AUG 25 | EDITION #12 - Read Time: 10 minutes

Two editions this week - you’re welcome.

We’ve got some perfect rainy, grey vibes going into this weekend. I’ve always enjoyed rain and thunderstorms more than most, just feels calming and it lowers daily expectations and sensories. Definitely feeling like a beer, chicken bacon ranch pizza and Blade Runner 2049 type of night.

Inside The Edition:

• Ahsoka E1 & E2 review

• The Sci-fi/Fantasy Renaissance

• PlayStation Portal controversy

• MovieTok vs. movie critics (kind of)
  

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of writers and actors currently on strike, the movies and shows being covered here wouldn’t exist.

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The Franchise Report

Content updates from our favorite IPs

🌌 From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Ahsoka E1 & E2 Review

On Tuesday I released the Modern Mythos Ahsoka Primer, where I explained everything you need to know before watching the series. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend checking it out.

At my core, I’ll always be a little bummed out that this story isn’t being told through animation, but I’m loving this series so far. All of the actors and characters feel how they should, the cinematography is an improvement (they’re not just using the volume to shoot everything, thank god) and the musical score is PEAK from Kevin Kiner.

Filoni used the first two episodes to showcase all of these new characters to those who haven’t watched the animated shows, going as far as to recreate the epilogue scene from Star Wars Rebels, where Sabine visits the mural of the Ghost Crew and joins Ahsoka on an adventure. The only difference is that Ahsoka is still wearing her grey garb here instead of her white outfit from the Rebels version, but I believe that’s intentional - hence the Gandalf comparisons.

The return of the opening crawl was awesome. We have a sassy war criminal Chopper who wants to drop a massive hyperdrive core on civilians. Clancy Brown, who voiced Ryder in Rebels, played the live-action version and Jai Kell was beside him. The Ghost Crew mural. Lothal and the iconic highway look perfect in live-action. The ships and CGI look like a feature film. Rebels had always been based on the original Star Wars concept art created by Ralph McQuarrie and I felt that here with some Samurai vibes. Just purely atmospheric.

The villains seem strong and have some depth. Introducing Morgan as a Nightsister is a great addition (they’re terrifying and mystical), Baylan and Shin are both interesting renditions of fallen Jedi and there seems to be some level of mystery and mistrust going on here. At the end of E2, we hit the launching off point and this is where the real story begins and I’m excited to watch it unfold.

This feels like the start of something different, and Star Wars desperately needs different…it’s why Andor was so great. Ahsoka is seemingly preparing us to dive into new concepts, new galaxies and new characters and I’m here for it. There’s infinite potential in the unknown.

I want these movies and shows to make me feel something. Feel like I’ve been transported into a new galaxy. The worldbuilding, the history, the nostalgia, the journey, the wonder…it’s the vibe. For whatever reason, Star Wars feels like home to millions of people, and I’m happy to say that Ahsoka is the closest I’ve felt to that home in quite some time.

🦸‍♂️ Cape Shit

Marvel

Extremely light week in Marvel - here are a couple of news notes:

• McDonald’s in movies throughout the years - for a Loki S2 promotion. This was great.

• The Marvel’s director Nia DaCosta said that her film is different from other MCU movies because it’s ‘really wacky and silly.’ Has she seen most of the MCU?

• With Dune 2 being pushed back to March 2024, The Marvels will now have sole ownership of IMAX theaters during its theatrical run. Not fun.

• It certainly feels like a bit of a retcon, but Jon Watts confirmed that his 3 Spider-Man films serve as the origin story for Tom Holland’s Spidey. The end of No Way Home felt like real Spider-Man to me...hopefully, we get more of that in the future.

• Mom wake up, new Spider-Verse meme just dropped.

DC

Another really light week for DC outside of Blue Beetle news. First reactions are out and it’s garnering a primarily positive, fun response from fans and critics, highlighting the Latino culture and the family aspect. I’ll be seeing it sometime before next week’s edition and will have my review there. At this point in time, it’s only just under $50M since its release on August 18.

In other DC news, I threw a fit on Twitter last week when Gal Gadot publically stated that James Gunn had told her that she was going to be their Wonder Woman and that they’d work together to develop Wonder Woman 3. It now seems like WB is pushing back at her statements, with insiders saying nothing was ever promised or definitive…things are getting messy.

🎥 The Rest

Films

The big news here is that Dune 2 was officially pushed back from its initial release date on November 3 to March 15, 2024. This one hurts as it was one of my most anticipated films of the year. It was set to have a generational run in IMAX as there would be no films challenging it for 6 weeks - but now it’s a random March weekend.

Pay your fucking writers and actors fairly instead of pushing films back to buy time.

• Massive news in the sports world as Michael Oher - whose story was the premise of Oscar-winning The Blind Side, came out with allegations that state the story is a lie concocted by the family to enrich themselves. This is INSANE.

• We got a trailer for Bradley Cooper’s Maestro - looks interesting?

• Disney apparently wants Florence Pugh to play Rapunzel in the live-action Tangled movie. Adding onto Disney Live-Action news - Taron Egerton and Ariana Grande are being eyed for Hercules and Megara. STOP MAKING ANIMATED MOVIES INTO LIVE-ACTION.

• We got our first official look at Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and The Heron. He is a master of animation and I’m stoked for this.

TV Shows

• New trailer for the Percy Jackson show - I’m getting oddly excited about this.

• We got our first look at the Godzilla spin-off series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters featuring Kurt and Wyatt Russell - both of them playing the same character in different decades. This is a 10-episode series on Apple+ that will build out Legendary’s Monster-Verse.

• American Horror Story: Delicate releases September 9.

• New teaser for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.

• We’re getting a Scott Pilgrim anime featuring the original movie cast.

• Craig Mazin states that The Last of Us will likely end with 4 seasons.

More

• Anthony Hopkins wrote an email to Bryan Cranston to tell him that he believed his role as Walter White was the best acting he had ever seen. Maybe it’s time I finally watch Breaking Bad.

• David Harbour says he’s done with TV shows after Stranger Things S5 - I’d be down to see him in more feature films.

• Really interesting take from Seth Rogan here on the strikes. He believes that as direct competitors, the studios don’t have a great enough relationship to properly navigate the strikes on their end.

• A week after getting eviscerated online for talking shit about the SAG-AFTRA protests, Stephen Amell showed up to the picket lines in an attempt to save face.

• The cast of Parks and Rec also showed up at the strikes, highlighted by Lil Sebastian himself. Aubrey Plaza is the GOAT.

The Gaming Industry

What’s new in the world of gaming & esports

The PSP was way, way ahead of its time. Nearly 18 years after the release of their first handheld system, Sony has released a first look at the PlayStation Portal - their answer to the Steamdeck or Nintendo Switch Lite. The only problem seems to be that it’s extremely anti-consumer, per one of the biggest tech creators in the world, Marques Brownlee…lmao.

Let’s list the negatives:

• Requires a PS5 console

• No Bluetooth, so you need to purchase their specific PlayStation headset ($200)

• Needs to be connected to wifi

Yeah, it’s beautiful, fucking useless hardware. Don’t waste your money.

Gaming

• Modern Warfare 3 is positioning itself to return to glory. All movement features are back. All of the OG maps are back. Health is increased so TTK will likely feel better…they always pull me back in.

• TBT to the marketing launch for Halo 3 - where Zach Efron literally hosted a Midnight Madness Launch event at a Gamestop in California. I miss midnight release parties, if I’m being honest.

• A new South Park game South Park: Snow Day is releasing in 2024.

More Gaming

• I really miss when new Fortnite seasons would be released and it felt like Christmas every time. This is an excellent throwback to the first Christmas-themed season in year 1. Nostalgia at its finest.

• Massive creator YourRAGE has signed with both FaZe Clan and Kick Streaming in the same announcement—massive moves.

• The YouTube Channel Linus Tech Tips is getting hammered with accusations of theft, poor ethics and sexual harassment.

• ‘It is a good life we lead, brother. The best. May it never change.’ Goosebumps.

Weekly Rant

Sci-fi and Fantasy Supremacy

Call it a golden age, call it a renaissance, call it a comeback…whatever you call it, Sci-fi is fucking back. We have an unbelievable amount of Sci-fi Fantasy content coming in the next few months and I wanted to take some time to dive in and discuss why you should be excited - and why I’m going to be insufferable for the near future.

Starfield - September 6 (pre-order early access August 31)

Game of the year contender, incoming. This time next week, we’ll be just a few hours away from the global release of Bethesda’s first new world since the 90’s. This game feels massive, unique and awe-inspiring - if something is described as ‘Skyrim or Red Dead Redemption 2 in space’ - you’ve got me.

The review embargo lifts the morning of pre-order early access, so this time next week we’ll know the general consensus. Here are some MAJOR news points that the creators are discussing - if you’re excited, definitely read up. Trailer here.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - September 26

Talk about renaissance - there might not be a game that’s experienced a bigger glow-up in history. After a historical collapse and the worst game release of all time, CD Projekt Red worked hard to restore their original promise for the game, and hundreds of updates and nearly three years later, the game is almost back to what should have been done at the start. I played recently and was shocked at the difference.

This new update features an expansion of the story with dozens of quests, characters, weapons, etc.….but it also features a fixed police response system, AI NPC reactions, a reworked skill tree and more. Brand new game DNA. If you were scorned by this one on day 1, don’t worry - we all were. But when you get some time, I highly recommend jumping back into it because it’s worth it. Trailer here.

The Creator - September 29

This is my sleeper for the year. The film community is already buzzing about it, but I believe it’s going to shock the general public when it’s released. The creative and production team attached are all masters at their craft. Gareth Edwards, Greig Fraser, Hans Zimmer…are you fucking kidding? Trailer here.

Dune 2 - November 3 March 14, 2024

I was getting ready to press send on this newsletter when word got out that WB is moving Dune 2 from November of this year to March of next year…because they’re still refusing to properly compensate the writers & actors and the strikes continue. Infinite pain.

That being said…Timmy. Zendaya. Florence Pugh. Austin Butler. Rebecca Ferguson. Christopher Walken. Lea Seydoux. Dave Bautista. Stellan Skarsgard. Jason Momoa. Josh Brolin. Javier Bardem. The first movie was a certified banger and breathed fresh air into the franchise. The delay sucks and the studios need to do the right thing…but I’ll be there in March day 1. Trailer here.

Rebel Moon

This is the one. Zack Snyder unleashed. What was once a denied Star Wars pitch has turned into a new universe that Snyder stated he’s been working on for over 20 years. Say what you will about him, he’s one of the most divisive filmmakers working, but the man knows how to create a mythology and build a world.

Part 1: A Child of Fire will release on Dec 22, 2023, and Part 2: The Scargiver, will release on April 19, 2024. I love a back-to-back release, and the trailer for the franchise looks fucking bonkers.

Quick Hits

💣 Random

• This is how I imagined myself sounding when I created wars with my action figures as a kid.

• Think I just found out that I really fuck with Fantasy Core style art?

• Scott Hanson will be yelling at me about commercial-free football in 2 weeks. NEED IT.

• This is a piece of art. Some of these TikTokers are CRAZY.

• Literally me. LOTR > Soccer.

• Great bit from Bomani Jones on the racist nature of The Oscars. ‘Best racist performance in a film.’ LMAO

• Starfield, but make it Seinfeld.

• When the Eagles lose, my mental health loses.

• Me and my future child. APPA, YIP YIP.

📖 Read of the Week
They Review Movies on TikTok but Don’t Call Them Critics by Reggie Ugwu of The New York Times. New age vs. traditional media. A really interesting read here. I’m a fan of a lot of the creators on the side of movie TikTok so it’s cool to see them making waves.

🐦Tweet of The Day
This is extremely accurate.

📽️ Trailer Recap

• Rebel Moon | Official Teaser

• Percy Jackson and the Olympians | We’ve Been Expecting You

• Maestro | Official Teaser

• Scott Pilgrim Anime | Official Teaser

• The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon | Teaser

• Starfield | Official Live-Action Trailer

👀 Keep An Eye Out

• Aug 18 | Madden 24

• Aug 18 | Blue Beetle

• Aug 18 | Strays

• Aug 23 | Ahsoka E1 & E2

• Aug 25 | Gran Turismo

• Aug 29 | Ahsoka E3

‘All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.’

Would love to meet some of you and get some feedback for the newsletter. Too long? Too boring? Love it? Feel free to reach out and yell at me.

See you next Thursday!

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