Though the talk these days is that we might be seeing some footage from the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX before the end of the month, the cast for now are staying decidedly tight-lipped on what’s to come in next year’s trilogy-closer, and while Mark Hamill is no exception, he’s at least pretty open about the excessive measures taken by the studio to keep this content a secret.
If you had to single out just two characters from the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy that left a positive impression even with the films’ detractors, they would likely be Darth Maul and the Ewan McGregor version of Obi-Wan Kenobi. And since the former made a surprise appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story, it’s hardly the most absurd of notions to suggest that old Ben could potentially pop up in Star Wars: Episode IX.
Luke Skywalker has been the subject of enough rumored scenes in Star Wars: Episode IX to fill a whole movie on their own, but while the fans are longing for as much Mark Hamill as they can get and the alleged leakers are all too happy to pander to this demand, the reality is that the upcoming trilogy-closer probably won’t have a whole lot of time for the saga’s main Jedi.
It’s been thirteen years since we saw Otis, Baby, and Captain Spaulding get shot full of holes in the Bonnie and Clyde-style ending of The Devil’s Rejects, but it appears that neither time nor a round of bullets can dampen the mean streak of these murderous antiheroes, with the trio set to deliver more carnage in next year’s Three From Hell.
The build-up to the first Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer has been like a smaller-scaled version of the drama preceding the Avengers: Endgame trailer-drop, consisting of a series of reports, a last-minute delay, and of course, some disappointed Marvel fans. But just as the mythical first look at the Avengers: Infinity War sequel finally made the jump online last week, it seems that some footage from Spidey’s next solo outing could be just around the corner.
As anyone who was keeping track of the various rumors leading up to the first Avengers: Endgame teaser may know, leaked trailer descriptions are nearly always pure fan fiction, but with the first set of footage from Star Wars: Episode IX widely predicted to be out before the year is over, hopefully we won’t have to wait too long before this latest piece of hearsay is proven wrong or right.
As Star Wars: Episode IX finally brings the Skywalker Saga to a close while providing an emotional sendoff for General Leia, J.J. Abrams' upcoming film will also be reintroducing us to another familiar face from the Original Trilogy. And while little is known about Lando Calrissian’s role in the fight against the First Order, it’s at least looking like Billy Dee Williams will be in shape for the part.
Shortly after Avengers: Infinity War arrived in theaters and traumatized audiences with its genocidal finale, co-writer Christopher Markus went on record assuring us that the deaths at the end of the film were “real,” and that the sooner we accept this, the sooner we can move on to the next stage of grief. Of course, co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo also said that the subtitle of Avengers: Endgame wouldn’t be taken from any Infinity War dialogue and last week's reveal showed that claim to be false, so apparently the team isn’t above lying to throw off the fans. With that in mind, perhaps it only figures that an old theory about the fate of the MCU’s dusted heroes has started getting some renewed attention.
Though Marvel Studios is still keeping their cards fairly close to their chest when it comes to the content of the MCU’s Phase 4, we’re slowly starting to piece together a picture of what these next few years will look like, and THR certainly helped matters when they reported that Scott Derrickson is on board to helm Doctor Strange 2.
Though plenty of fans were worried about the state of the DCEU long before Justice League arrived in cinemas, the underwhelming box office returns of last year’s release made it plain as day that the superhero saga was in trouble. In that regard, it’s been a long year-and-a-bit to wait for the franchise’s next installment, but at least in the all-important China market, Aquaman has proven phenomenally quick in beating the low bar set by its predecessor.
