Podcast Reaction: Wild Card Edition

This week on the podcast, the Gabbiest of Geeks discussed random stuff that happened at the San Diego Comic Con.  I got name dropped twice.  Once when Watson mistook a completely different Sy-Fy bit of programming that I had brought up from one Ryan was discussing.  Ryan’s sounded very interesting, but I was discussing in the GG Bullpen a mini-series based on Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End that I may try to set up as a book club thing for here on the website.  Stay tuned.

I also learned I am apparently in Hell.  I wasn’t expecting that.  I imagine that is what most people say when they find themselves there.

So, what should I discuss?

Well, for one, I was playing World of Warcraft until maybe a year and a half ago.  I know I missed the last expansion.  Possibly on purpose.  I did know there was a movie coming out, but quite frankly I didn’t much care.  A movie based on a video game, any video game, sounds like a so-so idea at best to me.  I know there’s a story behind WoW, but I don’t really care if I see it on the big screen or not.  Since players can play for either faction, that generally means neither side is necessarily good or evil.  So, I don’t know what’ll happen and don’t plan on buying tickets.

Now, it could be a fun flick for all I know.  I mean, there’s a successful movie franchise out there right now based off a theme park attraction, and I don’t mean the Country Bears.  But movies based on games never really work, right?

But what really struck my attention, besides bets on whether or not Hugh Jackman will still be Wolverine post Wolverine 3, or what the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. agents were, or why anyone would think Heroes might be good, was Ryan’s takedown on the director of Jurassic World.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, and not the kind Watson likes, I haven’t seen Jurassic World yet.  I also wasn’t planning to.  I’m not sure how many stories you can wring out of a dinosaur theme park where nothing goes right, truth be told.  Reboots and remakes are notoriously hard to pull off for a variety of reasons.  The script and direction has to walk a fine line between hitting whatever magic the original property had while also being distinctive enough to merit its even existing.  The Muppets pulled that off, and that’s no mean feat, especially when you consider how often the Muppets actually have visible feet.

Yes, that joke sucked.

Anyway, since all studios care about is a dump truck full of money pulling up to the gate, it really doesn’t surprise me that the Jurassic World director, whatisname, may have gotten to chair Episode IX of Star Wars.  Of course, I am not quite sure it matters who directs the movie as far as Disney is concerned because it will make multiple dump trucks full of money no matter what, and that is, according to the first sentence of this paragraph, all the studios really care about.

But since Episode IX is not in production, you know, right now, a lot can happen between now and then.  New directors, different person on script, we learn that while dinosaurs may not have been his thing given the basic limitations that come from any Jurassic Park setting means Star Wars might be more of this guy’s thing, more or less studio interference goes into the final product making it better or worse than anyone would have thought the director capable of, the end of humanity as we know it occurs before the movie comes out and Jenny is the new Furiosa…all kinds of things can happen.

I guess my thing is, let’s wait and see when it comes out.

And one last thing:  it really doesn’t surprise me that Warner Brothers reacted so humorlessly to the Suicide Squad trailer leak.  They seem to have leached all the humor out of the DC movies, so why shouldn’t they react the way they did?  It fits their universe as well as Marvel Films’ blaming of a Hydra agent.