The Franchise Report

Content updates from our favorite IPs

🌌 From A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Ahsoka - Series Review. Spoilers ahead.

I had a phenomenal time with this series. It was everything a Clone Wars and Rebels fan could ask for and they dove into parts of the lore that I thought would never be touched. If I had to place it, I’d probably have this show third on my Disney+ rankings, just under Andor and The Mandalorian.

What I loved:

• The cast was great. The only one I wasn’t all in on was Natasha Bordizzo as Sabine, but I think she’ll grow on me. Eman Esfandi as Ezra was ripped straight from the animated show, so he was my standout for a limited time, alongside Ray Stevenson. His story is compelling and I’m heartbroken Ray won’t be able to complete it.

• Baylan’s Mision. We see Baylan Skoll standing on top of a statue of The Mortis Gods. The Father, The Son and The Daughter….though the Daughter is mostly destroyed. These are the gods of the Star Wars universe and Ahsoka & Anakin have run into them in the past. The Father statue was pointing to something shining…ABELOTH???

• Thrawn. It’s great that Lars Mikkelsen got to reprise this role in live-action, the voice and mannerisms are on point. I would have liked to see him fuck up some New Republic ships and display some of his power, but I’ll take it for now. Curious how his mysterious cargo and Dathomir tie into his plan.

• Hayden is back. Bringing Anakin back in a meaningful way allowed us to connect multiple eras of Star Wars together across a variety of mediums and his performance was the best he’s ever had.

• Kevin Kiner’s score. This man is a godsend and I’m glad he was able to produce the music for Ahsoka after doing so for multiple animated Star Wars projects. His music has weight, and emotion and just feels right.

What I didn’t love:

• The choreography was messy. It wasn’t like this for the full show, as some of the individual samurai-inspired duels were fantastic, as well as Ahsoka’s final duel with Morgan Elsbeth, but there was a lot of clunkiness that took me out of it. Specifically vs. the zombie stormtroopers…but it’s a nitpick.

• The volume. No, not how loud the show is…it’s a tool they use on set for cinematography. There were some great looks this season, but a lot of it still felt a bit “TV movie” and constrained, and the cinematographers stated it’s because the volume doesn’t allow for a lot of on-set lighting changes. I hope they use more variety in the future instead of exclusively using the tool.

• Sabine with the force. I really don’t mind that she has the force, but her big moment of using it didn’t impact me too much, as other moments similar to this normally feel cathartic and we understand what that character broke through to achieve the goal. A lot of this wasn’t communicated that well, including us getting the backstory to Ahsoka and Sabine via Huyang…it just felt hollow to a degree.

• The length of the series. Guys, it’s time to get rid of the 6-8 episode storytelling. TV is a phenomenal medium because we can tell extended stories and dive into these characters and live with them, but treating everything like a limited series doesn’t let us feel that connection. Animation can be longer…why can’t live-action?

I appreciate Dave Filoni for pulling this off and giving us a satisfying Star Wars show, and successfully bringing animated characters to live-action…something I was nervous about. Yeah, the writing and cinematography could use some work and I’d prefer this to be told via animation…but I had a lot of fun with this one. I hope we get a second season before the eventual movie. LET. DAVE. COOK.

🦸‍♂️ Cape Shit

Loki S2 released last week and E2 releases tomorrow at 9pm EST. The show picks up right where we left off in the finale of S1 and it’s getting mostly great reviews from those that were able to watch it early. I haven’t begun watching yet, but I’ll tune in and will hit you with my thoughts next week. It’s apparently the first MCU show that had ZERO reshoots…so that’s promising.

• James Gunn confirms that John Cena (Peacemaker), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) and Xolo Mariduena (Blue Beetle) will return to his new DCU.

• MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios is a new book diving into the rise and popularization of Marvel Studios through interviews with actors, producers, directors, etc. Pre-order here.

The Rest

Content updates from smaller franchises and projects

🎥 Films, TV & Streaming

Gen V

You might have missed this one, but I’m here to help. Gen V is the sequel to Amazon’s phenom The Boys, and it’s every bit as good as the original show. It’s definitely mandatory viewing if you enjoy this world. The Boys took superhero content and spun it on its head and now Gen V is doing the same for a different audience.

Gen V follows students that attend a superhero college and are going through their own power and life changes while some fuckery is afoot. It’s Harry Potter meets Sky High meets The X-Men. Paranoia, wonder, and characters truly trying to do the right thing in a world that’s forcing them in the other direction. I cannot recommend this enough. Releases every Friday on Amazon Prime Video.

More

• An animated Tomb Raider show is coming to Netflix and it looks AWESOME.

• Sir Michael Gambon, the actor who portrayed Dumbledore after Richard Harris passed away, has died. Touching words here.

• The new voices for Rick and Morty were released…here’s a video showing a side-by-side comparison.

• Letterboxd has been acquired by a holding company in a deal that values the site at $50M. I hope this isn’t the downfall of my favorite app.

The Gaming Industry

Content updates from the world of gaming & esports

More

• SAG-AFTRA members have approved a strike against the video game industry with over 98% voting yes. If a deal cannot be met, the gaming industry will strike.

• Bethesda is expected to make almost $1B on Starfield, which is nutty.

• Arkane Studio is trying to save Redfall with a big update, but I think it’s time to bury this one.

The Weekly Rant

WGA Wins, SAG To Follow?

Strikes work, man. Massive congrats to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) for navigating an impossible situation and being rewarded - receiving what they’re worth. This is a huge step in the right direction.

Bob Iger, Donna Langley Bob Iger, Ted Sarandos and David Zaslav finally met with the WGA in person and nailed out a deal in late September and the WGA officially voted to ratify the new contract. The 5-month strike is over…but what did they get?

Per NYT, they got most of what they wanted. Here’s a broad overview:

• Increased contribution rate to health care and pensions

• Improved compensation and increased writer room minimums (to ensure work and safety)

• Renewed a $250k showrunner training program

• Increased streaming residuals and viewership-based streaming bonuses with streaming data transparency

• Guidelines around AI utilization in the writing process

Find a full summary here.

Studios were beginning to feel the heat. Due to the strikes, stock prices for major studios plummeted and it’s estimated that studios are losing $1.6B in ticket sales for movies they pushed back due to the strikes.

The actor strike is still ongoing with SAG-AFTRA leading the charge, though they’ve also been in direct meetings with studio officials over the last week and it’s expected a deal will be reached soon. It’s stated that talks have hit a snag due to the actors wanting a 2% share of streaming revenue, which the studios do not think is reasonable. Spoilers…it is reasonable. Do it.

The Quick Hits

Nonsense updates from the week

💣 Random

• A mock movie trailer for an extremely confusing, provocative, award-winning indie film. This is fucking phenomenal lmao.

• Where was this water gun when I was growing up? I NEED THIS NOW.

• Snow falling at the McDonald’s drive-thru. This is art.

• I’m literally The Bear.

• Staring at the Applebee’s Dolarita’s sign like I’m K in BR 2049.

• Snoopy is on demon Time every Halloween - his subplot of being a fighter jet pilot is always hilarious.

• Paul Mescal, Jessica Chastain, Jeremy Strong, Julia Garner, Daisy Edgar Jones and Ayo Edebiri dancing at Gucci’s afterparty. This is film Twitters Avengers: Endgame.

🐦Tweet of The Week

📽️ Must Watch Trailers

• The Toxic Avenger | Red Band Teaser

• Argylle | Official Trailer

• True Detective: Night Country | Official Trailer 2

• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft | First Look

• Disney’s Wish | Official Trailer

• Priscilla | Official Trailer

• The Curse | Official Teaser

👀 Keep An Eye Out

• Oct 12 | Loki Episode 2

• Oct 12 | The Fall of the House of Usher: Limited Series

• Oct 13 | Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

• Oct 15 | Rick and Morty Season 7 Premiere