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The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 6 (Disney+): This episode will prove divisive, however, it is continuing the exploration of what happened over the course of the New Republic era that leads to the fall of the Republic and the rise of the First Order. It’s fun to see battle droids again, even if the effects can be spotty at best at times. The design of the planet is pretty unique for the world of Star Wars which adds some cool depth to the universe. All that said, there should definitely be a weekly Law and Order-style procedural with Bo-Katan and Din Djarin just going around and helping out where they can.
The Power Episode 4 (Amazon Prime): This is the episode that really shows the promise of what this series could be. The highlight is definitely showcasing the revolution in Saudi Arabia as Tunde watches on and Allie’s continued development of her powers. The show is about not just what these powers mean for the individual but also what it means for the power dynamics of the world at large. This definitely should have been included in the first batch of episodes, especially considering how much this pairs with the third to introduce where everyone’s arcs are going to go.
The Flash Season 9 Episode 8 (The CW/CW App): Chester and Allegra continue to be short-changed and the novelty of a time loop episode has worn thin when it is this close to the last one. The time travel aspects will continue to be used over the coming episodes as several returning characters continue to come back for small one or multi-episode arcs.
Gotham Knights Season 1 Episode 4 (The CW/CW App): This whole subplot with Cressida taking this long to develop is more than a little annoying considering this show is 13 episodes and it took five of them to deal with this and, again, it should have been a foregone conclusion in a show where the Court of Owls are in play that nobody can be trusted, especially a random person who lives in Wayne Manor after Bruce Wayne turns up dead. The tie to the past is also not a great use of time and the villain of the week is just lacking excitement, especially since it does not tie to the present quite as well as it should have.
Tiny Beautiful Things (Hulu): Kathryn Hahn and Sarah Pidgeon do excellent jobs portraying both the younger and older versions of Clare over the course of this miniseries. That said, this is a show that will leave the viewer entirely depressed for the duration of its runtime as they get to see Clare’s life unfold and develop, even as she learns to improve herself. It is an interesting show, however, a palate cleanser show is definitely something one would want after.
This Week In Theaters:
Renfield: In a comedic take on Dracula, Nicholas Holt plays Dracula’s assistant Renfield who is seeking to get out from under his master’s thumb and start his own life. Nicolas Cage plays Dracula in the movie and Awkwafina also stars.
Mafia Mamma: Toni Collette plays Kristin, a suburban mom who inherits her grandfather’s organized crime empire in Italy. Monica Bellucci also stars.
Sweetwater: Sweetwater tells the story of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the first Black player in the NBA. Everett Osborne, Cary Elwes, and Jeremy Piven star.
Suzume: Makoto Shinkai’s latest film following the success of Your Name and Weathering With You, Suzume follows a high school girl who stands between Japan and some form of supernatural calamity. This movie will be offered both in the original Japanese with English subtitles and dubbed entirely in English.
The Pope’s Exorcist: Probably the second biggest release this weekend will be The Pope’s Exorcist, a traditional horror movie starring Russell Crowe as Father Gabriele Amorth, the Chief Exorcist at the Vatican in a chronicle of his life.
Nefarious: Nefarious is a psychological thriller starring Sean Patrick Flannery as the titular Nefarious, a serial killer who tells his psychiatrist that he (the psychiatrist) will commit three murders of his own before the end of the day.
Last Week At The Box Office: (Three-day numbers for Friday-Sunday)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie: $146.4 Million
John Wick: Chapter 4: $14.6 Million
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: $14.5 Million
Air: $14.5 Million
Scream VI: $3.3 Million
Programming Notes:
This past weekend marked Star Wars Celebration in London and American fans who couldn’t make the trip woke up to a bunch of news over the course of the last few days. Most notably, three new movies were announced including a historical epic-style movie from James Mangold (Logan and the forthcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) about the origins of the Jedi, a theatrical culmination of the stories in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and the other post-Return of the Jedi shows directed by Dave Filoni, and a New Jedi Order movie set 15 years after Rise of Skywalker directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel) that will feature the return of Daisy Ridley’s Rey. These three will probably line up with the release dates in December 2025 and 2027 (alternating with Avatar releases in 2024, 2026, and 2028) though concrete dates and full titles have not been announced.
On the streaming side, a trailer for the next streaming series Ahsoka was released that indicates that the show will continue the story started in Rebels and follow the crew of the Ghost as they deal with the remnants of the Empire led by Grand Admiral Thrawn. More details were also given about Skeleton Crew, which is still slated for a late-2023 release, and The Acolyte in 2024. Footage for both shows was showcased, however, this was not released publicly. Skeleton Crew takes place in the same era as The Mandalorian and tells the story of an unknown Jedi (Jude Law) who helps a group of kids who get lost in the Unknown Regions get home while The Acolyte is the story of the rise of the Sith at the tail end of the High Republic. The Bad Batch was renewed for a third and final season that will arrive in 2024 and Tales of the Jedi has also been renewed for a second season. Interestingly, considering Rebels takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope but will be informing the New Republic, it would not be surprising if Weyland and Mount Tantiss as seen in The Bad Batch also ends up making an appearance in the New Republic era.
Additional information was given about some of the novels, including more information about the third phase of the High Republic novels which will continue through 2025, some new comics including Tales From The Death Star, a horror anthology from Dark Horse, and the return of The High Republic comic series from Cavan Scott. There were a few other tidbits including the fact that the alleged Kevin Feige-led movie was never actually in development despite press comments otherwise, there could be a second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi but it is not a priority right now, and that the Lando show featuring the return of Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian is still in development.
The next big event is CinemaCon at the end of the month in Las Vegas which is presumed to feature trailers for major releases in the back half of the year including Dune Part II, Wonka, The Hunger Games: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, The Marvels, and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I. This will also mark the first public screenings of July’s The Flash.
The Flash will begin a two-week hiatus and return on April 26th in an episode featuring the return of Bloodwork, Wally West, John Diggle, and Oliver Queen.
