The Franchise Report

Content updates from our favorite IPs

🌌 From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Ahsoka Part Six: Far, Far Away

Spoilers ahead.

Welcome to Peridea. This episode felt like a breath of fresh air, introducing us to new characters, new storylines and a new galaxy…but it still felt very Star Wars. The world-building here was immaculate.

Some highlights - The Nightsisters of Dathomir are a terrifyingly wonderful addition to live-action. I love that Filoni built on the lore and had their race derive from another galaxy, which feels consistent based on their abilities and mysticism. Thousands of years prior, they harnessed the power of the Purgil and found a new home on Dathomir in our usual galaxy. The imagery here was also brilliant. The space whale bones ring around Peridia. The massive Nighsister statues help set the tone. The music remains a highlight of the show and I just love what they’ve crafted here. It feels lived in, eery and mythic.

Introducing Thrawn. Having Lars Mikkelsen, the voice of Thrawn from Rebels, play him in this show was the only choice.,,the voice is what makes him. He put so much work into building this character’s legacy in Rebels and I’m glad he gets to continue. He’s sinister, cold, calculating and ruthless. He also has an apparently undead army (they’re taking corpses from the ancient crypts???) and they’re laced together with gold and Nightsister red, which will be interesting moving forward. The imagery of Thrawn’s ship, The Chimera, flying like a Ghost pirate ship is perfection. We’ve gone from Treasure Planet vibes to Pirates of the Caribbean. Send it.

I’m also intrigued by Baylan’s mission on Peridea…he says something is calling out to him. Hearing voices and spirits calling out to you is generally a bad thing and a sign for the Sith (or worse) in the Star Wars universe, so I imagine Baylan is going to find something he doesn’t expect, or want. Perhaps his downfall, or is it something Thrawn and his allies are also running from?

Enter….Ezra. The king is back. Nearly a decade after the victory at Lothal through his great sacrifice, Sabine finds Ezra, living with some crab/snail/rock people nomads in this new world. I’m a bit lost as to how he and Thrawn have not managed to kill each other by now, but I’m sure this will get fleshed out. Eman Esfandi brilliantly captures the essence of Ezra and it felt like the character we know and love from animation immediately.

Conflict is coming, though. Thrawn, the Nightsisters and his undead Stormtrooper army plan to leave for our galaxy soon because this one is at its end. Baylan and Shin are seeking a mysterious force calling out to them while teaming up with local raiders to hunt down Ezra and Sabine. Ahsoka and Huyang will arrive shortly, but Thrawn is the perfect tactician and plans to study her past, her present and her fighting style to find ways to manipulate her. Ezra is going to have beef when he finds out Sabine is the reason Thrawn escapes.

This was just an all-timer as far as I’m concerned, and they somehow continue to build each week. We have two episodes left…curious about where we’re headed.

If you’re late on getting caught up with the series, find my Ahsoka Primer here.

More:

• It looks like Baylan is wearing his old kyber crystal from his Jedi lightsaber on his belt buckle…I’m not sure how I missed this.

• Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian will be returning in a movie, rather than a series, according to his brother and Atlanta EP Stephen Glover.

• Ahsoka Part 6 art by Butcher Billy. Masterclass.

• It’s early, but I love the live-action adaptation of Sabine and Ezra. Chemistry.

• Someone spent time and compiled every Order 66 scene we’ve ever gotten across live-action, video games and animation, and put it all into one scene. It’s heartbreaking.

• My new goal is to visit the Holocron store.

🦸‍♂️ Cape Shit

I’m grouping all cape shit (MCU and DC) info into one section until we get rolling with specific projects. Here are some headlines:

• DC is putting all of its faith in James Gunn, establishing a new home for DC Studios at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden as part of a huge U.K. expansion. 10 new stages and 50% more capacity.

• Disney+ finally got their shit together. After the success Ahsoka has seen moving into an earlier release slot, Loki S2 is now set to release at 6pm PST/9pm EST, on Thursdays instead of Fridays.

• Do I need to pretend to care about Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, the upcoming spin-off series of Harley Quinn?

The Rest

Content updates from smaller franchises and projects

🎥 Films, TV & Streaming

More:

• Max is offering a new sports package add-on which includes a majority of the NBA/NHL seasons and more. Prime Video is rolling out an ads version, making the ad-free tier more expensive. At what point do we just go back to fucking cable?

• One Piece, the live-action show based on the anime, has been renewed for S2 on Netflix.

• Stranger Things: The First Shadow is coming to The West End in November. It follows the story of young Hopper, Joyce, Bob Newby and Henry Creel in 1959.

• New trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which releases November 17.

• Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is tracking to make $75M-$100M for opening weekend. This would be one of the biggest opening weekends EVER for a film.

The Gaming Industry

Content updates from the world of gaming & esports

More

• This The Last of Us tattoo of the title screen is BEAUTIFUL.

• When the boss heals in a video game…this is so accurate lmao.

The Quick Hits

Nonsense updates from the week

⚡ What I’ve Been Consuming

• Ahsoka - Yeah. A top 3 Star Wars show and might not be 2 or 3 depending on how they end it.

• The Bear - We finally got back to watching this one and have maybe 3 episodes left of S2. Phenomenal show.

💣 Random

• If job interviews played your old Xbox Live chats…RIP.

• Don’t trust people who don’t physically, mentally and emotionally invest themselves into characters and stories from TV shows.

• The Great Pokemon War. This theory is hilarious.

• Girls at the beach - fun socialization. Boys at the beach - digging for new civilization lmao. Love the hands behind the back watching over the operation.

• Pete Davidson is now dating Outer Banks actress Madelyn Cline. HOW DOES HE DO THIS??

• Want to feel like you’re back in high school watching a movie in class? I got you.

• The entire creative team behind Nickelodeon in the 90’s was on drugs. It makes so much sense.

🐦Tweet of The Week
Meal prepping is easy.

📽️ Trailer Recap

• Old Dads | Official Trailer

• The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes | Official Trailer 2

• Percy Jackson and The Olympians | Teaser

• Kite Man: Hell Yeah! | Teaser

• Squid Game: The Challenge | Teaser

👀 Keep An Eye Out

• Sep 26 | Ahsoka Part 7