Every week on Take the Black, we gather round the proverbial campfire and talk about all things sci-fi, fantasy, movies, books and TV. This week, we touch on topics sad, weird and thoughtful. Watch the new episode below!
First up, we touch on the ongoing efforts of The Wheel of Time fans to save the show from cancellation. Whether the show is saved or not, the fans have been dedicated and industrious and deserve their flowers. After that, we get into some interesting Dune news; they're casting a couple of important new characters who could take the franchise into the far future, perhaps even all the way to the point where Jason Momoa's son plays a half-worm/half-man god-emperor. The potential for weirdness is off the scale and even the mere possibility is exciting.
Moving on from that, we go big picture and ask the big questions: how is it that so many big-name franchises have become boring? It wasn't that long ago that a new movie in the Star Wars and Marvel franchises would have whipped people up into a frenzy. Now, some movies and shows in those franchises pass by with barely a comment, while others don't pop as much as they should. How did we get here and is there a way back?
We also spare a few thoughts for James Gunn's newest attempt to delight us with yet another new version of Batman, which has nothing to do with the current version of Batman now up up on the big screen. Is it possible to make the money studios want without exhausting viewers to the point where they're never interested in giving you money again? Can filmmakers find the balance between artistic integrity and audience appeal? We can probably solve those problems in this video.
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