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 169 - DC Fandome 2021
Last year’s DC Fandome set the gold standard for web events in the entertainment space. At that time we were hopeful that we’d be able to “get back to normal” by this time in 2021. Unfortunately, that’s turned out not to be the case, and with San Diego Comic-Con being a digital shell of it’s in-person self, coupled with every other entertainment companies own digital events all seemingly landing with a thud, it felt like there was little to look forward to this year for fan events. DC Fandome seemed to be the one exception. With not a peep from DC since last year’s Fandome on their major projects we here at ToB were amping up for some big reveals. Unfortunately, that is not really what we got. In a bit of a change of formats from their multi-channel approach last year, DC paired things down to one 4-hour stream. This meant everything from a new Justice League mobile game, to the ‘Super Pets’ movie and everything in between had equal representation next to the big tent pole film and game franchises we’ve all been waiting for, like namely ‘The Batman’, ‘The Flash’, ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’ and ‘Black Adam’. This made for a more muddied affair, especially as there were not many new surprises and A LOT of time spent speaking to their CW franchises (we don’t need a tour of the Kent family farm). Overall though, the things that hit, really hit (hello ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’), and the rest can largely be forgotten until they come up again at next year’s event. Join Julian and Jeremy as they discuss all the major stories from this year’s DC Fandome in this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!
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Episode 167 - Long Anticipated Trailers
The movie industry is in a strange place these days. What with release dates changing on a regular basis and more and more projects moving to streaming. Among those projects are a few few movies we KNOW are coming soon, but we still knew nothing about. Both 'The Matrix Resurrections' and 'Spider-Man: No Way Home", are looking like locks to hit their release dates at the end of this year. Fortunately, we can start ramping into the hype with earnest as both movies recently dropped their first trailers. Julian and Jeremy break down each one and gage our levels of excitement for them before moving on to a discussion about the new 'Injustice' animated movie that was just announced (which also dropped a trailer). All that and so much more in this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!
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ToB Interlude - DC Fandome 2020
With no San Diego Comic-Con (or any comic-con for that matter) this year, the big comic companies are turning to alternate means to get their message out. DC decided the best way to spread the word about their latest projects, was to host their own comic-con, completely online. With intimate panels to massive reveals across their TV, film, and print, properties, the goal was to replicate the feeling of being in the San Diego Convention Centre, but from the comfort of your own home. By all estimations, they largely succeeded in that endeavor. Their 24-hour stream was chock-full of major announcements and reveals. Not the least of which being the first teaser for Matt Reeves “The Batman”, which largely stole the spotlight. Though the trailer for the Snyder Cut of “Justice League” was also exciting (especially for Jeremy). That is without even mentioning the details we got about “Black Lightning” (JSA whaaat!), “The Flash”, or “The Suicide Squad” (gotta love that cast!). Speaking of the Suicide Squad, the latest game from Rocksteady “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League”, was also announced along with “Gotham Knights” a co-op Batman game. Long story short, there’s plenty of content to fill you ears as the ToB Crew break it all down in excruciating detail.
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Episode 154 - DC Doomsday
A lot can happen in 2 weeks. Julian, and Jeremy, are reunited with Dan after a couple weeks away, and boy howdy is there a lot to discuss. After the obligatory Tenet check-in, the guys dive deep into the layoffs at Warner Brothers. Layoffs that hit particularly hard at DC. Not unexpectedly, the much maligned DC Universe streaming service appears to be getting the axe, however, it was the move to completely gut DC Collectibles and hobble DC Comics that came as the biggest shocker. This all comes only weeks ahead of DC Fan Dome, the comic book companies much hyped digital comic-con. Fortunately it wasn’t all bad news on the DC front as it was revealed that Rocksteady’s new game would revolve around the Suicide Squad as they hunt the Justice League (which is pretty cool if we’re being honest). After that the ToB Crew jumps over to the bleak future of the theatrical experience as news of Mulan coming to Disney+ became a reality (among other downer news bits on that front). Fortunately, some good news came out of the Emmy nomination as Watchmen was (rightfully) nominated for 26 awards. All that and so much more in this week’s (extra long) Tower of Babble Podcast!
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