They are pushing out one series after another. It looks like Lando Calrissian has finally gotten his own show. It was just announced that the creator behind Dear White People Justin Simien will be developing a series focused on Lando. We sadly couldn’t see it but this is quite a surprise. There is a chance that this series will continue after the storyline that was set-up in Solo. It is still in early development so a lot can change.
Tag: Star Wars
-
Lucasfilm Releases the First Trailer for ‘THE BAD BATCH’
The first trailer for the upcoming Disney+ animated show is now out.
Announced in July 2020, The Bad Batch will follow the Clone Force 99 a.k.a. The Bad Batch, which was the focus of the first story arc of the last season of The Clone Wars. Set in the post-Clone War era, the series will see the uniquely skilled clones take on merc work as they transition into a new life.
-
‘Rogue-One’ Spin-Off Officially Titled ‘Andor’ with Sneak Preview
Finally, the story focused on Cassian Andor has gotten a title and it is as simple as you expect it to be. The series is titled Andor, which includes Stellan Skarsgard. Mon Mothma will also make her return in the series. Not just that, we even got a trailer, which we can actually watch, that showcases the show’s direction. The Rogue One spin-off is described as a spy spin-off that will continue to explore Cassian’s story before the events of the film.
-
Title Confirmation and First Look at ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’ ‘Star Wars’ Series
The first look at the upcoming Disney+ Star Wars show is now out. Ewan McGregor will reprise his character from the Star Wars prequels, with Hayden Christensen also returning as Anakin Skywalker.
The title was confirmed as being ‘OBI-WAN KENOBI’ as was expected.
According to a recent report from The New York Times there would be a “significant expansion of the Star Wars universe” and this show is a big part of that.
-
Lucasfilm Announces ‘AHSOKA TANO’ ‘Star Wars’ series
After making her first live-action appearance in Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano is now the focus of a brand new Disney+ series, starting Rosario Dawson as the former padawan of Anakin Skywalker.
According to a recent report from The New York Times there would be a “significant expansion of the Star Wars universe” and this confirmation is a big part of that.
-
‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Chapter 15 Primer
In the latest episode of The Mandalorian, Chapter 14 ” The Tragedy”, Grogu and Mando arrived on Tython immediately. Grogu got to the seeing stone to do his Jedi business and then Slave I arrived, distracting Din Djarin and taking his attention away from Grogu. After a bit of a standoff with Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, he teams up with them to fight off Stormtroopers that were sent by Moff Gideon. While all of this is happening, Grogu is by himself and gets taken by the Dark Troopers back to Gideon. The Razor Crest was blown up, giving Din only one option: to go with Boba and Fennec. He starts trying to form a team with Cara Dune and is on his way to Miggs Mayfield when the episode ends.
Last season, Miggs and Mando went on a mission together, Mayfield backstabbed Mando but Mando turned it around and left him locked up in prison. Mayfield may not want to work with him given what happened the last time they saw each other. If Miggs joins the team, he may not be the final piece. We’ve met some other characters along the way who would be perfect additions to the Grogu Rescue Squad. Among those he might call on for help are:
- Bo-Katan and her group
- Greef Karga
- The Mythrol
- Ahsoka
There are also a couple of other characters from Chapter 6 who could come back and help if it gets them a Get Out of Jail Free card.
Arlyn’s Assumptions
I don’t think Ashoka will be back for the team. Bringing a former Jedi back on the team might make the fight for Grogu a little unfair and a little less exciting. I would believe they will set it up so he wants her to be on the team but can’t find her, sidelining her for this episode. It’s most likely that Bo-Katan will join the Grogu Rescue Squad because it gets her close to achieving her goal of reacquiring the Darksaber.
I also think that like last season, it will take 2 episodes to resolve the conflict and to retrieve Grogu. Will the Grogu Rescue Squad leave in one piece? I don’t think so.
Chapter 15 of The Mandalorian will stream tomorrow.
-
What To Expect from Disney’s Investor Day
Disney’s Investor Day will be held virtually this year on December 10th, 2020.
2020 has been quite an unconventional year, to say the least. Especially if you’re a big Hollywood studio. Movies and movie studios have taken a heavy hit this year with the pandemic forcing theaters worldwide to shut down. As time went on, some studios tried to return to a sense of normality by reopening some theaters and distributing their movies there. Others adapted and tried a more “direct-to-streaming” PVoD approach with their films. But no matter the case, it’s forced some studios to delay their projects and production slates. But now, we’ll able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as the Walt Disney Company will hold its virtual Investor Day tomorrow.
What exactly goes down on Investor Day?
Disney’s Investor Day is this particular event where Disney gathers its assets and fellow production companies to discuss their current status and what’s ahead for the company either next year (2021) or in the foreseeable future. Now last year, Disney focused its Investor Day on its “Comprehensive Direct-to-Consumer Strategy”, giving presentations for Disney+, Hulu, Hotstar, ESPN+ and of course, they also discussed how Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic fit into their program at the time. That presentation lasted for about 2 hours and 30 minutes. This year, it is expected that they will follow suit to last year and discuss the future of Disney+ in a presentation that is expected to last a total of 4 hours. Deadline has also confirmed that they will announce “new projects from Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar that will encompass TV as well as theatrical.”
Expect “Expansion”
We can expect Disney to shed some light on exactly how well the streaming platform did for its first year of service since debuting on November 12th last year. As of September of 2020, Disney+ had gained a net total of 73.7 million subscribers, and that number is before Disney+ was made available in Latin America, so we expect that number of subscribers to grow by the time the event rolls around tomorrow. Not only that, but we can also expect Disney+ to make some expansion announcements tomorrow, specifically to Southeast Asia. Twitter User @DrewsClues found this very interesting information, with Disney making a search in Southeast Asia, hiring personnel for Disney+ in Southeast Asia.
https://twitter.com/drewsclues/status/1335442360667426817?s=21
Expect some shifts from Disney’s theatrical slate.
We might see Disney officially confirm projects that were originally slated to release in theaters shift to Disney+. Some of those projects include the likes of Cruella, and the live-action remakes of Peter Pan and Pinocchio.
We may also hear announcements of possible Disney live-action remakes that may be making our way to the big screen soon, as well as possible announcements to future Disney+ original shows. Speaking of Disney+…
Expect more details on ‘premier access’
We all know of Disney’s experiment with Mulan and Premier Access from way back when in September and it seems the experiment really took off. Let’s take a look at what Bob Iger had to say regarding Premier Access during their Q4 2020 Earnings Results Webcast back in November:
Based off on what we’re reading, it seems that those ideas of Premier Access being a “one-off” are certainly untrue and that we can expect more titles to be released on Premier Access. However, I find it possible that Disney might consider reducing the price tag on the films they might release under their platform considering the reception Mulan received. Now, what titles could Disney release under the brand? There’s a number of potential candidates that could be released via this format as a way to compete with Warner’s decision to push their entire 2021 slate to HBO Max.
Expect the announcement of ‘Disney+ Star’
Joseph Aberl could probably tell you more about this project than I can but one of the most exciting parts of this upcoming Investor Day is the announcement of a new section in Disney+ called “Disney+ Star.” Now, Disney+ Star is rumored to essentially be a section of Disney+ that’s more focused on adult content and that it will require a pin code to access such content. We might see the addition of films from some of the companies Disney managed to purchase in recent years such as 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, A&E, and more. To read more on that, feel free to check out Joseph’s article on Disney+ Star.
Expect announcements/trailers from Marvel Studios
As we mentioned earlier in the article, Deadline confirmed that we can expect announcements regarding new projects from Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar that will encompass TV as well as theatrical. So let’s start with Marvel Studios. Right now, Marvel Studios has been extremely silent and rightfully so. It is the first time since 2009 that we go an entire year without a Marvel Studios production. The entire Phase 4 slate has seen a bit of mix up these past few months, with a lot of projects currently left up in the air without an official date. Now that the pandemic is starting to lift the pressure off studios and we see the light at the end of the tunnel, with the rollout of vaccines across the world, it might be a good time for Marvel to set some of its dates in stone.
1. We’ll see a new Phase 4 slate (Extremely Likely)
As of today, these are ALL of the projects Marvel Studios has OFFICIALLY announced, and before the pandemic, most of their production and premiere dates were all set in stone. But since the pandemic, a lot of these projects were forced to delay their releases, with no official dates in sight outside of WandaVision, which premieres on January 15th, and Black Widow which premieres in May. Notice how originally, Black Widow was meant to kick off Phase 4 but with the pandemic forcing its delay, it pushed WandaVision to the front of the line. We may expect to see some new dates set for these films and perhaps a slight shift here and there.
2. We’ll get our first looks at some of the upcoming Disney+ shows (Likely)
With WandaVision set to debut on January 15th, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Loki finally having completed filming, and the animated What If? show well into nonstop production since its announcement, 2021 is completely stacked in terms of Marvel Studios content for Disney+ shows. Now that nearly all of these projects are pretty much completed in production it might be a good time to present investors (and fans) with another trailer for the upcoming WandaVision show. We believe that Marvel has been setting up a sort of countdown in these past few days with some posters for WandaVision so be sure to check out that theory piece. It’ll also be a good time for Marvel to give us our first trailers for shows like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki, and the animated What If?. I also expect Feige to give us an update on shows like Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel, which just started production as well as the upcoming Moon Knight and She-Hulk series, starring Oscar Issac and Tatiana Maslany respectively.
3. We’ll get some more Disney+ series announcements (Likely)
Charles Murphy had taken up the task of creating an incredible article about what to expect from the future of the MCU and when to expect it, so do be sure to check that out! But back at the matter at hand, it is likely that Marvel might also take the time to announce some projects, some that we already know of like the Nick Fury Disney+ show. Marvel might also take the time to address some of the Disney+ rumors of characters that might join the MCU via these types of shows like Ironheart, S.W.O.R.D., Secret Warriors, and Ghost Rider.
4. We’ll get some more theatrical news (Unlikely)
If you’ve been paying attention to the news as of late, you might have noticed that multiple trades and blogs have been dropping Marvel news these past few months regarding the MCU films such as Kang the Conqueror being confirmed for Ant-Man 3, Christian Bale in Thor: Love and Thunder, and the massive bombshell that dropped yesterday regarding Spider-Man 3 with the castings of Alfred Molina, Andrew Garfield, Kirsten Dunst and the rumors of Tobey Maguire and Emma Stone joining the film for what seems to be a live-action iteration of the Spider-Verse. We’ve discussed the possibility of Marvel making the move to push Black Widow to a possible hybrid release both in theaters and Disney+ via its Premier Access service. AND not only that but Marvel has yet to address any details regarding films like Captain Marvel 2, Black Panther 2, Blade, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Deadpool 3, and so on. Whether or not Kevin Feige takes the opportunity to announce any details regarding any of these projects remains to be seen, but I at least find it unlikely.
Expect announcements and details from Lucasfilm
Apart from Marvel Studios, we also expect Lucasfilm to announce some of its upcoming slate as well. They might tout some of the massive success that the second season of the Mandalorian has generated and will discuss what might be in store for the future of the show as well. Our very own João Pinto had also taken up the task of creating an incredible article about what to expect from the future of Star Wars and when to expect it, so do be sure to check that out! In there, we discuss A TON of goodies that Lucasfilm might discuss tomorrow. Among those are the series focused on Boba Fett, Cassian Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Bad Batch. We also might get the confirmation of series that have been rumored to be in development for some time, such as a show focused on Bo-Katan as well as a show around Ahsoka Tano. And of course, there is the possibility that Kathleen Kennedy might possibly discuss the future of the Star Wars films as well, so we’ll have to stay tuned for that one.
Expect announcements from Pixar
We are also expected to take a peek at what Pixar has been working on behind the scenes in terms of future animated films (and possibly even series). They may discuss the upcoming movie Soul, which is expected to be released on Disney+ this coming December 25th, as well as discussing their upcoming project, Luca.
Whatever happens tomorrow during Disney’s Investor Day, you can be sure that Murphy’s Multiverse will be sure to keep you all covered on all the announcements the event brings.
-
Murphy’s Law Podcast: Episode 73
Encouraged by the information that a lot of people spend a lot of time listening to us talk, Charles and Charles decided to record another episode! Here we talk all about Hawkeye, which recently started filming in NYC, what Hailee Steinfeld means for the future of the MCU, Boba’s badassery in the latest episode of The Mandalorian and more!
-
‘THE MANDALORIAN’: Boba’s Back and He Ain’t No Joke(er)
Season 2 of The Mandalorian came out swinging when, at the end of Chapter 9, the show’s creators revealed that the Star Wars Universe’s biggest man of mystery, Boba Fett, was “back from the dead.” Maybe more like revealed he was still alive than back from the dead, but by putting the legendary bounty hunter back into play, they were walking a fine line, one that I mentioned briefly here. It was obvious that Temura Morrison’s Boba has seen some shit since we saw him fall into the Sarlaac Pit in Return of the Jedi, but he survived, got himself some weapons and was after his old armor. It was also obvious that we weren’t just getting a fan-service look at the character because as we learn each week, almost every character we’ve met along the way comes back into play at some point, so why would Boba be any different?
As it turns out, Boba did come back and he came big in a big way. Robert Rodriguez’s chapter of The Mandalorianshowed us a side of Boba that we had only ever had a chance to imagine as fans. In fact, as many have said, from the minute we saw Slave I entering the atmosphere of Tython, we were treated to what is almost inarguably the best 10 minutes or so of Boba’s screen time in the Star Wars Universe. Boba showed himself to be an imposing physical threat capable of taking out a platoon of Stormtrooper (yeah, I know they’re just Stormtroopers) with extreme prejudice. Boba also showed himself to be, much like Din Djarin, a man bound by a code of honor, the same code of honor that binds Din.To me, Rodriguez masterfully walked the line between revealing too much about Boba’s past, giving us just enough to explain his presence in the series without going too far. Boba’s mysterious nature has always been one of the best things about the character; even though we did get some filler info in The Clone Wars, we don’t really know how Boba came to be the kind of guy with enough of a rep to end up sharing space with Darth Vader and it might have been a disservice to the character to get into details about how he escaped the Sarlaac. Instead, we got all we needed, we got just enough and what little we got enriched the character in a major way; in fact, by not going too far and just letting the character be, this episode made good on everything fans ever thought Boba was in the first place.
To Rodriguez’s credit, it’s hard to resist the urge to go too far, to take away all the mystery, and in doing so, do more harm to the character than good. Todd Phillips’ Joker highlights the dangers in taking one of the most complicated and mysterious characters in all of fiction and overexplaining his origins and motivations to fans. Now I don’t but the “he’s A Joker, not THE Joker” crap no do I buy the “unreliable narrator” crap. There’s no reason to make a movie called Joker and not make it about the Clown Prince of Crime. With that out of the way, what we are left with is a fairly pathetic attempt to explain how a down-on-his-luck guy named Arthur Fleck could somehow be put on a path that would allow him to stand toe-to-toe with Batman. And this guy, this Fleck, based on the story we were given, there’s just no way he could ever do that. We know too much about him now to ever believe he could last more than 30 seconds in a fight with the Dark Knight much less concoct evil schemes that allow him to be two steps ahead of the World’s Greatest Detective. Because of this, Fleck’s story was one that ultimately was better off never being told. By taking away the mystery of what made the Joker into the Joker, the film did a disservice to the character.Rodriguez, on the other hand, did just the opposite. He avoided the pitfall of telling us how Boba crawled from the depths of the Sarlaac Pit. He avoided telling us the long story that would, for all intents and purposes, serve as the origin story of the Boba Fett from The Empire Strikes Back. Instead, he kept those things shrouded in mystery, where they belong, because it’s the mystery of the man that has ALWAYS made him so great. With characters like these, there’s almost no way that one director’s vision of the origin story or the big missing pieces could ever live up to what fans have built up in their minds; it’s safer to leave them untold and find other ways to advance the character in the present, which is exactly what Rodriguez did.
I hated Boba Fett when he delivered Han to Jabba and even though he’s always been one of my favorite Star Wars characters, he’s always been a bad guy. But now that we see how his father Jango’s life may have paralleled Din Djarin’s, we can see things from the other side of the coin and believably accept Boba. As Zangief reminds us, just because Boba is a bad guy does not mean he is a bad guy. Maybe he’s just a good guy willing to crush a few Stormtrooper’s skulls sparrow’s eggs if it’s for his cause. Either way, by leaving out the details and letting us make our own choices, Rodriguez has made the return of fan-favorite character that much better. by letting Boba be Boba and keeping us in the dark. -
‘THE MANDALORIAN’ Theory: Armors, Troopers & Sabers
With the number of characters introduced in its second season, it’s fair to say that everything is fair game when you’re theorizing about The Mandalorian‘s upcoming episodes. But what this season has also shown us is that by the end of it there won’t be a single episode from season one that you could skip without missing something crucial to the overarching storyline. This means that not only do the most obvious story elements tend to come back in some way but that even the smaller details gain importance throughout the show.
We’ve already written how the focus given in Chapter 13 to how beskar can deal with lightsabers obviously wasn’t innocent. We got two fights where that became clear, and so audiences are now feeling that Mando’s armor is almost impervious to almost whatever Moff Gideon throws at it. But we’ve also mentioned why Gideon’s Darksaber might be able to slice through beskar and now Chapter 14 might have given us another hint on how the final confrontation between Din Djarin’s posse and Moff Gideon’s troopers might unfold. We were deprived of something that, had it not been left out, might have diminished the impact of that final fight and that was seeing the Dark Troopers in battle.
We know that beskar became highly sought after by Mandalorians after the Empire took most of it, as spoils of war, after the Great Purge. We also know that Empire operatives are still holding on to great amounts of the Mandalorian alloy. With the metal at hand, it would make sense that someone like Moff Gideon, who is highly knowledgeable of Mandalorian culture and weaponry, would make use of a material with such unique properties when building himself his own Dark Trooper unit.
In the previous episode, Din Djarin managed to defeat the Magistrate’s assassin droids with a single shot, showing us how droids can still be fairly easily killed. But had Mando and Fennec Shand reached the top of the mountain in time to engage beskar-armored Dark Troopers, we might have seen how their blasters wouldn’t harm them. And that is something that wasn’t really needed for Chapter 14, as Grogu being kidnapped was enough anguish for the moment. Leaving such a revelation to the last two episodes will make Mando’s situation even worse than expected, which will only make his expected retrieval of Grogu even more cathartic.
