Tower of Babble

For the most part, genre entertainment news has been relatively light. Yes we’ve had a round of castings for DC projects, and Kevin Fiege is slowly opening the kimono for X-Men info, but on the whole nothing earth shattering (who knows, we might see a planet shatter whenever the ‘Superman’ trailer finally comes). This makes for a perfect time to defer the 200th episode of the show and take a look at the state of things over at DC and Marvel. They are both looking to emerge from a slump, despite taking very different approaches (though I’m sure DC would have loved a $1B hit that allowed them to have their cake and eat it too). The guys unpack the similarities and differences and sprinkle in a few different news bits along the way. All that and so much more on this 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 NotesMovies

• Kevin Fiege is entering his X-Men era as he starts opening up about plans for the mutants as part of ‘Secret Wars’. Are we ready?

• Channing Tatum’s ‘Gambit’ project might finally see the light of day as Marvel loved the reception to the characters recent appearance in live action.

• Will DC’s casting choices and new direction pay off as James Gunn continues to stir the pot online.

TV

• ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ is on the horizon. More details continue to come out.

• ‘Lanterns’ has cast most of it’s titular space cops. We continue to be excited.

Agree of Disagree 

• Elizabeth Olson believes Marvel movies help theatres “pay the rent” and that for small movies, streaming is the “only option”, while not being interested in being part of straight to streaming projects.

What We’ve Been Watching

• The Terminator (4K release)

• Extraction (2020)

• Godzilla: Minus One
  

It’s been two months since we did our “State of Star Wars” episode where we essentially eviscerated the current situation in regards to the decision making process at Lucasfilm and their seeming inability to get a movie into production, among other things. Well in that time, we’ve had a smattering of news stories of all stripes, which Julian and Rachel cover in this episode, but what really prompted another Bonus Episode was the latest piece, again from The Hollywood Reporter, exploring the situation in further depth on the movie side of the business at Lucasfilm. Your hosts deep dive on all of it, and then cap things off with something much more lighthearted. Next up, ‘Skeleton Crew’ in December, where we’ll be breaking down every episode. Stay tuned!

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 NotesStar Wars Catchup

• ‘Empire Strikes Back’ in Concert

• ‘Andor’ season 2, now with “A Star Wars Story” subtitle, now has an official release date of April 22, 2025

  • K2SO and Orson Krennic to return (Alan Tudyk + Ben Mendelson)

  ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ is set for release in 2026.

  • Might be a trilogy - hinted at by Giancarlo Esposito.

  • Apparently S4 of the show was reworked into the movie due to the “negative reception of season 3”:

  • THR - Is Disney Bad at Star Wars? An Analysis

• Disney reportedly made $1B+ from Star Wars merch in 2023.

• ‘Skeleton Crew’ set to release next month.

• Ewan McGregor says they’re “exploring ideas for ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ season 2” apparently he wants to wear the clone wars armor and do more flashbacks with Hayden Christensen.

• THR - Simon Kinberg to write and produce Star Wars trilogy 

The Main Story

• THR - ‘Star Wars’ Movies’ Race for Rey, and the Future of the Franchise on the Big Screen

Wild Finish

• Variety - https://au.variety.com/2024/film/news/george-lucas-cut-obi-wan-death-twist-star-wars-phantom-menance-18423/

When it comes to vampires, California seems to be synonymous. At least for a certain generation that grew up with ‘Buffy’. Which is part of the reason ‘The Lost Boys’ seems to slide right into the vampire genre like a sharp fang through a soft fleshy neck, despite coming out nearly a decade prior. Well that and all the vampire tropes this movie expertly plays with. Join Julian, as he walks through this cult classic not-so-horror flick that continues to resonate all these years later. Plus, monologues on the wide world of home projector setups, why horror movies aren’t for everyone, and much more on this very special bonus ToB Film Club episode!

Next Month: We return to the 21st century (barely) as we travel through time with the Gregory Hoblit film, ‘Frequency’ from 2000.

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.

Julian and Jeremy sit down to discuss the surprisingly good Menendez Brothers series on Netflix, and try to better understand the draw of true crime content. Later they get into the HBO hit 'The Penguin', as well as the state of the 'Terminator' franchise. The guys also get into it about what exactly is going on with Tom Holland and his mixed messaging around 'Spider-Man 4' and the situation with the 'Blade' movie. All that and so much more on this episode of the 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.

Between the chaos surrounding 'Joker 2', the hate pouring out of fandoms like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and the commercial failures of critical darlings like 'Transformers: One', and 'Furiosa', it's easy to understand why it's so hard to predict success in these wildly uncertain times in Hollywood. Todd Phillips 'Joker' made over one billion dollars in 2019, and took home the Best Actor Oscar for it's trouble, but the sequel, which adds the massively popular Lady Gaga to the mix is set to be a massive box office bomb. Why? Julian and Jeremy examine that question, and try to put things in context with the recent Variety article about Hollywood executives cow-towing to angry fans. All this and more on this episode of The 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.

Following the cancellation of ‘The Acolyte’, many fans are taking a step back and asking questions about the state of the franchise. And rightly so, considering the confused state that many have been left in. Especially considering that Lucasfilm continues to leave us in the dark, with no official word following the recent cancellation. They've also done very little to inspire trust in their current creative process given the number of high profile project announcements that have never come to fruition. Meanwhile, the fandom is imploding on itself. Creators and influencers in the community are pitted against each other, seemingly in a fight for influence over control of the narrative surrounding each new project. Debates over what is or isn’t "Star Wars" wage on the internet as fans dodge bad-faith landmines across their social feeds. Julian and Rachel look at where things stand with Star Wars today, how we got here, and what the future might hold.

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.

Julian is joined by Matt Tworek to review 'Alien: Romulus', the latest installment in the long running space-horror franchise. A film that returns to the roots of the franchise, with a much stronger focus on the suspense and atmospheric horror of the 1979 original. But any good Alien movie today isn't complete without at least a little bit of action, ala 'Aliens' and this movie doesn't disappoint in that regard either. All-in-all this is a strong outing in a franchise that has seen a lot of ups and downs over the years. And yes, realizing that this all comes a bit late considering the movie released last month, to make up for the missed time, the guys have also brought a list of their favourite movies featuring aliens (any alien will do, we aren't picky here).

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With the news of 'The Acolyte' and it's cancellation sending ripples through the media world, it was only natural that there might be some reflection on the larger state of the television landscape. Julian and Jeremy pier out into a dark and dreary graveyard of cancelled shows and failed streaming services to take stock of the current situation. The assessment? The "Golden Age of TV" is over. What comes next is still to be determined. Plus, a grab-bag of news stories from around Hollywood to help lighten the mood.

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 NotesMovies

• ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ crosses a billion dollars at the box office, making it the most financially successful R rated film of all time

• James Cameron bemoans people’s complaints about the quality of the 4k restorations of some of his classic films, such as ‘True Lies’.

• Nine Inch Nails will be scoring the soundtrack to Tron 3, now titled: ‘Tron: Aries’.

• The next Predator film has begun production, titled ‘Badlands’.

• Kathleen Kennedy to stay on as head of Lucasfilm until at least Q2 of 2025.

• Trailers:

  • ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’.

  • ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’

TV

• Soliloquy for the end of the “Golden Age of TV”

• ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ review

• ‘Ted Lasso’ set to return for 4th season.

Agree of Disagree 

Todd Phillips, the director of ‘Joker’ and it’s upcoming sequel speaks had this to say about film fans who are concerned with the budget of his film:

“Shouldn’t people be happy that we got this money out of them, and we used it to go hire a bunch of crew people who can feed their families?”

Do you agree that film fans should concern themselves with budgets?

What We’ve Been Watching

• Hit Man
  

'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?

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.

There haven't been many Marvel movies of late that have had the level of anticipation of 'Deadpool & Wolverine'. Not only is it capping of a Deadpool trilogy, it is introducing Deadpool to the MCU, AND it it's bringing back who else but Hugh Jackman as Wolverine for the cherry on top. Plus, with the less than ideal reception to the direction the MCU has taken of late, the expectations were very high for this movie, to say the least. And though we typically preach keeping expectations in check when going into a movie like this, even we had a hard time containing it. Julian and Jeremy unpack every spoilery detail in an in-depth review that covers everything from THAT cameo (you know which one), to whether the movie "saved the MCU", and everything in between.

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.