Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment

Between the Streams: Venomless trailer, Game of Thrones Star Wars, ‘Solo’ time

Ryan Waniata
By

DT’s weekly entertainment show, Between the Streams, is your guide to all of the hottest, most important, and (of course) dumbest new developments in streaming and entertainment, providing a handy recap of the week that was and a preview for what’s ahead. Follow us here at 2 p.m. PT every Friday, or add us via RSS, iTunes, or Stitcher at the links below to take BtS on the road!

badge_itunes-smallest   stitcher-smallest   rss-smallest

When it rains, it pours. Or, more seasonally correct, it blizzards? In either case, we got an absolute deluge of cool entertainment news this week, so hang on to your hats as today’s show is going to be a doozy.

Related

Perhaps the biggest news this week came from the ever-expanding Star Wars universe. Not only did we get a first look at Solo, the seemingly ill-fated Han Solo origin story (the trailer for which actually looked pretty decent to this podcaster), but we also got news from Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy that Game of Thrones writers/producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will be getting their hands on their own series of Star Wars films.

For those keeping count, with Rian Johnson’s planned trilogy, a ninth and ostensibly final film in the Skywalker saga, and at least two but more likely three films from the melodramatic duo at GOT, along with rumored other side stories in the works like an Obi-Wan solo film, that officially adds up to a crap ton of Star Wars movies. Now, we already knew that Disney would be making Star Wars flicks for at least the next 10 years, and likely for the foreseeable future of humankind, but seeing them all laid out like this is a different thing. On today’s show, we’ll ask (and for ourselves answer) the question, are all these films starting to tarnish the beloved brand? Spoiler alert: Yes. Yes, they are.

But we digress. There’s plenty more to talk about on today’s show, including some new glimpses at Hollywood’s ever-deepening dive into the many realms of superhero films. Since we last hit the airwaves, we’ve gotten a look a the new Deadpool 2 trailer (awesome), the latest Avengers: Infinity War trailer (not bad), and of course the Venom trailer (where’s the beef?), which showed literally zero signs of the monster himself to the disappointment of virtually everyone online. Sure, we did get a Legion-esque look at Tom Hardy apparently losing his mind in a CT machine, but there really wasn’t much about this trailer to be excited about. Luckily, it’s rated R, and it stars Tom Hardy, so that’s still plenty to keep us interested.

Speaking of superhero oversaturation, how about that weird stand-alone Joker movie, which has now morphed from a Martin Scorsese/possibly Leonardo DiCaprio venture to a Todd Phillips flick with Joaquin Phoenix in the title role and little discussion of Scorsese in the latest news. Just what the hell is going on with this movie anyway? If we didn’t know better, we’d say it was nothing more than a distraction for our imaginations to lead us away from the next huge, embarrassing DC failure. We’re talking to you, weird CGI mustache-less Superman.

And speaking of Henry Cavill’s untamed ‘stache, we also got a look this week at the Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the movie for which the Superman actor grew that menacing face hair, which shows all the familiar action, suspense, and Tom Cruise stunt bravado you were hoping for. And Alec Baldwin, too.

But that’s far from everything prominent that hit the web this week. We’ll also hope to get to Jessica Jones season 2, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Westworld season 2, and more.

So tune in and hit us up live at 2 p.m. PT today, or take us along for the ride with our podcast version by following the links at the top of this story.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
The Andor trailer and more news from Star Wars Celebration
Diego Luna in Andor.

Star Wars fans from around the world converged on the Anaheim Convention Center today in the hopes of getting exclusive news during the first day of Star Wars Celebration. And they were not disappointed. To kick off the very first panel of the day, Lucasfilm released the first trailer for its Rogue One prequel series, Andor.

Diego Luna will star in the series as Cassian Andor, the ruthless rebel operative who first appeared in Rogue One. Curiously, Cassian is barely in the trailer for the show that shares his name. But there's a real sense of paranoia and danger as the Empire expands. There are also fleeting glimpses of the show's supporting cast, including Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, and Kyle Soller.

Read more
Star Wars: Solo’s Emilia Clarke could lead a Disney+ spinoff
Emilia Clarke as Qi'ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story promo material.

Lucasfilm's theatrical Star Wars ventures admittedly reached a level of burnout by the time the sequel trilogy concluded, at least in terms of quality. The release strategy seemed solid, with mainline saga films released every other year with one-off anthologies in between. While the latter worked out for Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, things didn't go as well for Solo: A Star Wars Story. Changing directors partway through filming and being rushed to meet a deadline just five months after the release of Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi were just two of the many reasons why the film eventually became a box office bomb.

However, despite the poor commercial performance, Solo did manage to garner a moderately positive critical reception and see a boost when it was finally added to Disney+. The movie's engaging ensemble cast made for a solid sci-fi heist adventure. Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra was among them, and she showed great potential for being expanded upon outside of movies. The twist revealing Qi'ra to be working under Darth Maul's leadership in the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate could open up an exciting world for Star Wars to explore, especially in a serialized adventure on Disney+.
A proper deep dive into Star Wars' seedy underworld

Read more
What Star Wars fans want to see from Obi-Wan Kenobi series
Split image of Obi-Wan watching over Luke and concept art battling Darth Vader

Outside of a sequel trilogy, a solo Obi-Wan Kenobi movie or TV series has arguably been the most in-demand Star Wars project among fans. Especially given the timing, the very concept seems like a slam dunk for Lucasfilm, as Ewan McGregor's turn as the titular Jedi Master was perhaps the best thing to come out of the prequel trilogy and the actor is at the perfect age to take on such an endeavor. The vague premise and concept practically write themselves and, after years of speculation and outright lies from the star himself, Obi-Wan Kenobi is finally a go at Disney+ in a limited series format -- and it premieres in just about two months from now.

Series director Deborah Chow and writer Joby Harold have quite the task on their hands, but the long-awaited trailer for the show is dripping with promise. Chow, in particular, has already tested her mettle on the acclaimed The Mandalorian, so veteran Star Wars fans should be hopeful of the final product. Though the concept of Obi-Wan Kenobi is clear as day on paper, there are certain boxes to tick and hurdles to jump to help ensure the series measures up to the Jedi's storied legacy in the Star Wars universe and in pop culture. Here's what we'd like to see from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
1. A story unconcerned with excessive fan service

Read more