On Saturday, Disney dropped the first official trailer for Tron: Ares.
Read the official synopsis:
"Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings."
The upcoming sequel to Tron: Legacy is directed by Joachim Rønning and stars Jared Leto, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, and Cameron Monaghan.
Christmas 1982 was all about the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48K, Horace Goes Skiing and Disney's Tron! The franchise is synonymous with innovative visual effects and soundtracks from Wendy Carlos, Daft Punk and now Nine Inch Nails (NIИ). So, I'm excited for the third instalment in the Tron trilogy, which sees Leto's titular program crossing over from the digital into the real world.
Tron: Ares arrives only in cinemas on 10th October.
Have you watched the trailer for Tron: Ares? What did you think? Are you looking forward to it? Let me know in the comments below.
Doctor Who returns in one week and fans (myself included) can pre-order the season two Blu-ray set.
Read the official synopsis:
"The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) meets Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) and begins an epic quest to get her back to Earth. But a mysterious force is stopping their return and the time-travelling TARDIS team must face great dangers, bigger enemies and wider terrors than ever before."
Joining Gatwa, Sethu, and Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday) for the second season are Rose Ayling-Ellis, Anita Dobson, Christopher Chung, Michelle Greenidge, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruth Madeley, Jemma Redgrave, Susan Twist, Bonnie Langford, Rylan Clark and Alan Cumming as the voice of Mr Ring-a-Ding.
This release includes all 8 episodes and the holiday special Joy to the World:
The Robot Revolution: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Peter Hoar Lux: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Amanda Brotchie The Well: Written by Russell T Davies & Sharma Angel Walfall, directed by Amanda Brotchie Lucky Day: Written by Pete McTighe, directed by Peter Hoar The Story & the Engine: Written by Inua Ellams, directed by Makalla McPherson The Interstellar Song Contest: Written by Juno Dawson, directed by Ben A. Williams Wish World: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai The Reality War: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai
Season two is available for pre-order from Amazon (affiliate link).
Doctor Who's second season premieres on 12th April on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland.
Are you looking forward to season two of Doctor Who? Let me know in the comments below.
Our friends at Hasbro have sent over the latest reveals from the Hasbro Pulse Star Wars Fanstream! The Star Wars team announced new products from Star Wars: The Black Series and Star Wars: The Vintage Collection.
Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder piqued my interest as I missed out on the original Kenner vehicle in 1978 and The Power of the Force 2 rerelease in 1995.
STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION LANDSPEEDER VEHICLE
(HASBRO | Ages 4 years & up | Approx. Retail Price: $59.99 | Pre-order now on Hasbro Pulse and fan channel retailers; available Summer 2025)
Luke Skywalker owned a battered but speedy X-34 Landspeeder, racing the sand-faded craft across the desert. Celebrate the legacy of STAR WARS with premium vehicles, playsets, and action figures from STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION. Based on STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE, this 3.75-inch-scale Landspeeder includes a Luke Skywalker (Tatooine) figure that features photoreal deco and a soft goods poncho. Comes with 7 accessories for dynamic poseability on fan shelves, including his signature Lightsaber™, hat, and droid caller. Calling back to the original 1970s and 1980s vintage toys, figure and vehicle feature Kenner branding and package design, with a unique VC number on the figure for collectability (VC #344A). Reimagine favorite scenes with other THE VINTAGE COLLECTION figures and vehicles from the STAR WARS galaxy (each sold separately, subject to availability).
Build out your scene with the Streets of Mos Eisley (affiliate link) action figure playset and Jawa. In the future, I'd like to see a Patrol Dewback and Sandtrooper added to the Star Wars: The Vintage Collection. It may be announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan or on Star Wars Day as part of Hasbro's return to Tatooine campaign in 2025.
Landspeeder & Luke Skywalker is available for pre-order from Amazon (affiliate link).
Will you be adding Star Wars: The Vintage Collection Landspeeder & Luke Skywalker to your collection? Let me know in the comments below.
On Wednesday, Disney+ released the trailer, key art, and stills for Lucasfilm Animation’s Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, an all-new anthology series of animated shorts from creator Dave Filoni, premiering exclusively on Disney+ just in time for the ultimate Star Wars holiday, May the 4th.
The popular series, which began in 2022 with Tales of the Jedi and continued in 2024 with Tales of the Empire, this time focuses on the criminal underbelly of the Star Wars galaxy through the experiences of two iconic villains. Former assassin and bounty hunter Asajj Ventress is given a new chance at life and must go on the run with an unexpected new ally, while outlaw Cad Bane faces his past when he confronts an old friend, now a Marshal on the opposite side of the law.
Dave Filoni created the series and is the supervising director. He is also an executive producer along with Athena Yvette Portillo and Carrie Beck. Josh Rimes serves as co-executive producer, Alex Spotswood is the senior producer, and Matt Michnovetz is the writer.
The talented voice cast includes Nika Futterman, Corey Burton, Artt Butler, Lane Factor, AJ LoCascio, Clare Grant, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, and Eric Lopez.
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld joins an expansive collection of Star Wars films and series on Disney+, just in time for May the 4th.
Are you looking forward to Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld on Disney+? Let me know in the comments below.
Apple Original Films goes full Indiana Jones and Uncharted in director Guy Ritchie’s upcoming action-adventure film Fountain of Youth, starring John Krasinski (A Quiet Place), Natalie Portman (Star Wars), Eiza González, Domhnall Gleeson, Arian Moayed, Laz Alonso, Carmen Ejogo and Stanley Tucci.
Read the official synopsis:
"Fountain of Youth follows two estranged siblings (Krasinski and Portman) who partner on a global heist to find the mythological Fountain of Youth. They must use their knowledge of history to follow clues on an epic adventure that will change their lives … and possibly lead to immortality."
Portman told Entertainment Weekly (EW): "I'd never been to Cairo or Vienna before and was blown away by both cities — some of the most special places I've ever been.
"We also had a crazy chase sequence we shot in Liverpool, which was some really wild car work, and an incredible sunken ship sequence we shot on stage in London. It was always an epic day with wild stunts and scenarios to tackle."
Fountain of Youth is released on Friday 23rd May on Apple TV+.
What do you think of the Fountain of Youth trailer? Let me know in the comments below.
Travel to Middle-earth with LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: The Shire set.
Created in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products, the breathtakingly detailed Shire set recreates the festive atmosphere of Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy-first birthday celebration.
From Bilbo's hobbit-hole, complete with its iconic round green door and richly appointed interior, to the nine included minifigures - Bilbo Baggins, Frodo, Mrs. Proudfoot, Farmer Proudfoot, Merry, Pippin, Rosie Cotton, Samwise Gamgee, and Gandalf the Grey - the set brings this iconic scene to life.
Sean Astin, who portrayed Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, comments: "Not all those who wander are lost... especially when travelling through the astonishing detail of the Shire made out of LEGO bricks! From the smallest hobbit-hole to the grandest fireworks, building this set brought back so many fond memories of Middle-earth. Now fans can journey there themselves and build their own adventures."
Order the LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: The Shire set from 2nd to 8th April and receive a free LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: Sméagol & Déagol minibuild gift with purchase (GWP) while stocks last.
Discover LEGO The Lord of the Rings on LEGO AU, CA, UK and US (affiliate links).
Will you be adding the Shire set to your collection? Which LEGO The Lord of the Rings sets would you like to see released in the future? Let me know in the comments below.
Doctor Who is back on television and streaming screens in two weeks.
This past week celebrated twenty years of the beloved BBC sci-fi series' return to teatime television on a Saturday in March. Returning showrunner Russell T Davies rebooted the titular Time Lord for old and new generations.
When Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) and Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) formed the new team TARDIS, it was a dark time in my personal life. My late mum was living in a nursing home after an NHS disaster, and it was traumatic.
Doctor Who is my all-time favourite television series, so I had serious reservations about the then-new series after a sixteen-year hiatus. Doctor Who: The Movie failed to launch a series in the mid-nineties. Would it be good? Battlestar Galactica had been rebooted to critical acclaim, but the BBC's budget was never on par with shiny US imports until the current Disney+ era. All fears were wiped away with the first appearance of the TARDIS and the chemistry between Eccleston and Piper.
My reviews for Rose and Dalek were published in the letters pages of Starburst magazine, which I had religiously read since the Marvel UK era.
Eccleston exited after one series and was followed by David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker and now Ncuti Gatwa at the controls of the TARDIS console. Doctor Who spawned spin-off series Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Class. The War Between The Land And The Sea is coming soon from the BBC and Disney+.
To mark the anniversary, here are ten of my favourite episodes (in no particular order):
Dalek
The Girl in the Fireplace
Blink
The Day of the Doctor
The Time of the Doctor
The Magician's Apprentice
Hell Bent
The Haunting of Villa Diodati
The Power of the Doctor
73 Yards
What are your memories from the past twenty years of the revival? What are your favourite episodes? Let me know in the comments below.
May the bricks be with you! Embark on an epic hands-on and immersive journey through the galaxy's first LEGO Star Wars exhibition.
LEGO Star Wars: The Exhibition will make its galaxy-first debut at Melbourne Museum, Australia, in May 2025!
This world-first exhibition brings two of the world’s most beloved brands together with renowned LEGO Certified Professional Ryan ‘Brickman’ McNaught at the controls.
LEGO fans and Star Wars enthusiasts (myself included) will experience the Force like never before, with iconic characters and scenes brought to life in stunning LEGO brick detail. Step into a world of epic battles, gargantuan spaceships and stunning landscapes from a galaxy far, far away. Using over 8 million LEGO bricks and taking more than 25,000 hours to complete, LEGO Star Wars: The Exhibition is built right here in Melbourne at The Brickman headquarters.
Visitors are also invited to help build massive LEGO Star Wars landscapes brick by brick, take part in hands-on build activities, and see their LEGO Star Wars builds digitally come to life as they choose their allegiance and face-off against their friends. From building starfighters to creating custom lightsabers out of LEGO bricks, there will be interactive elements and engaging experiences for fans of all ages!
Build, battle and explore the galaxy – only at Melbourne Museum.
Discover LEGO Star Wars on LEGO AU, CA, UK and US (affiliate links).
Are you excited about LEGO Star Wars: The Exhibition? Will you be attending the exhibition? Let me know in the comments below.
20 years ago, Doctor Who returned to Saturday teatime television on this day.
Russell T Davies rebooted the BBC's beloved Time Lord for generations of fans (myself included) and returned as showrunner for the 60th anniversary and beyond. I wrote about the poignant timing of Rose in March 2005, which was published in the letters pages of Starburst magazine.
The BBC and Disney+ have dropped a second official season two trailer and episode titles.
Read the official synopsis:
"The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) meets Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) and begins an epic quest to get her back to Earth. But a mysterious force is stopping their return and the time-travelling TARDIS team must face great dangers, bigger enemies and wider terrors than ever before."
Joining Gatwa, Sethu, and Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday) for the second season are Rose Ayling-Ellis, Anita Dobson, Christopher Chung, Michelle Greenidge, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruth Madeley, Jemma Redgrave, Susan Twist, Bonnie Langford, Rylan Clark and Alan Cumming as the voice of Mr Ring-a-Ding.
Russell T Davies, showrunner says: “Excitement mounts as the new season gets closer, and there's nothing a Doctor Who fan loves more than facts! So here’s a whole bunch of them, with titles and writers, everything you need to get ready for transmission!”
The Robot Revolution: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Peter Hoar Lux: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Amanda Brotchie The Well: Written by Russell T Davies & Sharma Angel Walfall, directed by Amanda Brotchie Lucky Day: Written by Pete McTighe, directed by Peter Hoar
The Story & the Engine: Written by Inua Ellams, directed by Makalla McPherson The Interstellar Song Contest: Written by Juno Dawson, directed by Ben A. Williams Wish World: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai The Reality War: Written by Russell T Davies, directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai
The War Between The Land And The Sea — a new five-part spin-off series starring Jemma Redgrave and written by showrunner Russell T Davies and Pete McTighe — is on the way from the BBC and Disney+.
Doctor Who's second season premieres on 12th April on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland.
Are you looking forward to season two of Doctor Who? Let me know in the comments below.
5 years ago, the UK went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic and Disney+ serendipitously launched on this day followed by the closure of DisneyLife a month later.
Streaming services saw a surge in subscribers whilst we all stayed at home (key workers notwithstanding).
The Mandalorian debuted to critical acclaim on Disney+. Baby Yoda (before his name was revealed as Grogu in season two) became a pop culture sensation as Star Wars fans (myself included) clamoured for merchandise - I was lucky enough to be sent review samples from Lucasfilm licensees for the 2020 holiday season.
From Disney's press release celebrating the fifth anniversary of Disney+:
"As Disney+ celebrates its fifth birthday this March, the streaming service unveils an exciting lineup of titles set to premiere in the UK and Ireland in 2025. Titles include FX’s highly anticipated “Alien: Earth,” the new limited series FX’s “Dying for Sex” starring Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate, star-studded UK Original “The Stolen Girl” - a five-part psychological drama starring Denise Gough, Holliday Grainger and Ambika Mod, alongside Lucasfilm’s “Andor” season 2 returning for its long-awaited conclusion, and Searchlight Pictures’ Award-winning “A Real Pain”. Not to mention critically acclaimed and multiple Emmy® award-winning series returning including FX’s “The Bear”, “Only Murders in the Building” and the latest season of “The Simpsons” now streaming exclusively on Disney+ in the UK."
In related news. The Disney+ app has been updated with a long-requested feature. If you want to edit your Continue Watching list, you can do so now on Disney+ on the web, iOS devices, and Apple TV. It will be rolling out to other platforms in the coming weeks.
Subscription fatigue is a thing, and cancelling services has been therapeutic in the midst of a cost of living crisis! However, I'm enjoying Daredevil: Born Again, and my dad's an avid fan of NCIS, so renewing Disney+ was a no-brainer.
Are you subscribing to Disney+? What are you looking forward to watching in 2025? Let me know in the comments below.
