Tag Archives: Star Wars

Jan 4 2026

Top Ten Most Anticipated Films & TV Shows Of 2026

2026 looks to be another jam-packed year with all the sci-fi, horror, fantasy and animated projects planned for the year. There are many promising original films and TV shows and returning franchises that will excite any fan. Also, it can be said that 2026 will be do or die for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), since it has struggled lately. Once their films were guaranteed to rake in the money, but that’s not the case anymore and Marvel Studios is betting it all with the films Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. On the other hand, the DC Universe is off and running with this year thanks to the success of last year’s Superman film. Now let’s look at the most anticipated films and TV shows of 2026.

Films

10. Toy Story 5

It’s incredible that Pixar has been able to come up with a new angle for a Toy Story film that is very relevant to current times. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return to voice the iconic toy characters Woody and Buzz as they and their toy companions now have to contend with a tablet that threatens their popularity with their child owner.

8. The Dog Stars

Not a lot is known about this post-apocalyptic film about a pilot, his dog and a disgruntled veteran, but master director Ridley Scott is behind this adaptation of Peter Heller’s novel. Given Scott’s track record with genre classics like Alien, Blade Runner and The Martian, this one should be another winning notch in the director’s filmography.

8. The Mandalorian and Grogu

Earlier this decade, a film based on the TV show, The Mandalorian, would have set fandom on fire. But given how Disney loves to milk their IP to the death, interest in the galactic bounty hunter Mandalorian and his adopted Force-sensitive child Grogu has declined and the timing of this film may be unfortunate. Still, it will be the first Star Wars film released since 2019, so that should generate interest.

7. Supergirl

The next DC Universe (DCU) film features Superman’s drunken cousin, Kara-Zor-El (Milly Alcock) aka Supergirl, in an outer space adventure that supposedly adapts Tom King’s acclaimed comic book mini-series, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. The film gets bonus points for featuring the return of Krypto the Superdog and Jason Mamoa making his DCU debut as Lobo, the intergalactic bounty hunter.

6. Project Hail Mary

The directing team of Christopher Miller and Phil Lord return to live-action with this adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel about a lone astronaut (Ryan Gossling) sent on a desperate mission to another star system to find out why the stars in the universe are suddenly being extinguished. Given the credentials of the directors, who were revered for their work on the Spider-Verse films, and the off-kilter look of the trailer, Project Hail Mary should be a unique and off-beat film that could resonate.

5. Dune, Part Three

The third film adapts the Dune sequel novels, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune and completes the epic sci-fi trilogy by director Denis Villeneuve. The first two films received nearly universal praise from critics and fans for its faithful adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel about political intrigue and religion in the distant future, which featured stunning visuals, strong performances and engrossing worldbuilding. Dune, Part Three will conclude the spiritual journey of the messiah-like Paul Atreides as he struggles to set a course for humankind in the universe while retaining his own humanity.

4. The Odyssey

The latest film from director Christopher Nolan which is based on the epic Greek fantasy poem by Homer has generated tremendous word of mouth thanks to the meticulous artistry of Nolan and the reputation his films have garnered. The Odyssey is a suitable project for Nolan because of its grand nature, and he is only one of a handful of directors who can do justice to the film. The six-minute trailer that was recently released which focused on the subterfuge of the Trojan Horse increased the fervor for the film given how impressive and large scale the scenes looked on large screens.

3. Disclosure Day

Steven Spielberg, one of the most acclaimed directors of all time, returns to his genre roots with this UAP/UFO-related film that is largely shrouded in mystery. Unlike his previous UFO films that seemed hopeful, Disclosure Day feels more grounded, mysterious and ominous judging by the teaser trailer alone. The teaser implies the film will tackle government conspiracies and spirituality. After a long period of non-genre dramas and musicals, seeing Spielberg tackling aliens once again is a welcome event.

2. Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Following the aftermath of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the latest MCU Spider-Man picks up after Spider-Man’s (Tom Holland) civilian identity has been erased thanks to a magical spell. Not a lot has been revealed about the next MCU Spider-Man film but it features popular Marvel characters like the Hulk and Punisher, a bunch of new supervillains and a mysterious new character played by Sadie Sink. Aside from speculation about Sink’s role, the film is noted for being directed by Destin Daniel Cretton who directed the well-received MCU film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

1. Avengers: Doomsday

From the chair announcement trailer to the character teasers, no other film coming out in 2026 has generated the amount of buzz as the first Avengers film since Avengers: Endgame. The film begins the conclusion of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, which will finish with next year’s film Avengers: Secret Wars. Marvel Studios has a lot riding on the success of this film given how MCU films and TV shows have had uneven reception lately. The film is pulling out all stops to bring back fans to guarantee a box office win with its hard pivot to legacy characters and actors, notably those from the Fox X-Men films and Robert Downey, Jr. who returns not as Iron Man but as the premier Marvel villain Doctor Doom. No matter how it ends up, Avengers: Doomsday will be the event film of 2026.

Notable Mentions:

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple; The Bride!; Clayface; Coyote vs. Acme; Evil Dead Burn; Flowervale Street; Forgotten Island; Godzilla: Minus Zero; Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die: Greenland 2: Migration; Hokum, Hoppers; The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender; Masters of the Universe; Primate; Redux Redux, Werwulf, Wildwood

Avatar: The Last Airbender; Blade Runner 2099; The Boroughs; Invincible; A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms; Paradise; Silo; Star City; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Star Wars: Maul-Shadow Lord; The Testaments; Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man; Stranger Things: Tales From ’85; Wonder Man

3 Body Problem, Army of Shadows, The Beauty, House of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, One Piece, Paradise, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Testaments, Wonder Man, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Television

10. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Most likely the latest Star Trek TV show will be garbage given the cringy publicity images and clips that highlight cliche teenage angst. Also going against it is that not many fans were interested in a Star Trek show set in the unpopular Star Trek: Discovery era of the 31st century, but it looks well produced and could surprise us.

9. The Boroughs

Fresh off concluding their popular TV series, Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers follow up that TV show with The Boroughs. This one focuses on middle-aged residents of a suburban community instead of kids who team up to face an unusual threat. Starring Al Molina, Geena Davis, Bill Pullman and others, The Boroughs should echo the same magic that made Stranger Things so well regarded.

8. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

The second season of the Monsterverse TV show is finally upon us. The first season unexpectedly provided depth and intriguing worldbuilding for the action-oriented Monsterverse films while featuring many appearances by our favorite kaijus like Godzilla. The second season will provide more of this and should develop the Monsterverse storyline further.

7. Neuromancer

Apple TV has turned into the premier streaming service for high-quality sci-fi programs and given recent adaptations of popular sci-fi literary works like Foundation and Silo, it was time for the streaming service to jump into adapting the William Gibson novel that jumpstarted the cyberpunk subgenre. Details are not available but since Neuromancer will stream on Apple TV, it should be a quality adaptation.

6. Spider-Noir

While it is lamentable that this program about an alternate take on Spider-Man set in the 1930s will stream on MGM+ (who actually subscribes to that streaming service?), it offers a unique take on Spider-Man. Filmed in black and white to establish a noir mood, the series will star Nicolas Cage (who voiced the same character in the Spider-Verse animated films) as Ben Reilly, an older and more jaded version of Marvel’s most popular hero.

5. X-Men ’97

After the triumphant first season that redefined the animated X-Men TV shows, this second season takes place right after the events of the first season as the heroic mutants find themselves scattered in different time periods and have to find a way back home. Only this time, the X-Men have to grapple with the mega-villainy of Apocalypse. However, being that Beau DeMayo, the showrunner of the first season, has been fired by Marvel Studios, it has to be seen if the new showrunners can match DeMayo’s work.

4. VisionQuest

This MCU TV show concludes the loose trilogy made up of WandaVision, Agatha All Along, and now VisionQuest. This shows follows the journey of the white android Vision (Paul Bettany) who was imbued with the memories of the original Vision in the final episode of WandaVision and now he has to struggle to find his identity. What makes the concluding part of the trilogy more exciting is that Terry Matalas, who was responsible for the popular third season of Star Trek: Picard, will be the showrunner.

3. Lanterns

The sole DCU TV show coming out in 2026 is a detective show will feature the intergalactic sentinels Green Lanterns Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) investigating a murder in Nebraska that will lead to dark and otherworldly events. Given the success of other DCU TV programs like Peacemaker and Creature Commandos, and the bonafides of the showrunners, including DCU head James Gunn, Lanterns should be another win for the fledgling superhero cinematic universe.

2. The Boys

The final season of the adaptation of Garth Ennis’ comic book series about “superheroes” dominating popular culture and the world itself promises to go all out as a ragtag group of anti-heroes led by Bill Butcher (Karl Urban) have their final confrontation against the twisted and sadistic Homelander (Anthony Starr) who rules the United States in a reign of terror with his lackeys and cohorts. The final season of The Boys promises to be just as brash, graphically violent and sardonic as the previous four seasons and its spinoff TV show Gen V.

1. Daredevil: Born Again

It’s true that the first season of Daredevil: Born Again turned out to be uneven, but the best episodes of that season were produced by Dario Scardapane and directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, who were the showrunners of the original Daredevil TV program on Netflix. The second season will be completely done by them and that is reason alone to look forward to it. Another reason is that it will focus on how the blind superhero Daredevil (Charlie Cox) and his allies (including Kristen Ritter reprising her role of Jessica Jones) operate on the streets of New York City under martial law as the police enforce a ban on vigilantes imposed by Daredevil’s nemesis Mayor Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio).

Notable Mentions

3 Body Problem, Army of Shadows, The Beauty, Blade Runner 2099, Invincible, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, One Piece, Paradise Silo, Star City, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Wars: Maul-Shadow Lord, The Testaments, Wonder Man, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Dec 28 2025

Top Ten Films & TV Shows of 2025

2025 delivered many exceptional genre films and television shows that surprised us with their quality and pushed boundaries. Many of them will be remembered for quite some time and others set the standards for existing franchises. Here are the ten best films and TV shows of 2025.

Films

10. Good Boy

Indy the dog stole the show in this inventive supernatural horror film told from the point of view of a good dog trying to protect his owner from a supernatural threat. What added to the suspense was the vulnerability of the dog and the fact that only he could sense the danger threatening his owner.

9. The Life of Chuck

2025 was a banner year for good to great Stephen King adaptations, and The Life of Chuck was the best of them as this heartfelt fantasy film explored themes dealing with loss, sadness, endings, and the wondrous joy of simple everyday things and relationships.

8. Jurassic World: Rebirth

Despite many criticisms made about the latest Jurassic World entry, it was unexpectedly thrilling and engaging. Sure, some of the plotlines were rethreads, but they were presented well and the film delivered some great dinosaur action.  

7. How to Train Your Dragon

This live-action remake of the classic DreamWorks animated film about a Viking teen and his pet dragon proved that it is possible to produce a topnotch live-action film based animated classics. This is something Disney sorely needs to study going forward with their endless remakes.

6. The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Finally, a quality film about Marvel Comics’ first family has been done. Great performances, production and special effects are the highlights of this charming film about family and facing cosmic horror. The film gets extra points just for not depicting Galactus as a giant space cloud!

5. Sinners

Michael B. Jordan is at the top of his acting game playing dual roles in Ryan Coogler’s haunting vampire film. What could have been a simple vampire tale was instead of tour de force from Coogler that explored America’s cultural and racial divide with exceptional visual storytelling.

4. Predator: Badlands

Just like last year’s Alien: Romulus reinvigorated that franchise, so too does Predator: Badlands with its own franchise about alien hunters. This time, the eponymous alien hunter is shown in a heroic light in this imaginative sci-fi action/adventure romp that fleshes out the species of the Predator as it skillfully blends with the Alien franchise.

3. Frankenstein

Guillermo Del Toro wowed audiences once again with his vivid imaginative storytelling skills. The latest adaptation of Mary Shelly’s literary masterpiece follows the essence of the book while veering off into unique directions that explore the father and son dynamic between the title character and his monstrous yet sympathetic creation.

2. Superman

Director and head of DC Studios James Gunn successfully launched the new DC Universe (DCU) with a fresh and interpretation of the Man of Steel. Superman and his colorful superhero world is rightfully depicted in a bright, hopeful light that cleverly raises questions about our current events and society. Superman is a very promising start to the DCU and we can’t wait for the latest entry.

1. TIE: Avatar: Fire and Ash/Thunderbolts*

This is a first for this blog, the two best films of 2025 were that great but so close in quality for different reasons that it was too hard to choose one above the other. So the two best films of 2025 are a tie.

Once again James Cameron proves why he is one of our greatest filmmakers with Avatar: Fire and Ash. The visuals and worldbuilding in this sci-fi epic are jaw dropping and must be seen in large screens. Some of the set pieces are too familiar but Avatar: Fire and Ash does develop many characters and kept us engaged with the plight of the moon Pandora as it faced evil human colonists.

Thunderbolts* aka The New Avengers was unexpectedly the best superhero film of 2025 thanks to heartfelt performances and chemistry among its cast and an emotional story of misfit mercenaries who become unlikely superheroes. Unlike the typical superhero romp, Thunderbolts* focused on characters and explored adult themes of mental and emotional health, loneliness, addiction and depression. We’ll be rooting for these underdogs when they return in Avengers: Doomsday.

Honorable Mentions:

28 Years Later, Bring Her Back, Bugonia, Captain America: Brave New World, Companion, The Electric State, The Gorge, The Great Flood, It Ends, The Long Walk, Predator: Killer of Killers, Primitive War, Weapons, Zootopia 2

Television

10. Paradise

This murder mystery that took place in a post-apocalyptic underground town shelter was elevated by great performances by Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden and an engrossing storyline that kept viewers guessing about what happened to the world and who murdered the U.S. president.

9. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The third season of the only remaining Star Trek show (for now) had its problems such as its uneven tone and showcasing too much of James T. Kirk (the show is supposed to be about Captain Pike). Still, some of the episodes were true standouts that proved there were still great Star Trek episodes to be presented.

8. Marvel Zombies

Put together classic characters from the MCU and zombie horror and what do you get? A terrifically gory and fast-moving series with some outrageous zombie action that demands a second season! Hopefully there will be more than four episodes.

7. Peacemaker

While the season finale dropped the ball as it turned out to be a drawn-out coda with concert footage, the second season of Peacemaker was for the most part a captivating look exploration of the title character’s wounded psyche as he second guessed his place in the DCU.

6. Stranger Things 5

The final season of Netflix’s breakout sci-fi/horror show was a bit all over the place with multiple characters and such, but it was still a solid sendoff to our favorite young residents of Hawkins as they had their final confrontations with the extra-dimensional horrors of the Upside Down realm.

5. Daredevil: Born Again

Marvel’s premier superhero TV show had a solid comeback in this sequel to the original Netflix show. Even though Daredevil and his crime-ridden world are now firmly part of the MCU, the TV show was just as gritty and grounded as the original. Stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio turn in some of the best performances of their careers as they reprised their roles as Daredevil and Wilson Fisk, respectively.

4. Severance

The sophomore season of this dark psychological workplace thriller threw audiences for a loop with many unexpected plot twists and character developments. It was very easy to relate to the plight of the office worker drones forced to have their out-of-work identities and memories erased and their efforts to fight the cold company they work for.

3. Pluribus

Vince Gilligan (famous for his TV shows Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) returned to his sci-fi roots with this quietly disturbing slow-burn TV show about a disgruntled novelist (Rhea Seehorn in one of the year’s best performances) forced to fight isolation, her inner demons, and to save humanity after an extra-terrestrial signal transforms nearly everyone into a global hive mind.

2. It: Welcome to Derry

Part sequel, part prequel to the It films from a few years ago, It: Welcome to Derry was one of the best surprises when it came to TV shows. Each episode was horrifying with macabre set pieces and featured rich character development that fleshed out Stephen King’s fictional town. In addition to the characters, the TV show also had many unexpected twists and fleshed out the expansive King multiverse in an organic manner that made us want to further explore it, no pun intended.

1. Andor

No other TV show came close to matching the artistry of Andor, which is easily the best Star Wars television show of all time and one of the best TV shows of any genre. The second and final season was a tense spy thriller set in the Star Wars universe with many brutal and heart wrenching political storylines that echoed our own civil strife as it chronicled the death of democracy and the bitter origins of the resistance to stand against tyranny. Andor also engaged audiences with thought-out character development which showcased their ambivalent nature in their fight for and against the Galactic Empire.

Honorable Mentions:

Alien: Earth, Black Mirror, Doctor Who, The Eternaut, Eyes of Wakanda, Fallout, Foundation, Gen V, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Institute, Invincible, Ironheart, The Last of Us, Murderbot, Wednesday, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

  

Jun 1 2025

After Andor What’s Next For Star Wars?

The Disney + Star Wars TV series Andor concluded to much deserved acclaim, and it did something that seemed improbable given the state of the Star Wars franchise. Andor has helped create renewed enthusiasm for Star Wars as it showed how versatile and mature the franchise can be.

Ever since Disney acquired Star Wars from its creator George Lucas, the projects the company and Lucasfilm put out have received mixed reactions. At first, the franchise received a lot of renewed enthusiasm after the releases of Disney’s first two Star Wars films, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

But the reception to the following films, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, was a lot less muted as many fans soured against the Disney films. As a result, the box office returns were not quite as high as the early films and in fact, Solo did not perform well in theaters.

This Was the Way

The Star Wars franchise recovered significantly when the first Disney + Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian, debuted on the streaming app in 2019. For a couple of years, Mandalorian fever gripped fans and the larger public as Grogu, the infant Yoda-like co-star of the show captured the public’s hearts and imagination. It seemed as if the TV show single-handedly rescued the franchise and injected new life into it. However, many of the other Star Wars TV shows were not as popular or had the level of quality as The Mandalorian, except for Andor. In fact, although Andor did not have the high viewership numbers that The Mandalorian enjoyed, it was a massive critical hit as it presented a fresh and adult take on Star Wars with its grounded look at how the Rebellion began in earnest against the Galactic Empire.

Still, despite Andor’s critical success, Star Wars on the whole was floundering as inferior TV shows like The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka disappointed fans and emboldened toxic trolls to attack Star Wars. Then there was the fact that the film franchise was essentially dead as many announced films never went into production, except for next year’s The Mandalorian and Grogu. Even recently, The Mandalorian fell out of favor with many fans because of its third season, which was not as well received as its first two seasons.

New Heights of Quality Star Wars Television

When the second season of Andor first streamed fans and critics applauded the show’s mature, sweeping and complex nature with its nuanced and well-developed characters that quickly generated memes and online discussion about the nature of defiance, sacrifice and societies.

What truly captured the hearts of fans were its story arcs devoted to the Ghorman Massacre and the final arc that wrapped up the story lines of many characters including Cassian Andor himself. The last time we see him, he was departing for what would be his final mission in Rogue One. A mission he never returned from. What made his final on screen moments so heartbreaking was the revelation in Andor’s final scene that he fathered a child that he would never know. And no, this child is not Poe Dameron from the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.

What made Andor so great and unique was that it had no connection to the Jedi, the Sith, or the larger Star Wars/Skywalker saga. It instead focused on random, everyday people living regular lives and how the Empire affected them to either join the cause or support the Empire through simple acts that cascaded into mass movements that affected the galaxy.

It should be noted that Andor was not the only TV show to break out of the traditional Star Wars mold. Others like Skeleton Crew and The Acolyte gave us different stories that took place at different time periods and had little to do with the Skywalker Saga. However, they were not as regarded as highly as Andor.

Continue reading →
May 18 2025

Season Two Of Andor Proves It Is The Greatest Star Wars TV Show Of All

Andor just completed its second and final season on Disney + and it proved beyond question that it is the greatest Star Wars TV show ever presented. Some fans may complain that it is too slow or too adult or too unlike Star Wars, but they are missing the point. Andor demonstrates that Star Wars can be much more than action-oriented, near fantasy stories that are supposedly geared more to children. The IP is much more than that and Andor shows us the potential of what Star Wars can be.

The second season of Andor is broken up into three-episode arcs, with each arc taking place a year apart as the overall narrative counts down to the original Star Wars and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. As each arc progresses, we get to see how the complex characters develop and grow.

Among the great things about Andor are its rich characters starting with the title character himself, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), a spy for the burgeoning Rebel Alliance. In the early years of the rebellion against the Galactic Empire, Andor travels through many worlds on spy missions to undermine the Empire. But in his heart, even though he detests the Empire, he wants to retire to a quiet life with his girlfriend, Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), who is suffering from PTSD after being tortured by the Empire in the first season. Sadly, as anyone who has seen Rogue One knows, that is not to be for Cassian. Knowing Andor’s ultimate fate and the impact he will unknowingly have in the fight against the Empire makes his personal growth so compelling. We see that he has grown as a character since the first season. Back then, he largely looked out for himself and only through tragedies did he join the Rebellion. When we see him throughout the second season, Andor is now a polished spy who could blend into several environments as he pulls off capers like stealing advanced Imperial TIE fighters or doing reconnaissance in the tragic world of Ghorman, as it becomes a hotbed for unrest against the Empire.

It turned out that the storyline in Ghorman, which continued through two arcs, was the centerpiece of Andor. We get to see a rich culture that seemed vaguely European and an obvious stand-in for France during World War II with amateur spies and rebels facing a hopeless situation against the Empire. What made matters worse was that the unrest on Ghorman was orchestrated by the Empire just to create a media narrative that the populace was full of terrorists just so the planet could be mined for a mineral needed for the Death Star battle station. The entire storyline was an unsettling mirror and a damning commentary for our current situation where people blindly believe whatever narrative government officials tell them and the misuse of media.

The two-part story arc of Ghorman culminated in the so-called Ghorman massacre in the seventh episode as many brewing subplots came to a head. Several characters had cathartic encounters with each other, notably the Imperial bureaucrat Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), who was obsessed with finding and arresting Andor that was like Inspector Javert chasing after Jean Valjean. While Syril is a sniveling and insecure man, his storyline is quite captivating and is a grounded look at how civilians live in the age of the Galactic Empire. He was basically a nobody who was needled by his mother and only wanted to move up in middle management. What made his story interesting was that we see that he slowly began to sympathize with the Ghormans and that he was being manipulated by his girlfriend Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), an Imperial operative who was equally ambitious.

Deedra herself was obsessed with learning the identity of who she considered to be the mastermind behind the Rebellion: a person she called Axis. This turned out to be none other than Andor’s recruiter and mentor Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard), a master spy who runs an antique shop in the Imperial capital world Coruscant and helped fund and coordinate the intelligence network for the Rebellion. Skarsgard gave what is probably the performance of his career as Luthen, a morally complex and mysterious operative who has no boundaries and will use anyone and any means to defeat the Empire. That is incredible considering how perfect the performances are from the other cast members, starting with Luna.

Getting back to the Ghorman Massacre, the incident in the episode “Who Are You?” was very disturbing and hammers home how evil the Empire is; they really are space Nazis who should not be admired. This incident turned out to be a turning point not just with the Galactic Civil War but with the destinies of many characters including Andor. As mentioned before, Andor played a critical role in the early days of the Rebellion. In the second season his most important contribution was when he went to Coruscant and extracted Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), one of the few senators who spoke out against the Empire after the massacre and ended up becoming the leader of the Rebellion. The episode “Welcome to the Rebellion” is where Andor extracts her from Coruscant and it was very intense and rousing, especially in the scenes where she gives her speech to denounce the Empire and afterwards when Andor has to get her to safety. What made everything so heartbreaking for Andor was how everything ended for him personally after he succeeded. These developments helped set him up for his situation when we saw him in Rogue One.

A remarkable thing the second season of Andor did was seamlessly connect to Rogue One. The final episode of the series “Jedha, Kyber, Erso” felt like a countdown as many story arcs concluded and featured characters that would show up in the film. The entire series helps us look at the film in a new way when it comes to Andor as we now understand the strife he went through in life and the level of sacrifice he made for the cause. One story line that was never resolved was that of Cassian looking for his little sister. As shown in the first season, the two siblings were separated as children and his search for her when he was an adult set in place his involvement with the Rebellion and his destiny. In one tragic sequence, in the last moments of the last episode, Andor is still dreaming about her, and he never will find out what happened to his sister. That is how life goes unfortunately.

Grounded moments like Andor’s bitter memories, the tragic deaths of beloved characters, the bitter sacrifices made by most characters, and how characters weave in and out of each other’s lives are what set Andor apart from most television shows. It’s a miracle that the show’s creators like Tony Gilroy were given the freedom and the budget to present this masterpiece. It is also unfortunate that we only got two seasons of Andor as it was originally planned for five seasons, one can only wonder how much greater the series would have been.

But perhaps it is for the best that Gilroy decided to conclude the series as it probably helped him, and the other creators to focus on the complex stories and had the budget to develop these impressive worlds with rich cultures. Yes, the entire production was of movie quality and captivating. It is not known if Lucasfilm will ever greenlight a TV series like Andor again, but it should. It would be great to see other series focusing on other Rogue One characters like Chirrut and Baze or even Bodhi. But we are fortunate that at least we had Andor, which is not only the best Star Wars TV show of all time but one of the greatest TV shows of all time.

José Soto

Apr 27 2025

Commemorating Star Wars Episode III 20 Years Later

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, arguably the best of the Star Wars prequels and the culmination of Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the Dark Side of the Force.

The film starts with a bang as we see Anakin and his mentor, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi rushing to rescue Chancellor Palpatine, the leader of the Galactic Republic who was kidnapped by Separatist forces in the skies above the Republic’s capital world of Coruscant. The opening space battle is a spectacular highlight as we see the Jedi duo flying among enormous capital ships wrecking havoc on one another. This scene is one I’ve rewatched countless times and is a great way to set up the rest of the film. When the Jedi finally reach the Separatist flagship and find the Chancellor, Anakin’s descent to evil is hinted at as he brutally executes Count Dooku at the urging of Palpatine, after an intense lightsaber duel.

His future as a Sith Lord is further orchestrated by Palpatine as he convinces Anakin that his wife, Padme, will die unless he learns the secrets of the Dark Side, and he turns on his fellow Jedi. The final confrontation with his friend Obi-Wan on the lava world of Mustafar is both exhilarating and emotional as a heartbroken Obi-Wan is forced to mortally wound Anakin and leave him to die while castigating him for turning on everything they fought for. Palpatine eventually arrives and finds Anakin on the brink of death and, using medical droids and surgical procedures, turns him into the fearsome and legendary Darth Vader, who is now trapped in a prison of body armor that keeps him alive. Padme’s death due to Anakin’s force choke, her trauma at giving birth to their twins Luke and Leia, and Vader’s reaction to the news of this event, is the emotional high point of the film and sets up the classic original Star Wars trilogy as Obi-Wan and his ally Bail Organa takes the twins to safety on the planets Alderaan and Tatooine.

One of the many strengths of the film is the foreboding tone that is set when we see the manipulation that Anakin is subjected to from Palpatine, as well as the Jedi being set up for their downfall which is shown when Anakin marches on the Jedi temple flanked by Clone Troopers who then kill all the Jedi there, including young Jedi students. The many battlefields of the Clone Wars is another great thing we witness in this movie, such as the clone army battling the separatist droids on the Wookie home world Kashyyyk, re-introducing fan favorite Chewbacca to the Star Wars universe in this era. As well as the conflict on the arid planet Utapau, where Obi-Wan finally eliminates Separatist droid General Grievous. This happened after a thrilling chase scene that has Obi-Wan riding on a gigantic lizard named Boga in pursuit of Grievous who is riding on his personal wheel bike. This is something that Star Wars excels at, blending different genres and circumstances, fantasy and science fiction that somehow works. This imaginative vision of director George Lucas comes to fruition the most in this film as this is the last movie he directed, and it seems he finally was able to shake off the issues that surrounded the first two prequel films. The Phantom Menace when it was released was criticized for what some saw as a childish tone with Jar Jar Binks flailing around. This is completely absent in Revenge of the Sith. The feeling of impending doom for the Republic and the Jedi is palpable as we finally see the events hinted at in the original trilogy: Anakin’s fall, his final duel with Obi-Wan, the extermination of the Jedi Order, and Palpatine’s rise to be the evil Emperor that we first saw in Return of the Jedi. Attack of the Clones was seen as an improvement but still had issues with the somewhat clumsy romantic subplot between Anankin and Padme. Again, this is not the case in Revenge of the Sith, as the focus is on the cruel fate that awaits Padme at the hands of her husband, which is haunting to witness.

The reputation of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith has only improved in the years since its release on May 19, 2005. It has the reputation of being the best prequel film, which is well deserved and it also led to later Star Wars releases such as the highly regarded Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV show and Star Wars: Rebels. I think it is right up there with A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back when rating the various Star Wars movies. It has the right balance of being a more sophisticated story while still having the excitement and adventure a Star Wars movie needs to have. The special effects were top notch as always, and we see new ships and vehicles introduced such as ARC-170 starfighters, V-Wing starfighters, Droid Tri-fighters and Clone Turbo tanks. This is something that was missing from the sequel trilogy which basically just had X-Wings and TIE fighters from the original films with new paint jobs. The lightsaber duels were also the best of any of the movies, with Anakin vs. Dooku, Obi-Wan vs. Grievous, and finally the long-awaited duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan, which did not disappoint. It was a furious and intense battle with a backdrop of searing lava that is fantastic to witness. The inevitable outcome of it brings the prequel saga to a close and guaranteed that the film earned its place in Star Wars lore as an epic finish to the story that Lucas started so many years ago.

The celebration and acclaim that Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is receiving on its 20th anniversary is well deserved, and it will be no surprise to see it get the same kind of praise and acknowledgment on its 30th anniversary and well beyond.

C.S. Link