We're into the full swing of blockbuster season. With 'Obsession' breaking box office records, 'The Odyssey' now filling IMAX theatres, and 'Spider-Man' right around the corner, movies feel very "back" right now. Plus, with Comic-Con next week Marvel released their first full-length 'Avengers: Doomsday' trailer. Julian and Matt try to decide if the hype is there, which feels crazy when considering it's an Avengers movie after all, but that might speak more to the situation Marvel currently finds themselves in. Meanwhile, DC doesn't want to be left behind, releasing a new trailer for 'Clayface' , which is shaping up to be a sneaky hit in the body-horror space (despite still not Batman). This all leads to Matt's idea that comic book movies should be treated like jury duty. Plus, a news rundown covering the passing of Sam Neil, Netflix updates (they're bad), some box office updates, and more!
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Episode 204 - Oscar Noms + 2026 Predictions
As noted by the recent Tobies, awards season continues in full flight, so it's no surprise to have The Oscars drop their nominations just in time for Matt and Julian to break them down. 'Sinners' taking home 16 noms sets an Oscars record and (more importantly) validates Julian's recent Tobie pick. Plus, the guys return to a more traditional news format with headlines about James Bond, Game of Thrones, He-Man and more! Finally, the guys look into their crystal balls, gazing into the future, to make entertainment-based predictions for the year 2026. How will the WB/Netflix deal play out? Will Star Wars have a hit with 'The Mandalorian and Grogu'? Will Nolan's 'The Odyssey' be as big as 'Oppenheimer'? Only the ToB hosts can tell you! (No future lotto tickets or sports almanacs unfortunately)
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Episode 196 - Marvel at SDCC & Deadpool Review Round Two
'Deadpool & Wolverine' is quickly rising through the box office charts and is on pace to set some records. It may even finish the summer as the highest grossing movie and that would certainly be an accomplishment. Particularly for an R rated film. That being said, that's not the reason Julian and Jeremy decided to continue their conversation on the movie following the review earlier this week. No, the reason is that the movie is so dense, so unique in it's approach, that it took a few more days to process what exactly it even is. Hopefully this follow up conversation puts things to bed for good this time. But the Marvel mayhem does not end there. No sir, the guys then turn to San Diego Comicon to discuss the massive announcements out of Marvel's Hall H panel. Surprisingly, Harrison Ford pretending to be the Hulk on stage wasn't the biggest news, he was upstaged by RDJ himself as we learn that he's returning to the MCU as Dr. Doom, and bringing back the Russo brothers to direct (don't worry they only cost like $180 million between them). Is this good news, bad news, or something in between?
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Episode 178 - Batgirl Shelved & Marvel Comic-Con
The turmoil at Warner Brothers Discovery continues, this time in the form of bloodletting. News broke early this week that the HBO Max original ‘Batgirl’, which was finished shooting and in late stages of post production. was going to be cancelled by the studio. Shortly after, an official statement was released and the outcry online was loud. This comes amongst rumours of further shakeups coming to the studio, specifically around their HBO Max streaming service, as they apparently look to pivot away from scripted programming nearly across the board, in favor of cheaper unscripted options. Naturally, Julian and Jeremy break down all the details surrounding this unprecedented decision and what it means for the future of DC on the big and small screens. Meanwhile, on the fun side of the news, over at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel held no punches as they discussed the next 2 phases of the MCU, and announced A LOT of new movies and shows, while finding time to drop a spectacular trailer for ‘Black Panther 2’, amongst a whole pile of other announcements. Oh and a new trailer for ‘Andor’ dropped. The show looks stunning, but you’ll have to wait an extra 3 weeks as they have pushed the premiere to September. That pretty much takes up all the time this episode, but trust us, it’s more than enough.
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Episode 160 - Cap Coming Back?
With 2020 now firmly in the rearview mirror, ToB can now return to it's regularly scheduled programming. Or at least as close to it as we can get! It's been a few weeks since a full news show, so there's a lot to discuss. Julian, Dan, and Jeremy break down the biggest stories in the world of film and television, not the least of which being that Warner Bros is apparently doubling down on 'Harry Potter'. They've installed a new VP to oversee the franchise and a live-action series is in early development at HBO Max. On top of that, rumours are swirling about the possible return of Chris Evans' Captain America to the MCU. Plus, Snyder confirms that his Justice League will not be a 4-part series afterall, and instead will be a 4 hour film. Oh did we mention that Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' series got an official synopsis? Well the guys are covering that too! All that and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast.
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ToB Interlude - Spider-Man: Far From Home
I can’t imagine it being easy having to follow in the footsteps of Avengers: Endgame. It made more money than any Marvel film (more than basically every movie ever), and left a cultural footprint that will be felt for decades. All that being said, something had to come after Endgame, and that was the task asked of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Labelled as the final film of the MCU’s “phase three”, the story picks up not long after the events of Endgame, and throws Spidey into a whole new adventure that takes him out of his element (again). With a lot of emotional heavy lifting to do, Far From Home manages to nail the humour and action elements that are now staples of the Marvel formula perfectly, while at the same time leaving room for a lot of fun new surprises. Julian, Dan, and Jeremy break it all down and give their take on what looks to be another massive hit for Marvel.
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Episode 133 - The End of an Era
With the X-men franchise as we know it coming to an end, the guys look back on the series as a whole and imagine what will come next. This year has/will see the form of an ending for basically all the major pop-culture properties, including X-Men, Avengers, Game of Thrones, and Star Wars at the end of the year. With so many of the tentpole films franchises coming to a conclusion there’s room for new and experimental shows like Love, Death & Robots; or the upcoming Halo series to really shine.
All in all, it was a slow news week, but exciting things are yet to come.
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ToB Games - E3 2019
If you follow the video game world, even from a distance, you know that E3 is like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and your birthday all combined for the those in the games business. With it comes exciting new announcements, sizzle reels, reveals, and surprises. Regardless of what types of games you’re into, there’s always something to get excited about. This year, with Sony, and other major players pulling out, it seemed like the show might lack some of it’s luster. Fortunately, there was still a lot to get excited about. Not the least of which being the Avengers game from Sqaure Enix, a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the first game play of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, plus the surprising new character announcements for Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Julian, Dan, and Jeremy discuss all that and so much more in the annual E3 breakdown episode of ToB Games!
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ToB Interlude - Avengers: Endgame
ToB is back to breakdown the latest, and biggest, Marvel film! Avengers: Endgame is finally here; the culmination of 3 phases, 11 years, 21 movies, and countless interweaving character/story arcs, all leading into the biggest superhero film in creation. This movie continues Marvel’s streak of near-perfect team up films, and manages to maintain the humour, heart, and jaw-dropping action sequences that fans have come to expect. Following the events of Infinity War and the snap heard around the world, how do the remaining heroes pick up the pieces? How do they handle their first true defeat? They couldn’t save the world, now will they be able to avenge it?
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ToB Interlude - Captain Marvel Car-Cast
Hello Marvel Fans! It feels like an eternity since our last adventure in the MCU. I mean, Ant-Man and the Wasp was all the way back in July of last year! Luckily Carol Danvers is here to get your comic book juices flowing. It couldn’t come soon enough either; what with Avengers: End Game just around the corner. It’s nice to get back in the mood before the whole universe is in danger again. To help break it all down, Julian and Dan are here with the latest ToB Car-Cast fresh from the theatre. Full spoilers here people so be warned… and trust no one!
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