All that and so much more on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!

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Show Notes

Trailers

Avatar: The Way of the Water
Clerks 3
Prey
Black Adam

Movies

Warner Bros:
- Ezra Miller continues to get himself into trouble. WB announces that they will not be bringing him back for any future DC projects, but hasn’t decided what it will do with the ‘Flash’ movie.
- David Zaslov is reportedly frustrated by the inconsistent output of DC films and that there hasn’t been sufficient long-term planning in terms of rolling out sequels. - Variety
- The Joker 2 is in the works, and has a title, ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’. It is also rumoured that Lady Gaga might join as Harley. Also it might be a musical?
- Matt Reeves revealed that the unmade Batfleck film was an “action driven James Bond style film”.
- A ‘Peacemaker’ spin-off series centering on Amanda Waller is in the works at HBO Max.
- The ‘Wonder Twins’ movie has been is canceled.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ has passed the $1B mark at the box office, and it keeps on going.
- Is Tom Cruise’s biggest premiere in his career
Netflix is shifting its focus to “bigger, fewer, better” films.
Marvel
- Tarren Edgerton has spoken to Marvel about playing Wolverine in the MCU.
- ‘She-Hulk’ trailer.
- A new ‘Daredevil’ series is in the works at Disney+.

TV

HBO has officially ordered ‘True Detective’ season 4 with Jodie Foster and Kali Reis.
A ‘Jon Snow’ spin-off series is in development at HBO, that was pitched by Kit Harrington.
Star Wars
- Kathleen Kennedy on ‘Solo’; She learned the wrong lessons about why that movie didn’t work, saying that they “shouldn't try recasting younger versions of their stars”.
- ‘Andor’ Season 1 will cover a timespan of one year, in universe. Season 2 will cover four years, leading into ‘Rogue One’.
- Obi-Wan Kenobi
  - Potential for a sequel series.
  - The original plans for Obi-Wan Kenobi included the potential of it being a a movie trilogy, and had a buddy cop style role for Commander Cody.
‘Harley Quinn’ Season 3 will drop July 28th on HBO Max with a 3-episode premiere followed by week-to-week releases through September 15th. Plus there’s a trailer.
Netflix has given the green light for ‘Squid Game’ season 2.
‘Raised by Wolves’ has been canceled at HBO after 2 seasons.

Misc.

Sony Studios
- There is a ‘Horizon’ series in the works on Netflix and it’s set to begin filming in August.
- A ‘God of War’ series is coming to Amazon.
- Oh and a ‘Gran Turismo’ show is being made as well.
Kevin Feige confirms that they’ll be returning to San Diego Comic Con. Nature is healing.
Top Gun Maverick, Joseph Kosinski, director, says that we can probably blame Star Wars and Marvel for the reason that Tron 3 never got made.
Live action ‘Speed Racer’ series in the works with Bad Robot for AppleTV+.

What We’ve Been Watching

Jurassic World Dominion
Undone (seasons 1 and 2) - Amazon Prime
The Bear - Hulu
Ms. Marvel
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S1
The Boys S3
Halo S1
Straight out of Compton

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 176 - News Ketchup

Show Notes

Trailers

Movies

TV

Misc.

What We’ve Been Watching

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