Earlier this month, the popular rumor was that the first trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX will be dropping by Christmas, but as the 25th grows ever nearer with no sign of a preview on the horizon, the internet seems to have lowered their expectations a little to suggest that while a full-on teaser seems very unlikely, we can still hold out hope that Lucasfilm will be sending some material our way before the year is out.
Whether you loved the new Hellboy trailer, hated it, or just didn’t know what to think of it, there’s no denying that it wasn’t what a lot of us expected. After months and months of the film being built up as a distinctly darker affair than Guillermo del Toro’s cherished take on the property, the teaser’s series of one-liners set to an ’80s dance pop soundtrack came as a bit of shock to many viewers, while leaving some fans a little nervous about the upcoming reboot.
As the success of Avengers: Infinity War earlier this year amply demonstrates, the cinematic universe model can prove beneficial in telling elaborate, decade-spanning stories in which each film builds on the last. For the flipside, however, there’s the DCEU, where each new entry is tasked with sharing its continuity with a whole load of less-than-beloved flicks, the most recent being last year’s commercially underwhelming Justice League.
In the mind of many a Star Wars fans, the identity of Anakin Skywalker’s father has long been an issue that was thought laid to rest. Specifically, the popular belief was that the character quite simply had no father, with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace heavily implying that his conception was essentially a miracle of the Force.
The casting of Keri Russell in Star Wars: Episode IX has been the subject of speculation all year, with Lucasfilm remaining tight-lipped about the details of the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes star’s role. So far, we’ve already seen a few theories that seek to tie her character into the franchise’s mythology, and with this new rumor, a connection is suggested with the current villain of the saga.
With the Doom Patrol TV series just a couple of months away from making its premiere on DC Universe, a new trailer assembles this unconventional team for a photo op.
In the eyes of Lucasfilm and the average moviegoer, the Star Wars films have always taken priority over the TV shows, but as the cameo from Maul in Solo: A Star Wars Story made all too clear, the studio is still willing to incorporate major developments from their animated projects into their cinematic works. With that in mind, it’s surely not unthinkable that Sabine Wren of Star Wars Rebels fame might some day make the jump to live-action, and should that day ever come, actress Tiya Sircar would be more than happy to reprise her role.
With Avengers: Endgame now just over four months away from release, Marvel Studios can only keep the tie-in merchandise at bay for so long, and in these last few days alone, we’ve already seen a fair few toy leaks teasing the content of next year’s Avengers: Infinity War sequel.
Lando Calrissian has a lot of catching up to do in next year’s Star Wars: Episode IX, having sat out the first two installments in the Sequel Trilogy, but while Billy Dee Williams may be late to the party – even missing the opportunity to reunite with his old peers Han and Luke – the current hearsay is that his role in J.J. Abrams' upcoming feature will offer a lot more than a quick nostalgia buzz.
Things could still go wrong for Aquaman, but so far, James Wan’s film is shaping up to be every bit the success that the DCEU needs right now, and as the film moves into its domestic opening weekend, the promising signs continue with the movie’s Thursday preview figures.
