Welcome toTheCollider Pop Culture Review, in which Collider’s weekend editor Vinnie Mancuso wakes up only slightly hungover on a Saturday to rate the week’s biggest stories in film and television on a scale from 1 to 10. (1 is soul-crushingly bad, 10 is mind-blowingly incredible.) This week:The Mandalorianjet-packs its way onto Disney’s streaming service, a super-sized newAquamantrailer breaks the surface, The Rock and Jason Statham are totally about to kiss, and much more.
‘The Mandalorian’ First Look
Rating: 7, or “Make ItFireflyButStar Wars”
Living on the Disney streaming service next to the standalone Loki series and the grittyLockjaw origin storyI plan to writefor freewill beJon Favreau’s live-action Star Wars series, which we now know will be titledThe Mandalorianand will follow a “lone gunfighter” carrying on the stories of Boba and Jango Fett in “the outer reaches of the galaxy.”
Have any characters had a stranger legacy than those pesky Fetts? Especially Boba, who is fondly remembered as a badass despite the fact he died when ablindHan Soloaccidentallysent him flying into a sentient alien butthole. It’s like if the only thing James Bond ever did was rip his pants and trip into wood-chipper and people still thought he was a dashing super-spy.
There are a few incredibly cool things aboutThe Mandalorianalready, though, not the least of which is Disney releasing an official image of the title character without revealing who is under the helmet. That’s amazing. It could beanyone. It could be Nathan Fillion. You literally cannot prove it’s not Nathan Fillion.
Rumors and hearsay strongly suggest thatNarcosstarPedro Pascalwill take on the title role. A fantastic choice, if for no other reason than the last time Pascal took on a high-profile fantasy role he really, really could have used a helmet.
The other amazing part of this announcement is the absolutely stacked list of directors that Favreau has lined up, includingBryce Dallas HowardandDeborah Chow—the first women to helm a live-actionStar Warsproject—Star Wars RebelsdirectorDave Filoni, andThor: RagnarokmastermindTaika Waititi, who I assume will stick, like, pineapples all over the Mandalorian armor for an episode. Don’t even explain it.
‘Aquaman’ Gets Five-Minute Trailer
Rating: 8, or “Darling It’s Better, Down Where It’s Wetter”
This might cut into the $10,000 checks Marvel sends me monthly to bash Warner Bros. projects, but man I am unreasonably hyped forJames Wan’sAquaman. If thenew whale-sized trailerthat dropped this week is any indication, modern-day horror aficionadoJames Wanhas crafted something that is, if nothing else, wonderful to look at.
Look, the DCEU has issues across the board, ranging from tonal problems to shoddy writing to the fact that someone probably should have bootedJared Letointo the sun by now. But first and foremost, the DCEU somehow already feels stagnant after only five years. It’s the reason Wonder Woman felt like such a breath of fresh air, and the reason why the excitement forShazam!actually feels earned. These movies are unique, their own thing. These movies feel new. And now here comes Aquaman with straight up underwater gladiator fights, shark warfare, and giant crustaceans being ridden majestically into battle against dolphins who I can only assume have a thirst for blood. That, my friends, is how you turn a corner with a franchise.
And hey,Jason Momoaperformed an actual divine miracle by looking cool in the original orange-and-green Aquaman costume. Sure, the colors are a bit muted, but there is no comic book costume that runs the risk of looking lame than that one. It’s like if Peter Pan looked at his outfit and decided he needed to look less intimidating.
First Look at Lobo in ‘Krypton’
Rating: 3, or “Slamming In The Back Of My Dragula”
And now, for the complete, total, diametric opposite of what I said about Jason Momoa’s Aquaman costume,here is the first lookatEmmett J Scanlanas Lobo inKryptonseason 2. If you ever wondered what the love child of Rob Zombie circa 1999, a background character onSons of Anarchy, and a Predator would look like, congratulations on A) Getting your wish, and B) Having the most specific interests on Earth. Tell me your story.
Look, I get the character. I get he’s wacky, over-the-top, meta X-Treme 90’s comics personified, and to do a live-action version means you’re going to have to get a bit wonky. But you can’t expect that to translate in a still image, the first lookKryptonfans are going to get of the character. You can not expect my eyes to not be drawn to the dick skull. You simply can not. I have a Masters thesis-worth of questions about the dick skull. Is that a monkey? Did alien native of the planet Czarnia come to Earth and kill a monkey for the express purpose of turning its school into a dick ornament or did he buy the monkey skull dick ornament at a place that, I suppose, sells those sort of things?
Krypton season 2 has a lot of explaining to do, is what I’m saying.
Chris Evans Says Goodbye
Rating: 4, or “At Ease, Captain”
This is a tough rate.Chris Evanstook to Twitter toannounce his last day filmingAvengers 4and also, basically, kind of, sort of hinted that Captain America is about to get got. “Officially wrapped on Avengers 4. It was an emotional day to say the least. Playing this role over the last 8 years has been an honor,” he wrote. “To everyone in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the audience, thank you for the memories! Eternally grateful.”
If that is, in fact, what that message means, then call me Loki’s neck because I am broken.Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark might have started the MCU, but Evas as Steve Rogers has been the heart that keeps this money machine pumping.
On the other hand, I just can’t fully believe that Marvel, of all companies, would allow even Evans to spoil an Avengers plot-point. I once tried to break embargo on anAnt-Mantrailer and Kevin Feige sent a drone to my house to blow up my garage.
Plus, read the message again. It is so, so carefully worded. Evans said he’s done with Avengers 4, and that it was fun, but never quite says it’s the end of the road. When I leave a friend’s birthday party by saying I had a great time, the reaction isn’t “Holy shityou’re dying??” Like, I’ll be back next year.
First Look at ‘Hobbs & Shaw’
Rating: 5, or “Those Are Certainly Two Bald Men”
They are going to kiss, right? That’s the idea here? There isn’t much to actually say aboutour first glimpseintoThe Fast and Furious' first spin-offHobbs & Shaw,other than 1) The Rock’sliberal use of emojisis incredibly endearing from a man who could crack my spine and drink the fluid inside with minimal effort, and 2) A movie this testosterone-fueled—marketed as a showdown between two rippling muscle-bound badasses with cephalic veins to spare—deciding to have its two leads stop growling and just kiss already would be the most welcome shock sinceSplitturned out to be anUnbreakablesequel.
