Episode 191 - Take Me Back to 2018

Tower of Babble

As the ToB Crew kickoff 2024, we begin by lamenting what we lost. If only we could return to the simpler times, pre-pandemic. Alas, this is not to be, so instead Julian and Jeremy rely on "ol' faithful", which of course means reviewing the latest news concerning film and television. Unfortunately, they immediately lose focus, perhaps subconsciously staying true to the nostalgic undertone that accompany the start of a new year, and enjoy a fun sidebar discussion about the state of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars in the early 2000s (We didn't know how good we had it back then). All of which was of course an offshoot of the news of John Williams un-retirement. Next the guys unpack some Star Wars news, and then lean into Marvel. Specifically the fresh legitimacy the Netflix 'Defenders' saga shows have received as Daredevil is pulled further into the MCU. They also save some time to review the Golden Globe winners and look ahead at the Emmys (which were happening live during the recording). All that and so much more on this week's episode of The Tower of Babble Podcast.

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Show Notes

Movies & TV

• Trailers

• ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’

• Guy Ritchie’s ‘The Gentlemen’ series

• John Williams has canceled his retirement plans saying “If a film came along that I was greatly interested in, with a schedule that I could cope with, I wouldn’t want to rule anything out.”

• Star Wars

• Dave Filoni has been promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm.

• Dave Filoni, in a recent interview with EW, confirms what was seemingly firmly established in Ahsoka, saying that “if you pay attention to the films you understand that the Force is an energy field created by all living things. But it takes some commitment”.

• A ‘What If’ series for Star Wars is reportedly in the works.

• A new ‘Star Trek’ film is in development with Toby Haynes (‘Andor’) set to direct. This is described as an origin story set decades before the 2009 ‘Star Trek’ film.

• ‘Tron: Ares’ will begin filming after the holidays. It will star Jared Leto, Evan Peters, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Cameron Monaghan. It won’t have Joseph Kosinsky directing, or Daft Punk doing the score.

• Warner Brothers and Tom Cruise have agreed to a unique development deal - Variety

• ‘Fast X: Part 2’ will reportedly be a throwback to the first film with a trimmed budget and less major locations.

• Marvel:

• ‘Echo’ and the new “Spotlight” sub-brand.

  • Kingpin to be the “Thanos of the street level MCU”

• The entire ‘Defenders’ saga has been added to the MCU timeline on Disney+

• Eden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll will return as Foggy and Karen for ‘Daredevil: Born Again’

• Jon Bernthal says his return as The Punisher has to be right with “real sacred integrity to the source material and to what is at the core of Frank'' … “I’m gonna do my absolute best to make sure that, if and when we do it, we do it right.”

• The Golden Globes winners: https://goldenglobes.com/articles/diversity-front-and-center-with-golden-globe-nominations/

• Emmys look ahead

Agree of Disagree

Mathew Vaughn thinks that Star Wars should have a reboot and only focus on the Skywalker family. “What are the Star Wars characters so hallowed that from 1977 you can’t re-do it for a new audience?”

What We’ve Been Watching

• Whiplash

• The Iron Claw

• Harry Potter

• Lord of the Rings