Links and Updates

 I usually wait for a while before posting these Links and Updates, because promos for all the stuff I’m interested in usually gets released over the course of several months or so. But just within the last few days (and in one case hours) there has been a deluge of new trailers, images and announcements that have made me sit up and say: “hey!”

So here’s what’s on the menu:

Yes, filming on Star Wars: Episode IX has wrapped, and J.J. Abrams posted this photo to mark the occasion.

Obviously there’s no telling when the image takes place in the film itself (it could be the first scene, it could be somewhere in the middle, it could just be a total misdirect) but it’s interesting to note the change in Finn’s hair and the return to Rey’s original buns. And what are they doing on a desert planet? Is it Jakku?

Everyone is going to be analyzing every pixel of this image, and it’ll probably be our only one for a while. But if this picture is representative of what J.J. Abrams plans to focus on in the final movie, then I’m going to let myself look forward to it. 

Elsewhere, the teaser trailer for Frozen 2 has been released.

I wasn’t hyped for this movie at all (back in 2013, I thought the original was a bit overrated) and yet this is one of the best teasers I’ve ever seen. Seriously!

They check us in with all the main characters, give the tone an epic feel, and give absolutely nothing away in regards to the plot. That’s extraordinary! I mean, I know that Star Wars will involve the Resistance fighting Kylo, and I know that Toy Story 4 is about the search for Bo Peep, but I don’t have the first clue as to what’s happening here.

And that was exhilarating! I can’t remember the last time I saw a teaser that introduced two new characters without having already explained their presence in a press release. And that opening, with Elsa parkouring her way across the surface of the ocean! It reminded me of the “gets back on her feet” montage in the Captain Marvel trailer, and I am TOTALLY here to be pandered to when it comes to determined heroines.

Well played, Disney. Well played.

I’m currently working my way through the third and (so far) final season of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, but hope is on the horizon. There have long been attempts to bring the lady detective to the big screen, and now the first images are being released:

I’m a sucker for Egypt as the setting of murder mysteries, and this already looks like it’s nailing the aesthetic of 1920s adventuring investigative couple in the desert sands. Whoohoo!

It wasn’t until this trailer dropped that I learned the third season of Into the Badlands would be its last, but I’m not too upset. (Or honestly, at all upset). With the exception of Veil’s murder it’s been a fun ride, with plenty of amazing costumes and wuxia fights, not to mention above-average representation for the girls (the Widow, the Master, Tilda, Lydia).

Granted, I get the sense that they were making up the story as they went along, but having come this far, I’ll see it out.

Meanwhile, they’re putting together an impressive line-up of stars for the latest Dune adaptation, and I gotta say I’m intrigued: Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica is an inspired choice, but there’s also the likes of Oscar Isaacs, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Jason Momoa. I’m not an uber-fan of Frank Herbert’s space opera, though I’ve always been intrigued by its strange prose and the concept of the Bene Gesserits. They’ve just announced that its release date is November 2020, so I’ll mark it on my calendar.

The second season of She-Ra is out in April (I just finished re-watching the first, and it’s still amazing) and The Dragon Prince is out… right now! (I seriously just went to check). Okay, I better go and start getting caught up on all this stuff.

Oh, and how could I forget the first Avengers: Endgame trailer? It definitely looks like this is the swansong of many an original Avenger, though highlights include: Tony and Nebula drifting in space, an emphasis on the Steve/Natalie friendship, the long-awaited return of Hawkeye, Peggy’s photograph in the compass, and of course, Scott arriving in his minivan. 

They’re certainly keeping their cards close to their chest, though it seems (judging from Steve and Nat’s conversation) that a plan is in play. Hey, you don’t need me to tell you it’ll probably involve time-travel, and the fact that the Spiderman: Far From Home trailer has dropped is pretty indicative that they’ll be successful.

It’s the how they do it that’s important, and I’m looking forward to it.