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Tower of Babble

Discussing the goings on in geek news with a focus on film and television. We're talking about the things you care about. Characters, places and events that aren't real... but are.

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Episode 190 - Sequels and Spider-Man

Julian Meush December 5, 2023

With every media company in some state of crises these day, it's nice to be reminded that there are things worth looking forward to, even if it's mixed in with a lot of other crap. You really need to try these days to cut through the noise. Fortunately, at least one new trailer dropped recently that made us feel alive again, 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga', taking us back to the simpler times of bombastic explosions and a post-apocalyptical setting. As this weeks episode title suggests, yes it is a sequel (or I suppose a prequel as well), and yes, sequels in general have been on the top of Hollywood's mind as of late. Disney's Bob Iger, who has had a rough go of it recently, chimed in saying that Disney was going to pull back on the amount of sequels it was creating. Meanwhile, Sony, who can't help themselves, released a trailer for 'Madame Web', highlighting for everyone exactly why less sequels are needed. Julian and Jeremy discuss all of this, as well as a lay-up "Agree of Disagree" featuring Chris Nolan, which dovetails nicely into a conversation on 'Oppenheimer' to close things out. All this, and more, in the week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

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

  • Trailers

    • Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

    • Fallout

    • House of the Dragon S2

    • Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

    • Madame Web

    • The Boys S4

  • Marvel/Disney

    • Tom Holland discusses the potential of Spider-Man 4 saying “We have been in active discussion about it. I feel very protective over Spider-Man. I won’t make another one for the sake of making another one. It will have to be worth the while of the character.”

      • This echoes Bob Iger’s recent comments about Disney wanting to be smarter about its sequel decisions after going sequel crazy as of late, saying “moving forward we will only greenlight a sequel if we believe the story that the creators want to tell is worth telling”

    • Bob Iger has been in the press a lot lately. He also recently said that their creators at Disney have lost sight of what their job should be, entertain first, not messages. He went on to add that stories infused with “positive messages for the world” can be great but that it shouldn't be the primary job.

    • A fun rumor, Sam Rami apparently is one of the top contenders for the directing job of ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’. 

  • WBD

    • David Zaslav says that it takes courage to write off movies for tax purposes. His quote: “what content is going to help us win? The content that wasn’t, we made a strategic decision on. It was difficult and painful but it was necessary.”

Agree of Disagree 

Chris Nolan on Scorsese’s comments about superhero films:

“Established titles can assure a return in audiences and give people more of what they want, and it pays for lots of other films to be made. But there always needs to be respect for the audience’s desire for something new. A healthy ecosystem in Hollywood is about balance between those two things” - AP

What We’ve Been Watching

  • Oppenheimer

  • Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey

  • Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire (4)

  • Invincible S2

  • Scavengers Reign

  • Blue Eye Samurai

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Tower of Babble Podcast

We're a podcast network talking about the things you care about. Characters, places and events that aren't real... but are. Three friends chat about the goings on in geek news. Film and television are the focus with a variety of shows that also concentrate on gaming and comics.

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