Weekly Entertainment Recap: Week of September 4th, 2023

Ahsoka Episode 3 (Disney+): Ahsoka feels like it has a lot of required reading so, after this most recent episode, it is probably useful for audiences who may not have read the Expanded Universe content to explain some of what is being referenced in this show. In 1991, the first major Expanded Universe book came out in the form of Heir to the Empire, which took place five years after Return of the Jedi and told the continued adventures of Luke, Leia, and Han Solo as they dealt with the last imperial remnants, led by Grand Admiral Thrawn. Considering this book pre-dates the prequel trilogy, certain aspects fit into the later continuity (like the introduction of Coruscant as the seat of government) but others clearly do not, like the idea that the Republic had a fleet of dreadnaughts before the Clone Wars. This was retconned after the prequels were released with Outbound Flight, which turned the dreadnaughts from war machines to exploration vessels that Obi-Wan and Anakin were aboard between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. This was also meant to retrofit the Emperor’s motivations into what would come with the New Jedi Order
series in the form of the extra-galactic invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong while also introducing Thrawn as a member of the Chiss Ascendancy. This is relevant, especially after this episode, because the idea of exploring the space outside the galaxy with a massive ship that uses multiple hyperdrives comes from Outbound Flight while the design is meant to look like the rings used by Jedi Starfighters during the prequel trilogy. All of that is to say that this show could be setting up two of the upcoming movies in the form of Dave Filoni’s wrap-up of the New Republic-era Disney+ shows with his theatrical release and the upcoming sequel to the Sequel trilogy with Rey set in the New Jedi Order-era.

My Adventures With Superman Season 1 Episode 10 (Adult Swim/Max): Ending off this season with Clark holding back a new invasion of Kryptonians while General Lang learns to trust him is really an interesting way to wrap up this season. What’s also interesting is how there is this new trend (see below as well) where media will come along and influence what comes after it, however as new iterations of the original come along, they will be influenced by their own legacy. In this case, the origin of Goku and the origin of Superman are very similar; both came from other planets as babies and were incredibly strong when they arrived on Earth and became heroes with their power. Both also had a villain in the form of a warlord who came to Earth to kill them, however the way the Kryptonians are portrayed in this show is closer to how the Saiyans are portrayed in Dragon Ball Z so the second season could be headed towards introducing Zod who goes through a Vegeta-style redemption arc which would be really interesting.

Harley Quinn Season 4 Episode 8 (Max): Bane episodes are always a delight and this episode is no different because the juxtaposition of Bane as an entity with the way he is characterized in the show makes for great comedy. The plot is accelerating towards the finale, though this season’s culmination does not feel quite as fun or interesting as prior seasons.

Wheel of Time Season 2 Episodes 1-3 (Amazon)*: This season so far has a weird duality when it comes to how good the effects look. The magic consistently looks really well done and anything practical looks impressive considering it is a streaming show, however once any character is obviously acting on a green screen, everything looks distractingly fake like mid-2000s Doctor Who or the 2000s Dune series on SyFy. That said, the character arcs are engaging enough this season to make it easy to look past these shortcomings and find something to love with these characters, especially when the acting performances are as strong as they are. That said, one may want to revisit the last two episodes of season one just to make sure they’re up to speed.

Fionna and Cake Episodes 1 and 2: Much like My Adventures With Superman (though not on the same scale), a number of shows from the 2010s owe their existence to Adventure Time by taking their method of world building and expanding them to include lengthy and intricate mysteries that are seeped in science fiction and fantasy. Shows like Over The Garden Wall, Steven Universe, and Infinity Train take mature and serious concepts and wrap them in a colorful and fun veneer to create something new and different, much like Adventure Time did in the late-2000s/early-2010s. Now Fionna and Cake is taking the advances in storytelling made in these shows and building it into something new but within a familiar world by leaning into some of the more cosmically weird multiversal aspects of the original show while still using characters and tropes that the viewer will be familiar with.

You May Have Missed:

The Flash (Max): If one was fortunate enough to not see The Flash in theaters and has nothing better to do with their time, The Flash has finally hit Max recently to watch at home. If someone wants to see Barry Allen face down against an evil version of himself who turned evil after an obsession with trying to change the past, go to Netflix and watch season three of the CW show. If someone wants to see Michael Keaton as Batman, go watch those clips on YouTube. This is less a suggestion to watch The Flash and more a warning that it is on Max and one may accidentally press on the movie.

This Week In Theaters:

The Nun II: The universe of The Conjuring continues in another prequel about one of the demons named Valek who looks like a Nun from a previous entry that is also a sequel to a previous prequel about this same demon. Taissa Farmiga returns and Michael Chaves directs.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3: Nia Vardalos returns in the third entry in this franchise as the Portokalos family travels to Greece after the death of her father.

Last Week At The Box Office:

The Equalizer 3: $34.6 Million

Barbie: $10.2 Million

Blue Beetle: $7.1 Million

Gran Turismo: $6.6 Million

Oppenheimer: $5.7 Million

Programming Notes:

Amid the ongoing inability of the studios to negotiate in good faith with the WGA and SAG, there have been some new reported delays to upcoming streaming content, specifically from Marvel Studios. Season two of Loki
is still slated for release in October, however, Echo has been delayed until January 2024. On the animated side of things, the second season of What If…? is slated for release at some point around Christmas of this year and the revival of the 1990s show X-Men entitled X-Men ’97 is slated for release in early 2024. Agatha: House of Harkness which was previously slated for release this year has been delayed to late 2024 and has been allegedly been retitled Agatha: Darkhold Diaries. Finally, the shows Ironheart
(a spin-off of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever about Riri Williams), Wonder Man, and Daredevil: Born Again have all been delayed indefinitely as they still had additional shooting to do when the strikes began. Expect further delays as shows like Skeleton Crew and The Acolyte from Lucasfilm are still slated for release in late 2023 and early 2024 respectively and The Penguin is still slated for January on Max, however, production on these shows has been halted for months.

In video game news, Starfield officially has its full release for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC on September 6th
and it will be available on Game Pass at that time. The Teal Mask, the first of two DLC packs for last year’s best-selling Pokemon Scarlet and Violet comes out on September 13th.

*Amazon provided review screeners of the first four episodes and this review is based on those screeners.