Now that we have your attention, Porgs! And other stuff, I guess. (PORGS.)
Well, isn’t this a very strange week to be putting together a light, upbeat round-up of pop-culture news? On the bright side, it is Friday afternoon and the sun is shining and it’s only ten weeks until Christmas, so it’s not all bad!
AND, most importantly, w e got a new Last Jedi trailer! As the kids say, it brought all the feels — not least because this is the last bit of Princess Leia we’re ever going to get. Of course, because it’s a Star Wars trailer, there has been plenty of breakdowns and reactions and big, probing ‘ what does it all meeeeaaaan? ’ question-asking. And, speculation aside, we’ll find out the answer to that particular question in nine (looong) weeks.
But in the meantime, there was one thing in the trailer that warrants further discussion. Yes. I’m sorry, but we have to talk about Porgs. Apparently, some people love them. They are… entitled to their opinions. Or not. Personally, as someone who is still traumatised by the very existence of Ewoks, I’d prefer Lucasfilm quit it with the supposedly cute critters and stick to the actually cute robots. But, you know, you guys do you.
This week also saw the drop of the latest Justice League trailer. It features a mix of footage we’ve seen before and some we haven’t (Aquaman flies now!) and some slightly laboured jokes that will either hit or miss depending on your own personal opinion on Ezra Miller’s Flash (spoiler: I am… not convinced). Most notably, it also features a lovely cover of David Bowie’s Heroes by very amazing Aussies Gang of Youths, which makes the whole thing well worth the price of admission. Also out this week, a new Justice League featurette. Because y’all just can’t get enough.
Over in Marvel territory, it seems Mark Ruffalo has learned a very important lesson about smartphones after accidentally streaming a big chunk of audio from Thor: Ragnarok to Instagram via a bum-dial-type. Incidentally, this means Thor: Ragnarok is actually a real movie now, with early reviews starting to leak out and mere days until we can all see it. *excited fangirl squee*
And that’s not the only thing Marvel are releasing in the very near future, although the other one is a little less… shiny. it seems that after some confusion about when exactly Spider-Man: Homecoming was set, Marvel are about to give us an official, brand-new and updated timeline for this phase, so we can all understand once and for all when the Avengers family of films is set and how they tie into each other. It is, quite literally, about time.
On the small screen, Runaways is the next Marvel property we can expect to drop, and so far it’s getting much better buzz than the last one. (Inhumans. It was called Inhumans. How quickly we all forget.) The latest teaser-trailer dropped at New York Comic Con and the reception has been mostly positive — unsurprisingly, given the creative team behind it, it feels very much OC-meets-superhero-movie and I am 100% on board for that. Yes, I am.
I am, by way of being a human who lived through the eighties, also 100% on board with the second season of Stranger Things, which is coming very soon. Yesterday we got a teaser for a trailer to drop on Friday the 13th (you know, like the movie?) and that’s… today, but not today because we Australians live in the future. And then, somewhat confusingly, this morning we got another teaser, this one hinting at Eleven’s origin, that doesn’t seem to be the Friday the 13th trailer, but maybe is? Who even knows? If you’re an absolute fiend for Stranger Things trailers, keep an eye out over the next 24 hours, but I guarantee nothing.
Speaking of living through the eighties, if you did, you’re sure to have at least a passing knowledge of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. Well, it looks like it might be coming back, as the opening gambit of Apple’s move into original television programming — because what company isn’t moving into original television programming in this, the age of Peak TV? I’m not 100% cynical, thanks to the rumoured involvement of Bryan Fuller, but I am a *little* cynical.
This next bit of news is harder to be cynical about, because, well, it’s the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy and nobody from Hollywood seems to be involved in any way! But yes, it looks like everyone’s favourite universe-travelling towel-haver is coming back for a six-part radio play on UK’s Radio Four. And yes, in these strange times, this seems like a nice, pure and good thing to look forward to. Let’s just hope nobody ruins it.
Speaking of pure and good, a book! Specifically, a book for book geeks! If your house is anything like my house, you will have shelves and shelves of old, worn, pulpy sci-fi novels from years past, and you will resent any suggestion that you should throw them out because the covers are so very classic. Well, this book is for us — not that it’s going to result in any trips to Vinnies any time soon. It’s still in crowd-funding stage, but it feels like a winner to me.
Finally, it’s been hard to ignore the Rick & Morty Szechuan Sauce fiasco that went down this week, but what does it say about fandom at a deeper level? This piece about toxic fandom is maybe worth a read, although it may not be the most absolutely fun way to ring in the weekend.
And that’s a wrap. See you back here next week, and until then, may all your pop-culture consumption be truly excellent (or perfectly trashy).
