This week, the king returns with the latest reimagining of everybody’s favorite five-story gorilla, Kong: Skull Island. The film marks a lot of firsts, including Tom Hiddleston’s first real shot at the lead in a feature, as well as indie darling Brie Larson’s first major action role, and the first team-up between two iconic (yet very different) character actors in John Goodman and Samuel L. Jackson. Throw in John C. Reilly and some ground-shaking action, and you’ve got a monster-flick of epic proportions. And while we haven’t seen the film in the flesh yet, we’ll be going over its place in the canon and its mostly positive reviews, including one courtesy of our own Rick Marshall.
Monster flicks are all the rage these days, following the cyclical nature of blockbuster themes. Along with Kong’s retro return (the film is set in the ’70s), there are plenty of other creature features in the works, including a new Godzilla film, Godzilla: King of Monsters, a follow up to Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim, and, of course, Jurassic World 2. There was some fresh news this week regarding that last film, as director J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow is busy with Star Wars) released the first image from the film set, which shows a young girl standing in a museum in front of dinosaur fossils. We’re getting set for the film to be a bit deeper than the its predecessor, as producer Trevorrow has hinted the film will be a parable about animal rights and the use of animals as weapons. It’ll be interesting to see how that pans out.
Speaking of monstrous beasts, The Hulk is gearing up for his very own buddy adventure flick with Thor and the gang in Thor: Ragnarok, and this week we got some very intriguing photos from the set of the film, being directed by the uber-talented Jemaine Clement collaborator, Taika Waititi. The photos show a colorful, almost playful vibe to the film’s aesthetic, which seems prepared to better embrace Thor’s interdimensional roots, a la Guardians of the Galaxy. We’ll talk about some of the latest news regarding what looks to be the most intriguing addition yet to Thor’s place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which will include everyone from Cate Blanchett (as the goddess Hela) to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) himself.
And that’s just a fraction of what we’ll be going over on today’s show. We’ll also be talking about the latest Fate of the Furious trailer (which actually looks pretty awesome), Star Trek: Discovery news, a Looney Tunes streaming service, and much more. So join us live today at 2 p.m. PT, or take our podcast along by subscribing via one of the links above!
