Tower of Babble

There haven't been many Marvel movies of late that have had the level of anticipation of 'Deadpool & Wolverine'. Not only is it capping of a Deadpool trilogy, it is introducing Deadpool to the MCU, AND it it's bringing back who else but Hugh Jackman as Wolverine for the cherry on top. Plus, with the less than ideal reception to the direction the MCU has taken of late, the expectations were very hi...

With the decision to go with another flashback episode last week, ‘The Acolyte’ season finale had a lot of work to do to wrap up all the loose threads left dangling. Unfortunately, the series largely didn’t leave itself enough time to conclude those plotlines in a satisfying way. Yes, the lightsaber combat continues to be amazing, and despite some very good character work in episode 6, the series...

Unfortunately, the flashback format worked against this episode from the start. Not enough interesting new information was revealed to justify breaking the momentum the show had leading into this week. After an incredible action episode, 'The Acolyte' followed that up with a great character episode that teased a fascinating finish, despite there still being many threads left dangling. Due to the d...

After last week's action-heavy episode left our jaws on the floor from the sheer spectacle and shocking character deaths, 'The Acolyte' uses this follow-up episode to give us a breather. With the main characters now split between three different plotlines, we spend our time jumping between a series of one-on-one conversations, reminiscent of 'Game of Thrones' when it was at it's best. The most int...

Star Wars fans rejoice! ‘The Acolyte’ has delivered some of the best lightsaber action we’ve seen in many years. Unfortunately, the good comes with the bad. At least for the characters on the show. As expected, with The Master/The Stranger fully entering the story, it meant that some Jedi weren’t long for this world. That proved to be true more than I think anyone expected. However, as Jecki herse...

After a bit of a detour last week, spending an entire episode in flashback, we return to the main adventure. This week's episode, "Day", is largely a positive step forward for the series, bringing fun (if sparse) lightsaber action, improved character development, and an enhanced sense of place, as they spend less time in cramped sets and more time shooting on location. That all being said, it's th...

After starting off the series with a series of Jedi murders to set the tone, with episode 3 we flash back 16 years to Osha and Mae's secret origin. Which just happens to feature a coven of witches, Jedi space cops testing Padawans, and large force related questions about the twin's parentage. All under twin moons in eclipse. Though not perfect from an acting and pacing perspective, the intrigue of...

After a very short hiatus (RIP ‘The Bad Batch’, we already miss thee), Small Screen Star Wars is back to cover the latest Star Wars series on Disney+. After a heavy dose of animation, we return to live action. Our last taste being ‘Ahsoka’ late last year, which was met with mixed reviews. However, that’s about where the similarities with recent live action Star Wars end, as ‘The Acolyte’ takes us...

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly a decade since we were thrust against the back of our collective theatre seats with the release of 'Mad Max: Fury Road', which is now regarded as one of the greatest action movies ever made. The return to the wasteland brought with it the introduction of a new character to accompany our titular Max, Charlize Theron's Furiosa stole the spotlight and now, 9...

Last year on Star Wars Day (May the 4th), Lucasfilm Animation surprised us with 'Tales of the Jedi' a mini-series of shorts dedicated to showing some untold stories from before the fall of the Jedi. This seems to have become somewhat of a tradition, as this year, on the same day, we got 'Tales of the Empire'. A darker twist on the same concept. This time though, it was bit more focused. Two storie...

Surprise! The ToB Podcast is back from a Star Wars caused hiatus, and just in time to cover one of the biggest nerd culture phenomena so far in 2024. We're talking of course about the revival of one of the greatest animated shows of all time with 'X-Men '97'. With only one episode remaining until the grand finale of season 1, Julian and Jeremy discuss how impressive it is that despite the lofty ex...

Congrats to Ray Mills for some great selections on our Death Pool. Thank you to everyone who participated. Good riddance Hemlock, Scorch, Rampart, and many other terrible Imperials.

REMINDER: Don’t forget to participate in our Bad Batch Death Pool! With no characters biting the dust in this week’s episode, there’s still time to place your predictions for who comes out of the series still breathing. It’s easy, just follow this link and place your picks: https://forms.gle/vcBCTsH2eeHykYE87

Death Pool: You think you know who will live or die in the final two episodes of the series? Prove it! Follow THIS LINK ( https://forms.gle/vcBCTsH2eeHykYE87 ) to participate in the death pool and be part of the show! You can also find an imbedded version of the submission form below on the podcast episode web page.

After this week, 'The Bad Batch' is only left with three more episodes before the series wraps up entirely. Last week's two-parter set the stage for a clear endgame - The Batch need to find Tantiss Base and rescue Omega. With that in mind, this week sets up an intriguing idea off the jump - perhaps the former Admiral, now prisoner, Rampart, knows the location. Unfortunately, the episode spins it's...

This final season of 'The Bad Batch' is coming at us fast. It was less than a month ago that we were treated to a dramatic two-part episode that left the team reeling, and now again this week another two-part episode drops, and it's another doozy. First, with "Identity Crises" we spend time back on Tantiss with Doctor Emerie Karr as she takes over for Nala Se on Project Necromancer. It's the first...

The trailer for this final season of 'The Bad Batch' teased the return of a fan favourite character from 'The Clone Wars'. A Sith assassin who has been part of Star Wars since the Tartakovsky animated shorts, who seemingly died in a novel adapted from an unused story from an animated series, only to return in all her glory as neither Sith nor Jedi. That's right folks Asaj Ventress returns to the s...

After an exciting two-parter last week, where the larger clone conspiracy plotline was brought to the fore, we return to something a bit more quaint. This week's episode falls more into the "mission of week" type format. Something we got pretty used to from seasons 1 and 2, but haven't seen much of this season. That is likely due to the fact that this is the final season, and there just isn't as m...

Julian finds some time to link up with Jeremy between the weekly ‘The Bad Batch’ reviews to discuss the winners from this year’s Oscars, the big wins from ‘Oppenheimer’ and the state of the ceremony itself. The guys also review ‘Dune: Part Two’ and preview ‘X-Men ‘97’. Plus some general Marvel and DC news to keep things flowing. All that and so much more on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!

The larger clone struggle returns to center stage with the return of some fan favorites, in what feels like a sequel to the stellar “Clone Conspiracy” episode from season 2. This two-part episode ramps up tension quickly and then relieves it with exciting action set pieces framed by gorgeous scenery. Crosshair and Omega continue to play a vital role at the center of the plot, and with the assassin...

The exciting escape last week left us with the unresolved conflict between Crosshair and the rest of his former squad. In the podcast we discussed how it would be a good idea for the show to slow down for a moment and let Crosshair hash things out with Hunter and Wrecker before jumping back into a larger plot driven narrative. Fortunately it seems like the folks over at Lucasfilm Animation were wa...

Last year, Julian was forced to look back at the Oscar alone. This was back when Twitter was still called Twitter and they still had a feature called "Spaces". He wondered aloud at that time, "what would next year's Oscars show look like?". Well Fast-forward one year and you have your answer. Things are quite different, for one thing Twitter is now called "X" for some stupid reason, and more impor...

With the extra large premiere out of the way, Julian and Rachel can settle back into the traditional weekly cadence. Unfortunately life finds a way to disrupt well laid plans. As such, this podcast drops a day later than usual - apologies. The episode itself was high stakes and thrilling from the jump, and had a potent finish that gave us a good reset for the rest of the season. We got to explore...

When it comes to sci-fi in the real world, the idea that we'd add an extra day at the end of February, every 4 years, would rank amongst the ideas that sound like they come out of a Frank Herbert novel. Which is appropriate considering that the sequel to Denis Villeneuve's adaption of the novel of the same name, 'Dune', releases across the globe today on February 29th, 2024. To celebrate the occas...

Smell that regs? That's the smell of fresh Star Wars animation - breath it in. 'The Bad Batch' dropped it's hotly anticipated 3-part premiere this week and your Small Screen Star Wars hosts are back to unpack each beautifully crafted moment from "Confined", "Paths Unknown", and "Shadows of Tantiss" . Buckle up, as the three episodes come in around 90 minutes in total, which means you are in for a...