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  • The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before ‘The Marvels’

    The Ultimate List of What to Watch Before ‘The Marvels’

    Marvel Studios’ third and final theatrical release of 2023, The Marvels, opens in theaters on November 10th. Since the title was revealed, fans have questioned why the studio wasn’t branding it a Captain Marvel sequel and the answer is pretty simple: The Marvels is more than a sequel to the 2019 Brie Larson vehicle. While Larson returns as Carol Danvers, she’s sharing the stage with Iman Vellani and Teyonah Parris and The Marvels is as much a follow-up to the respective introductions of those characters in Ms. Marvel and WandaVision as it is the next chapter in Carol’s MCU story. For fans, that means your refresher course is a little more robust than for the average sequel…and it’s time to get started! As always, we’ve done the work for you and proudly present the Ultimate List of What to Watch Before The Marvels!

    Tier One

    If you’re short on time and want it boiled down to the minimum amount of prep that it’s going to take to enjoy The Marvels fully, you’ll want to carve out time the time on your schedule to watch the following 3 projects:

    Captain Marvel

    Though it’s not called Captain Marvel: Subtitle, The Marvels will very much deal with the fallout from Carol Danvers’ actions in the 2019 box office darling. Carol tore the Kree Empire a fresh one and took out their brightest and best with minimal effort. All these years later, things are going so well on Hala and Carol’s bill is about to come due. And, don’t forget, Captain Marvel is Nick Fury’s MCU origin story, too…


    Ms. Marvel

    In some ways, Kamala Khan may just be more central to the story of The Marvels than any other character. If you’re really short for time, you could just watch the final post-credit scene with was shot during production on The Marvels. However, you might want to catch back up on a little of the lore behind Kamala’s bangle and some of what makes her tick.


    WandaVision

    Finally, The Marvels also continues the story of Monica Rambeau. While you can catch up on her early days and her relationship with Carol by rewatching Captain Marvel. The last time Monica was seen on screen in the MCU, she had only recently become powered up and was just starting to get a handle on her impressive new skill set. Both those parts of her past will play prominent roles in The Marvels.

    Tier Two

    While Tier One projects should be considered non-negotiables as part of any rewatch, Tier Two projects should just be considered supplemental. If you have time to fit these three projects into your schedule, you’ll feel a little more satisfied contextually when you sit down in theaters to watch The Marvels.

    Avengers: Endgame

    Though she doesn’t take up a major chunk of screentime in it, Avengers: Endgame establishes that Carol kept very busy in the galaxy since Captain Marvel. It also makes it clear that she’s one of the most powerful heroes in the galaxy. But has she been so busy that she forgot about the people closest to her?

    Secret Invasion

    The events of this Disney Plus streaming series will probably have a whole lot less to do with what happens in The Marvels than you think but it is absolutely relevant if for nothing more than it served as a bridge for Nick Fury to get back in action. Fury is front and center in The Marvels and back to that “old Nick” the Secret Invasion writers bludgeoned you to death with.

    Thor: Love and Thunder

    Why is this on the list? If you’re brave enough to rewatch Thor: Love and Thunder and have paid attention to rumors about The Marvels, you’ll be able to figure it out.

    Tier Three

    For the completists out there only. Realistically, having watched these projects once should provide all you’ll need to enjoy any characters or residual plot points in The Marvels; however, rewatches aren’t all about pragmatism! These are listed in chronological order for your viewing pleasure.

    The Nick Fury stuff speaks for itself: the man plays a major role in Carol’s life and she in his.

    The rest of these projects…take your best guess. This is a rewatch guide not full spoilers!

    Captain America: The First Avenger

    Iron Man

    Iron Man 2

    The Avengers

    Captain America: The Winter Soldier

    Avengers: Age of Ultron

    Thor: Ragnarok

    Loki

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

    Hawkeye

  • Matt Shakman Expects ‘Fantastic Four’ to Film Next Spring, Calls It “Unlike Anything at Marvel”

    Matt Shakman Expects ‘Fantastic Four’ to Film Next Spring, Calls It “Unlike Anything at Marvel”

    The WGA and SAG strikes shut down Hollywood for several months and in the absence of genuine news, a deluge of liquified bullshit ran wild. Marvel Studios long-gestating Fantastic Four was the subject of many such rumors, including one that indicated director Matt Shakman had departed the project. It looks as though that rumor–like many of the other rumors that have made the rounds since July–has been dispelled as Shakman provided an encouraging update on the project in an interview with Collider.

    From the sounds of the interview, it seems unlikely that there was ever any chance of Shakman bailing on Fantastic Four. “Absolutely having a great time,” said Shakman when asked how his work on Marvel Studios First Family project was going. “It’s a dream of mine to be able to work on that. I’ve loved those characters since I was little. It’s such an awesome world to be in,” he explained. “The script is awesome, the characters are brilliant. I’m super excited. I’m obviously very happy now that the writers’ strike has resolved in such a good way, and we’re able to reunite with Josh Friedman, our amazing screenwriter. I’m really hoping for a fair and equitable resolution to the actors’ strike soon, too. Keeping our fingers crossed. But we’re going! We’re a snowball heading downhill. It’s awesome. It’s got a lot of momentum. It’s really fun.“

    After updating the post-WGA status of the script, Shakman revealed that the project will be ready to go in front of cameras in 2024, “probably in the spring” at Pinewood Studios in London. The director also explained that the film should be able to make its projected start date because while the WGA and SAG strikes were ongoing, work continued with visual effects and production design crews to build the right mix for the world that the Fantastic Four will inhabit.

    We have been nonstop. Despite the strikes, yes, we’ve been working with the effects and with production design and building our world, and that’s been incredibly exciting. You know, how do you translate those skills into live-action in dynamic ways? Because some things that work beautifully in John Byrne and Jack Kirby are a little tougher when you’re filming them. How do you make sure that things are exciting but also grounded in a scientific thing, which is also part of the Fantastic Four that I love? There’s some stuff I’m super excited about. I can’t say too much, you know?

    Matt Shakman on the world building of his Fantastic Four film

    While Shakman couldn’t give any updates on casting, he was pleased to heap more praise on the new script. “It’s different in so many ways,” Shakman said of Friedman’s rewrite. “I wish I could be specific. I wish I could say more. But we are doing things very differently from a story standpoint, from an approach to the filmmaking standpoint, that really fits the material. I wish I could say more. I would love to, but I can’t. But I think it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen before, and certainly unlike anything at Marvel that you’ve seen before.” Given the importance of this project not only to the Multiverse Saga but the continued health of the MCU, setting it apart not only from previous big-screen iterations of the team but other teams already in place is perhaps the most encouraging update fans could have hoped for.

    Fantastic Four should hit theaters in 2025.

    Source: Collider

  • Synopsis, New Characters Revealed for Marvel Studios ‘Ironheart’

    Synopsis, New Characters Revealed for Marvel Studios ‘Ironheart’

    After debuting in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams is set to take on her own solo adventure in the Disney Plus streaming series Ironheart. While a new listing at the U.S. Copyright Office points to it being quite a while before that series hits the streamer, some new information about the series has come to light.

    Though it’s not set to stream for another 2 years, a new synopsis for Ironheart–along with some additions to the main cast–provides a little more insight into what to expect. The series is described as one “in which charming teenage super genius Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) returns from MIT to her hometown of Chicago in her iron suit and begins to unravel threads that bring danger and adventure to her doorstep.” While it doesn’t give away much, the synopsis does at least place the setting of Ironheart AFTER the events of Wakanda Forever, clearing up a subject about which there had been some debate.

    The filing also fills out the series’ cast a bit more though it’s not quite as revealing as a similar filing that was made for Daredevil: Born Again. Solo: A Star Wars Story’s Alden Ehrenreich is listed as Joe McGillicuddy which is almost certainly an alias or throwaway name as it’s widely believed the actor had been cast as Ezekiel Stane, the son of Jeff Bridges‘ Iron Man villain, Obadiah Stane. Manny Montana (Cousin John) and Shea Couleé (Slug) look to be members of the crew of Anthony Ramos’ Parker Robins with Couleé likely a version of Marvel Comics Ulysses Lugman and Montana a version of John King, the actual cousin of Robbins.

    Anji White looks to be portraying Riri’s mother, Ronnie, while Lyric Ross looks to be taking on the role of Riri’s best friend, Natalie, who was shot and killed in front of Riri when she was 13. The Many Saints of Newark actor Matthew Elam is listed as Xavier Washington, who seems to be an original character and may end up as a love interest for Riri. Interestingly enough, Regan Aliyah, who joined the cast in August of 2022 and was rumored to be set to portray Zelma Stanton, is absent from the cast list.

    Despite their efforts to conceal his identity here, there’s really no mystery to Sacha Baron Cohen’s “mystery man” as it’s been widely reported he will be portraying Mephisto. His presence–and that of the Hood–sets up Ironheart as a unique magic vs. science that should thrill fans when it arrives in 2025.

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Gets a New Synopsis and Interesting Character Additions

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Gets a New Synopsis and Interesting Character Additions

    After getting off to a very public start of production in New York City, Daredevil: Born Again moved out of the eye of the public for some time before being shut down in the midst of the WGA strike. With the resolution of that strike and some good vibes being generated around a settlement of the SAG strike, the big wheel is starting to spin again at Marvel Studios and some new information about the anticipated series has come to light.

    Thanks to the discovery of a US Copyright filing, a new synopsis for the Disney Plus streaming show has been made public as well as some incredibly interesting additions to the cast.

    In the filing, Daredevil: Born Again is described as a story that sees “longtime rivals Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) try to leave behind their darker alter-egos to serve the people of New York only to have their pasts catch up to them.” Given all the uncertainty about just how this series ties to Netflix’s Daredevil, it’s eye-catching to see Murdock and Fisk described as “longtime rivals.”

    The synopsis may be the least interesting bit of information found in the filing, however, as it not only confirms quite a few rumored castings but also reveals several actors and characters with major Marvel Comics ties. Confirmed are the castings of Margarita Levieva as Heather Glenn and Nikki M. James as Kristen McDuffie, each of whom was a love interest of Murdock’s in the Marvel Comics. Of major interest is the listing of Michael Gandolfini as a character named Daniel Blade, Arty Froushan as Buck Cashman and Genneya Walton as BB Urich.

    It has been rumored that Gandolfini is playing a young Wilson Fisk in flashbacks and “Daniel Blade” is not an existing Marvel Comics character, so there could be some alias work at play there. While Buck Cashman, a superpowered government special operative, has over 30 appearances as a supporting character in Daredevil comics, the most interesting name of the group is BB Urich. While there’s no BB Urich in the pages of Marvel Comics, it’s possible that Walton could be playing the daughter of Ben Urich, one of Daredevil’s most important supporting characters in the comics who was played by Vondie Curis-Hall in the Netflix Daredevil series. Urich was killed by Kingpin in that series so if Walton were to be playing his daughter, her inclusion may well line up with the idea of Fisk’s past catching up with him.

    Whatever the case, the filing also indicates the show isn’t expected to stream until January 2025 at the earliest which means fans will have a long wait to find out exactly what’s going on in Daredevil: Born Again.

  • Potential Release Dates Emerge for Marvel Studios Delayed Streaming Series

    Potential Release Dates Emerge for Marvel Studios Delayed Streaming Series

    The recently resolved WGA strike and the yet-to-be-resolved SAG strike have taken a toll on Marvel Studios’ streaming plans. Streaming series such as Daredevil: Born Again and Wonder Man were forced to shut production down which began a game of dominoes with the once robust slate of programming. Without a solid idea of when series would resume production, much less complete it, the studio began to reshuffle its plans to make sure consumers would have something to consume in 2024. As a result, Echo, a finished product, was bumped out of November 2023 and into January 2024 and other series’ release dates, such as those for Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Ironheart, faced some serious uncertainty. Now, as the future of production schedules begins to become a bit clearer, some clarity around the release of these projects may have gained some clarity as well.

    According to multiple filings with the US Copyright office, originally found by @ScarletWitchUpd, Marvel Studios has begun to plan out their 2024 and 2025 streaming schedules a little more specifically.

    While these dates must certainly continue to be taken as tentative for the time being, it seems the current plan is to release the first episode of Agatha: Darkhold Diaries on September 29, 2024, the first episode of Daredevil: Born Again in January 2025 and the first episode of Ironheart on September 3, 2025. The late 2025 release date for Ironheart comes as quite a shock considering principal photography on the series wrapped in November 2022 and a good deal of footage was shown off at D23 2022 in Anaheim.

    If these dates should hold–or even be relatively accurate–it also speaks volumes about Marvel Studios plans for series such as Wonder Man and Vision Quest. As it stands, it would seem that neither of those two series would be on the books before 2026. Given the studio once had eight unannounced series (of which Wonder Man and Vision Quest were two) set to stream between the Fall of 2024 and the Summer of 2025 it will interesting to see just how much fat has been trimmed from the slate since Bob Iger returned.

  • REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2, Episode 1

    REVIEW: ‘Loki’ Season 2, Episode 1

    In the wake of the widely panned Secret Invasion and the shuffling of Echo into 2024 and Ironheart into who knows when, Marvel Studios’ hopes for streaming success in 2023 rest squarely on the shoulders of the second season of Loki. While it’s foolish to judge an entire series by its first episode, if “Ouroboros” is any indication of what to expect this season from the creative team of writer Eric Martin and directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who previously teamed up with Marvel Studios on Moon Knight, Marvel may be able to rest easy.

    “Ouroboros” comes out of the gate swinging. Opening in the moments immediately after the Season 1 cliffhanger, the episode quickly dismisses the most prevalent fan theory about where Loki ended up when Sylvie kicked him through the time door. Whereas the belief was that Loki was transported to an alternate TVA, the first quarter of the episode establishes that he has in fact been transported to the same TVA in the past…and what an interesting past it was. By grotesquely “time slipping”, Loki learns that He Who Remains once openly ruled the TVA before installing the Time Keepers and slipping away to the Citadel at the End of Time. Taken in concert with the recent revelations that all TVA employees are Variants who were ripped from their lives, the very foundations upon which they believed the TVA stood are now entirely reframed as the implications of He Who Remains’ actions become crystal clear. These people’s minds have been wiped repeatedly in the service of the TVA and anything and everything they think they know about themselves is just a fraction of their actual lives.

    Once the episode moves forward under those implications, finding a solution to Loki’s time slipping becomes the central focus of the episode. Finding a solution to that problem leads Mobius and Loki to one of the second season’s key new members in Ke Hey Quan’s Ouroboros. The march to find OB, the TVA’s resident tech guru, not only allows for an exploration of some of the unseen nooks and crannies of the TVA but also time for the series’ marquee characters, Loki and Mobius, to shine. Much of the success of Season 1 came from the chemistry between the two and even under the direction of a new creative team, the pair continues to cook. Tom Hiddleston continues to be so wonderfully charismatic and catalytic as Loki which means that it’s nearly impossible for him to share an awkward scene with anyone and so as funny as his scenes with Owen Wilson continue to be, his split-time scenes with Quan’s OB are equally brilliant. By working together, Loki and OB come up with a solution to Loki’s issue but in attempting to solve that issue, the larger mystery of Season 2 is revealed.

    Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios’ LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.

     In pursuit of curing Loki’s time slipping, OB discovers that the Time Loom, an object which he explains is used to refine raw time into physical timelines, has been overloaded as time broke free following the death of He Who Remains. The second half of the episode ends up being some of the MCU’s best hardcore sci-fi to date as it attempts to address the madness erupting in the multiverse. The back half is full of imaginative set designs and mumbo jumbo jargon (a dial on the ceiling keeps track of the chronons being emitted per hour) that allow for the audience to have some footing in what’s actually taking place. Sci-fi, time travel and mulitversality have never been for everyone but the writing team, lead by Martin, did an admirable job of making it palatable and as relatable as possible under the circumstances.

    While “Ouroboros” solves Loki’s time slipping issue and resolves the Season 1 cliffhanger, it ends on one itself. In the absence of Ravonna Rennslayer, the headless TVA is now subject to the whims of an interesting group of folks led by General (Paradox), Judge Gamble and another fellow with all the energy of Ray Winstone’s Dreykov. Just as Loki is pulled back from the time stream, several brigades of Hunters are seen taking off through a series of time doors into the newly created branches in search of Sylvie. While her location is unveiled in the show’s post-credit scene, the actions of these Hunters and are sure to have some pretty heady consequences for the show and set up one of two ongoing plot points for the season.

    Though in many ways it feels like more of the same (great writing, great characters and timey-wimey mysteries), the opening episode of Season 2 also gives the MCU something brand new. While Loki’s glorious purpose, established over a decade ago in the MCU’s timeline, seems like old news to the audience, it’s important to remember that this Loki Variant was plucked from 2012 where he only very recently attempted to kill the Avengers and sought to rule all of humanity. “Ouroboros” give this Loki room to grow into a new glorious purpose: becoming the hero of all time. From the moment he first appears on screen, Hiddleston plays the part with a distinct desperation we’ve never really seen. Even in the Season 1 finale, there was some hesitancy to become the hero but now, having been Lokied by another Loki, this Loki now seems fully committed to an all-new, all-different path. And maybe, just maybe, the sun will shine on Loki and his brother again at the end of it. If you thought there wasn’t room for more Loki in your life, “Ouroboros” did its level best to make you think twice and set up one hell of a first two-thirds of a season of streaming TV at its best. In an increasingly entropic MCU, Season 2 of Loki seeks to return order and remind us all what’s always been so great about this shared universe.

  • Scott Derrickson’s ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Would Have Been a “Genuine Horror Film”

    Scott Derrickson’s ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Would Have Been a “Genuine Horror Film”

    It’s no secret that the Doctor Strange sequel that made its way into theaters in 2022 was miles away from the film that was originally pitched by the director of the first film, Scott Derrickson. When Derrickson and Marvel Studios parted ways, the rumor mill churned out the idea that departure stemmed from the director being told his pitch was “too creepy.” That rumor was squashed by Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, and never really made much sense anyway since the studio went on to work with Sam Raimi, who inserted plenty of creepy stuff into Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That doesn’t mean, however, that Derrickson, who has directed horror movies such as The Black Phone, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister, didn’t have creepy ideas in mind for the sequel.

    In an interview with The Playlist, Derrickson opened up about the reasons he and Marvel Studios chose to part ways and his pitch for the film. “All I can say is that what we said publicly is exactly the truth,” said Derrickson. “We had real creative differences. You know, the movie I wanted to make and how I wanted to make it was different than–it was just increasingly obvious that we were pulling against each other. And that’s how you make a really bad movie, I think. When the producer or the studio and the filmmaker are making different movies, you end up with a monstrosity and, you know, that’s why I had to bounce.”

    As for what the movie Derrickson wanted to make entailed, the director told The Playlist that is was an “extreme departure from the first film” and “a genuine horror film of sorts.” Concept art for Derrickson’s version of the sequel included designs for Nightmare, a Fear Lord who has served as one of Strange’s longest-lasting antagonists in the comics. So what becomes of all those concepts and ideas? As it turns out, Derrickson explains “there’s no bad blood” over his departure, backing up his previous comments about being open to returning to work with the studio. While it seems unlikely his pitch would line up with what Doctor Strange 3 seems to be about, it’s possible it might find life in whatever comes next for the MCU following the Multiverse Saga.

    Source: The Playlist

  • A Second Season of ‘Ahsoka’ Looks to Be in the Works

    A Second Season of ‘Ahsoka’ Looks to Be in the Works

    While the eighth and final episode of Ahsoka left no doubt that there are more adventures in store for the former Jedi, the lack of an immediate announcement of a second season left fans wondering where those adventures would unfold. With creator Dave Filoni also tapped to bring the New Republic era of stories to the big screen, it’s reasonable to wonder if the cliffhangers from “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord” were meant to be resolved in the “Heir to the Empire” film and if Ahsoka would be a one and done. While it’s possible much of what went on in Ahsoka might be addressed in the film, it now seems a second season is a very realistic possibility as well.

    According to Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro, though nothing is “locked yet”, due at least in part to the lengthy WGA strike, a second season of Ahsoka seems pretty likely and is “in the conversation” about what project is up next for the main cast of characters. If that’s the case, it seems more foundation needs to be laid before Filoni’s film, which is said to be the capstone of the Mando-verse projects, hits theaters.

    Lucasfilm’s Star Wars streaming series Skeleton Crew is thought to be the next New Republic-era story headed to Disney Plus though there seems to be some uncertainty when that will stream despite it having previously been announced as a late-2023 drop. Beyond that, it’s believed that a fourth season of The Mandalorian is ready to head into production as soon as possible after the resolution of the SAG strike. If filming were to get underway in 2023, it’s possible it would be ready for release in the Spring of 2025. While it hasn’t been officially announced yet, it seems as though Lucasfilm is angling for Filoni’s film to hit theaters in 2026 so it’s possible that a second season of Ahsoka might have some space carved out for it in 2025 or early 2026.

    All episodes of Ahsoka are streaming now on Disney Plus.

    Source: Deadline

  • REVIEW: The Season Finale of ‘Ahsoka’

    REVIEW: The Season Finale of ‘Ahsoka’

    With a dense eighth and final episode directed by Rick Famuyiwa, the first season of Ahsoka has come and gone; however, much like seasons of its animated prequel series, Star Wars Rebels, just as much as–if not more than–was left in limbo for the next adventure as was resolved. In many ways, “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord” feels much like the second acts in each of the Star Wars trilogies (Attack of the Clones, The Empire Strikes Back and The Last Jedi). Tough choices are made, heroes are separated and there’s a strong sense the bad guys won though a glimmer of hope remains. And so perhaps, given creator Dave Filoni’s deep understanding of the style, structure and rhythm of Star Wars, Ahsoka will eventually be seen as the second act of the New Republic era of stories that Filoni and Jon Favreau have been crafting for Disney Plus and which will eventually culminate in an as yet undated theatrical release. However, as is true about nearly every Star Wars project, its place in the even larger narrative is incredibly relevant as well.

    Taken as a complete series, Ahsoka seems to fill three roles. It serves–potentially equally but certainly simultaneously–as a sequel to Star Wars Rebels, the second act of the New Republic era of stories and a prequel to the sequel trilogy or, at the very least, the Rise of the First Order. Set around 11 ABY, Ahsoka takes place roughly 10 years after the events of Star Wars Rebels and, coincidentally, roughly 10 years before the establishment of The First Order which makes the series–and perhaps the character–the fulcrum on which the fate of the galaxy pivots. Given its equidistance (and there’s no way any of that is coincidental) between the before and the after, it was requisite that it service both the before and the after and the finale did just that. Thus the Talzin Sword, the Mortis gods, Morai and any other Rebels callbacks were just as front and center as Thrawn’s next step in becoming heir to the Empire, the open-endedness of what awaits Ahsoka, Sabine, Baylan and Shin on Peridea and any other foreshadowing of the next story in the New Republic timeline. So just as The Empire Strikes Back is the second act of the original trilogy and the original trilogy is the second act of the Skywalker Saga, Ahsoka finds itself as the second act of a second act because as begun by George Lucas and continued by Filoni, Star Wars stories will always fit a role in a familiar pattern.

    (L-R): Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Huyang (David Tennant) and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: AHSOKA, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved

    Despite falling into that pattern and feeling very much like the Star Wars fans around Filoni’s age grew up with, Ahsoka also feels like something brand new and all its own. The finale continued Filoni’s career-long crusade to expand the nature of the Force. Sabine finally tapped into the Force (is it stronger there than in the “home” galaxy?), Thrawn and the Great Mothers set a course for Dathomir (what exactly is in that cargo hold?) and Baylan’s last scene teased a potentially monumental deep dive into the origins of the Force through a further exploration of The Ones (is Peridiea where they left The Mother when they went to Mortis?). It also left Sabine, Ahsoka, Baylan and Shin in a galaxy far, far away from THE galaxy far, far away allowing for the potential for stories (past, present and future) to be set there. In that way, and taken as a whole, Ahsoka feels expansive both within the framework created by Lucas and outside of that same framework where it seems Filoni is becoming more comfortable carving his own path. And just as it seems the right path for Ahsoka–as the appearance of Morai indicate–to explore Peridea and all its strange unknonws, it seems the right path for Filoni, as well.

    As the finale of an eight-episode season, “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord” did plenty to resolve what was unquestionably the biggest question: will Ezra get home? He did and got to wear his favorite disguise in doing so; however, given Ezra’s eturn went hand-in-hand with the inevitable return of the Heir to the Empire and where the galaxy is bound to end up in a decade, his happy reunion with Hera and Chopper will certainly be short-lived. But Ahsoka’s role in the larger narrative, while still to be fully realized, is clearly greater than one season’s worth of stories but if the first season is any measure of what to expect from more, fans should be excited. If, in fact, Ahsoka is the fulcrum upon which the fate of the galaxy pivots, the finale just tipped the scales: up is headed down and down is headed up and balance will be elusive if not impossible for everyone along for the ride…including you.

  • ‘The Marvel’s Looks Set to Be Marvel Studios Shortest Film to Date

    ‘The Marvel’s Looks Set to Be Marvel Studios Shortest Film to Date

    In recent years, fans have developed an interesting obsession with the runtimes of Marvel Studios projects. Whether it’s an episode of one a streaming project or the length of a film, conversations about runtimes have, at times, overshadowed conversations about what happened DURING that runtime. The general consensus seems to be that no matter how long the episode or film in question actually is, it would have been better had it been longer. With that in mind, those obsessed with runtime will have plenty to talk about now.

    According to newly shared information by Cryptic HD, who continues to be a bulletproof source for runtime information on Disney’s projects, The Marvels, which releases on November 10th, is set to be the shortest MCU film to date.

    https://twitter.com/Cryptic4KQual/status/1709284522292818381?t=vamnLl9aMyTyH5Atn936YA&s=19

    As the post makes clear, the 105 minute runtime is still only an estimate; however, it’s unlikely that the actual runtime of The Marvels will differ significantly enough from the estimate to surpass the 112 minute runtimes of either The Incredible Hulk or Thor: The Dark World which currently share the honor of being the shortest cinematic entries in the MCU.

    Given The Marvels may be the last Marvel Studios project to hit theaters for quite some time as a the now-resolved WGA strike and ongoing SAG strike have delayed productions, fans will have to make the most of the 1 hour and 45 minutes of action it provides.