I root for my home team whenever I can. It gives me a thrill to hear my home city announced on the news as a winner. I have no idea why. Silly when you think about how a grown man can be proud from the accident of his birth. It’s even more ridiculous that before I went to college, I had a favorite college team. It wasn’t my parent’s college, its not from my hometown, I didn’t even apply there when I graduated high school. The accomplishment of a team has nothing to do with anything I do, but I once watched a football game in my living room from my kitchen because every time I was in the living room things went bad.
I feel irrationally connected to my franchises too.
Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor in Doctor Who Christmas Special “The Church on Ruby Road” (2023), BBC
Did you like the Pertwee era of Doctor Who? You know what has literally nothing to do with the Pertee era of Doctor Who? The Tom Baker era. Sure it continues the show and the 4th Doctor had to deal with some 3rd Doctor stuff, but really Tom’s show is different than Jon’s show.
There are people who love Baker, but could give or take Pertwee, Davidson, or Baker. You’re not required to watch every episode. And I know how much you want to because I too have been a fan.
Zendaya as Chani in Dune Part Two (2024), Warner Bros. Pictures
The Dune Universe is a tale told by two idiots. Not Frank Herbert’s Dune, that’s well written and a master class in patient world building (although after the first book each iteration becomes weirder and more perverse). What I’m talking about is the expanded Dune novels that were written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Between 1963 (when the first part of what would become Dune was serialized) and his death in 1986 Frank Herbert wrote six Dune books.
From 1999 to today Brian and Kevin have written 22 novels and a few short stories. To keep the canon straight over 22 novels and 25 years is an amazing feat of literary prowess, so Brian and Kevin didn’t even try. Instead, they used Frank’s recognizable IP to sell more books than they could on their own. The events of the Dune Universe relate to the events of Frank Herbert’s Dune in as much as “Well, Frank never wrote that this didn’t happen.”
Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Lucasfilm
Want to know why there was a 16-year gap between Return of the Jedi and Phantom Menace? Lucas didn’t need nor want to play in that sandbox anymore.
Want to know why Disney constantly keeps announcing new Star Wars stuff that’s never going to get made? Because they’re trying to goose the stock price. That’s also why the first thing they did was ditch the expanded universe and promise that the canon would be consistent and ordered across all the media platforms.
If they can convince you that you’ll miss some key details to the saga by not reading the High Republic novels, then they’ll grab just a little more of your money.
Harley Quinn about to execute Batman in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (2024), Rocksteady
READ: Daisy Ridley Defends Kylo Ren Kissing Scene In Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker: “It Felt Earned”
The Batman Arkham games are some of the best games produced in the modern era. So, of course it makes sense to keep that cash train rolling. So, now we get Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. If you don’t want spoilers for the Arkham Games stop reading here and pick up below the asterisk.
Are we good. There be spoils ahead.
At the end of Arkham Knight you have a chance to set off the Knightfall Protocol. Wayne Manor is destroyed, Bruce and Alfred seem to be killed in the blast, and Batman disappears. Some time later muggers are attacking civilians when they look up to the rooftop and see what looks like Batman, but it starts to grow, catches fire, and rushes towards the screen.
It’s an intentionally ambiguous ending and fans have speculated it’s meaning. What they haven’t speculated is that Bruce Wayne is still doing the same thing five years later that he did before blowing up his own house. Because that would be stupid and Bruce Wayne isn’t stupid.
The Suicide Squad in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (2024), Rocksteady
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It’s fun to talk about the ’61 Yankees starting line up with sports guys and it’s a blast to talk canon with fanatics, but don’t let some marketing exec at a faceless multinational conglomeration use it to separate you from your hard-earned money. Not when there’s libraries filled with better books and streaming apps filled with better movies.
Take the stories you like, leave the ones that aren’t worth it and spend a lot of time arguing with your friends about which ones are which.
