There sure are a lot of ads during the Super Bowl. Sure, the evening is all about the best of the NFC and AFC battling each other for NFL dominance, but most people like talking about the commercials. Companies put up millions of dollars for ads to try and get your attention.
Many times, these ads have a comedic slant, and sometimes, they’re actually funny–and often, they fail miserably. Over the course of Super Bowl LIV, there were a ton of ads, but only a few of them were actually really funny. So we collected the best ones from the NFL game and have them for you below.
When your hands are covered in Cheetos dust, you may not want to touch anyone or anything. MC Hammer pops up to sing the chorus from his hit song “U Can’t Touch This.”
Avocados From Mexico
Every year, Avocados From Mexico puts out some hilarious commercials for the Super Bowl. This year, it spoofs the Home Shopping Network with accessories for your avocado.
Rocket Mortgage
Apparently, Jason Momoa isn’t the man we all thought he was. Just watch the commercial for yourself, as it’s easily one of the best of the evening.
Pringles
Ricky & Morty make an appearance in this year’s Pringles commercial, poking fun at the other Pringles commercials from the past year. Also, there are Pringles robots now.
Doritos
Lil Nas X and Sam Elliot got into a dance-off during this Doritos commercial. Is there anything funnier than a horse with a sound system strapped to it? That’s rhetorical because the answer is obviously “no.”
Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company.
The countdown to the MCU’s first movie of Phase 4, Black Widow, is slowly ticking down so naturally, the promotional campaigns are ramping up–and what better time than the Super Bowl to debut a brand new 30-second spot for the upcoming film? The big game may have only just begun but Natasha has joined a slew of heavy-hitting franchises from F9 and Mulan to A Quiet Place 2.
In the clip, Natasha admits through voice-over that the Avengers weren’t her first family and that, “at some point, we all have to choose between who the world wants you to be and who you are.” She’s, of course, referencing her time spent in the Red Room, the secret Russian training program responsible for Black Widow operatives like herself and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), which has only been vaguely explored through the eyes of the MCU since Natasha’s entrance into the cinematic universe back in Iron Man 2. Along with Yelena, Black Widow will be exploring Natasha’s connections with Red Guadian (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weiss).
The only real new footage not already shown in the trailer released late last year features the film’s new villain, Taskmaster, displaying some very Captain America-flavored moves with his trademark “T” shield. This is definitely by design–though we may not know if it’s actually Tony Masters (yes, that is his real name–comics!) under the mask in the MCU’s version of the character, we can definitely assume the character’s “super learning” combat skills will come into play in one way or another. In the comics, Taskmaster is able to learn any fighting style instantly just by seeing it one time, meaning it’s more than possible for him to mimic not only Steve Rogers, but any other Avenger (or any other villain) with ease. Masters was even responsible for training US Agent to use the shield while he took over as Captain America in Steve’s stead.
During Super Bowl LIV, Paramount Pictures aired a trailer for Top Gun: Maverick, and it featured pretty much exactly what you’d expect–and want–from a Top Gun trailer. Interspersed between clips of jets doing awesome aerial maneuvers were shots of some drama, with a voice-over teasing that Tom Cruise’s Maverick will land himself in some hot water, again.
Naturally, there’s some rather striking shots with character aircrafts slowly being raised onto a deck, the silhouette of Maverick up against an ocean of water, and the sun partially blocked out by giant planes–all the Top Gun classics.
Top Gun: Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who previously directed Oblivion, another film that Tom Cruise appeared in. Joining Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick are Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, and Ed Harris. The movie comes to theaters on June 26, 2020.
For more on the movie, make sure to check out our article with everything we know about Top Gun: Maverick. You’ll find more information on the cast, writers, director, story, and more there.
Bill Murray has returned to the world of Groundhog Day in a new Super Bowl commercial for the Jeep Gladiator, which you can watch above. Conveniently enough, Super Bowl LIV falls on the actual Groundhog Day, and according to Rolling Stone, this is actually Murray’s first-ever nationally televised commercial appearance.
In the Jeep commercial, Murray, once again playing weatherman Phil Conners, wakes back up in the town of Punxsutawney on Groundhog Day. Reliving the events of the day, just as he did in the original movie, Murray runs into the annoying Ned Ryerson (played by a now older Stephen Tobolowsky) before spying a Jeep Gladiator parked in town, and remarks “well that’s different.”
Murray then steals Punxsutawney Phil from the mayor (again played by Brian Doyle-Murray) and sets off in the Jeep into numerous adventures, including multiple trips into the Pennsylvania wilderness, and (perhaps upsettingly to Punxsutawney Phil) a trip to the arcade where Murray plays whack-a-mole.
The ad ends with the tagline: “No day is the same in a Jeep Gladiator.”
If you’re hungry for more, here’s every Super Bowl 2020 commercial we’ve found, including for Doritos, Mountain Dew, Pringles, and more.
The return of Han to the Fast & Furious series might be the weekend’s most surprising action franchise comeback–but it’s not the only one. Production starts this year on Mission Impossible 7 and 8, and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie has revealed that Eugene Kittridge, played by actor Henry Czerny, is coming back to the franchise after 24 years.
McQuarrie confirmed the news with a Twitter post, which simply read: “There is no escaping the past…#MI7MI8.” Czerny previously appeared as Kittridge in the first Mission: Impossible, which was released way back in 1996. Kittridge was the head of the Impossible Mission Force, who falsely believed that Tom Cruise’s character Ethan Hunt was an enemy mole, and attempted to flush him out, a plan which led to Hunt’s entire team getting wiped out. Kittridge has not appeared in any of the subsequent sequels, but it looks like Hunt will get to take care of unfinished business in the next movie. Check McQuarrie’s post out below:
McQuarrie is set to write and direct both Mission Impossible 7 and 8, which will be shot back-to-back and released in July 2021 and August 2022 respectively. Cruise will be joined by regular co-stars Rebecca Ferguson and Simon Pegg, with Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Shea Whigham all joining the series for the first time.
In an interview with Empire, McQuarrie admitted that making two movie simultaneously was a daunting prospect. “I pitched the idea of making two movies, and now I have to justify why it’s two movies,” he said. “You’ve got to earn that. You’ve got to make something that swallows the last three movies whole. I’m freaked out now. We’ve talked ourselves into something. Holy s***.”
Before we see more of Ethan Hunt, Cruise will reprise another iconic role this summer–Top Gun’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The long-awaited sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, hits theaters in June. Check out the latest trailer, and GameSpot’s guide to everything we know so far about Top Gun: Maverick.
As HBO programming president Casey Bloys said a few weeks ago, “It would be hard to imagine doing it without Damon involved in some way.” And back in December, Lindelof explained, “I’ve consistently believed and still believe that these nine episodes are a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end.” Adding, “I don’t have any ideas for subsequent seasons of Watchmen currently.”
Speaking to Deadline this weekend at the WGA Awards, Lindelof seemed more open to the idea of returning for more Watchmen, though if it happened, it wouldn’t be for a few years at least.
“I never wanna close the door completely because if two, three years from now I say, I just had another idea, it will be that much harder to open,” Lindelof shared. “But I would say it’s barely ajar. I think that there are no current plans to make any more Watchmen.”
“If the idea comes, I would be enthusiastic about it,” he said. “The idea may not come from me. I would be super excited about it coming from someone else. So my position hasn’t changed.”
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
In this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, hosted by the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt, Frozen 2 was the target of parody as everything from Elsa’s sexuality to the franchise’s whitewashing controversy became fair game.
In the sketch — featuring Kate McKinnon as Elsa, Cecily Strong as Anna, Watt as Kristoff, and Kyle Mooney as Olaf — Frozen 2’s “Deleted Scenes” were sampled. Here’s the portion of the sketch that SNL posted to Twitter…
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Escape From Tarkov is a huge game and it is not afraid to throw you face first into its steep learning curve or punish you for your mistakes.
There are many choices and scenarios that can lead to an untimely death for any player, but much of the time these are a result of them succumbing to one of the 7 sins of Tarkov, be that of the bloodthirsty PMC, the lustful loot chaster, the gluttonous hoarder with an inventory fit to burst or the proud BEAR thinking they can take on the world with nothing but an AK and a vest.
In the video above Dave breaks down all of these sins, which we have no doubt even you dear reader, are guilty of.
Though the GameSpot team is usually busy keeping up with the biggest releases, other times we’re catching up on games we missed, replaying old favorites, experiencing classics for the first time, or just dabbling in odds and ends for a spell.
Below you can see a sampling of the games that folks on the GameSpot team are playing right now, the reasons we’re playing them, and what we love about them so far. But don’t just stop at reading our responses; we’d love to hear from you too! Please tell us what you’re playing in the comments section below.
We’re hoping to make this a more frequent thing, not only for our sanity, but yours too! After all, we know how it is: you’re playing something that resonates with you, but most times, you don’t have anyone to talk to about it, so then you end up retreating into a hole and keeping it to yourself. It can be a real bummer, so we want to help end those moments. Join us in the cathartic release of screaming at the top of our lungs the overwhelming joys we’re experiencing playing video games.
Bloodborne — Tamoor Hussain, Senior Editor & Global Head of News
It’s been five years since I first stepped foot into Yharnam, and my mind has been stuck there ever since. Whether we’re in the thick of a busy release season or amidst the doldrums of a new year, I find comfort in returning to Bloodborne. I can’t stop thinking about it, and I can’t stop playing it.
I’ve braved mobs of maniacal citizens, fended off twisted beasts, and gone toe-to-toe with wayward Hunters more times than I care to admit, and yet I always find myself drawn back in, week after week, month after month. Yharnam satisfies my wanderlust, it evokes nostalgia, and it instills a sense of tranquility. What once was hostile and unwelcoming is now familiar and safe. The baroque architecture envelops me, and although it once felt like pointed knives, it is now a warm blanket. The distant moans of insane citizens and the screeches of their sharpened weapons dragging across the floor have become soothing instead of threatening.
Occasionally, I’ll find myself rejoining the hunt, pulled into a hair-raising, tense battle with a boss or even just a simple enemy patrolling the streets, but more often than not I play Bloodborne just to be in the world, to soak in the ambiance and enjoy the eerie, slightly unsettling atmosphere. There’s nothing quite like walking the cobbled pave stones of Yharnam as it’s draped in a cloak of red and purple light emanating from the Blood Moon hanging ominously in the sky. I’m not trying to wake from the nightmare anymore; I relish it. | Twitter: @tamoorh
Like a lot of people, I’ve been waiting for the fifth and final episode of Kentucky Route Zero for a long time–it’s been four years since Act IV came out, and would you believe Act I was released back in 2013?! Anyway, with the release of the complete package, I’m taking the opportunity to go back and replay it from the very beginning, both so I can remember what happens and so I can reappreciate just how amazing this whole series has been.
And boy, it still manages to pack a punch. It’s a point-and-click narrative adventure at its core, but the execution is downright masterful. Kentucky Route Zero’s themes and writing are beautifully nuanced, its concepts are strikingly surreal, and its locations and setpieces are downright breathtaking. It twists you in such weird and deeply complex ways that I have to hold myself back from yelling “DAMN, THIS BE ART” every 10 minutes to anyone within earshot.
I’d need a lot more words to describe it adequately (though plenty of people have written amazing things about it), but it is absolutely one of the most beautiful (I already said beautiful, but screw it, it is beautiful) and well put-together games I have ever played.
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age — Chris Pereira, Engagement Editor
I started Dragon Quest XI‘s Switch demo last August when it was released, but soon after, I tabled it because of all of the games that began to come out. On a lark, I recently picked it back up to see if I could get into the meat of the game and find out why people liked it; yet, the opening hours were as uninspiring as I was led to believe. After spending about eight hours with it–kudos to Square Enix for putting out such a substantial demo–I saw enough of the game’s potential and immediately picked up the full version, which let me transfer my progress.
I’m now more than a dozen hours in, and with the world opened up to me, I’m having a great time juggling its many systems (like crafting and team-up “Pep Powers” that add consideration to party composition). But more than anything, I’m enjoying Sylvando, the flamboyant but mysterious character with a disturbing technique for winking. It does have some weird quirks–the quest log is miserable, the map isn’t great, and the feature to let NPCs lie to you is undercut by immediately telling you when things are lies. But there’s more than enough here to sink my teeth into, and this feels like the rare lengthy RPG that I’ll be sticking with for the long haul. | Twitter: @TheSmokingManX
Borderlands 3 — Alessandro Fillari, Editor
I have a particular fondness for the Borderlands series. While the vibe it gives off certainly isn’t for everyone, to me, it always succeeds at offering a fast and fun loot-grind with a wealth of ridiculous weapons and skills for the cast of vault hunters. I played a lot of Borderlands 1 and 2 back in the day, and I was looking forward to giving Borderlands 3 the same level of attention. I indeed got what I wanted from the game when it came out last September, yet it still left me wanting after finishing my playthrough with Moze. It didn’t help that, despite its many innovations and worlds to visit, Borderlands 3 feels like it’s about three years late to the party. Soon after I finished the story, I stepped away from the game.
After letting it sit for a couple of months, and seeing what new content and tweaks Gearbox was adding to the game–such as increased vault space, rebalanced skills, and the Halloween event–I gave the game another shot, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Even though it’s undeniably a familiar Borderlands game, there’s just something about getting a new legendary weapon that’s able to tear through waves of enemies with ease that I will never not find satisfying. The recent Moxxi DLC, focusing on a heist at Handsome Jack’s casino, was also a lot of fun, and even has some of the better writing and performances that Borderlands 3 has to offer–which, admittedly, isn’t a high bar. I’ve been playing B3 pretty regularly, and I’m currently working on a playthrough with my third character.
In a lot of ways, Borderlands can be something of an acquired taste. The overall style and tone focuses a lot on abrasive meme humor and iconography borrowed from other sources. Yet I still can’t deny that it scratches a particular itch I’ve been trying to get at for a while. I’m already looking forward to seeing what comes next for the game, which hopefully will include some better locations to explore. | Twitter:@afillari
A Plague Tale: Innocence — Steve Watts, Associate Editor
January is an excellent time to catch up on games I missed or just left unfinished–and with the spate of recent delays, February and March might be too. So I was pleasantly surprised when A Plague Tale: Innocence, one of our picks for the Best Games of 2019, appeared on Game Pass. It’s an insidious little worm of a game, creeping into my thoughts when I’m not playing and keeping me occupied long past my intended playtime when I am. The story keeps pulling me through, always introducing one more layer to the mystery. The dreadful atmosphere peppers in just enough moments of warmth and levity to fully invest in the characters.
It helps that it’s an impressive technical achievement too. I was trying to explain to a friend the merits of what I can only describe as A Plague Tale’s rat swarming tech, and it occurred to me halfway through that I wasn’t sure if I was pitching him on why he should play it or convincing him to never, ever play it. The phrase “tidal waves of rats” might not have been quite the selling point I intended. | Twitter: @sporkyreeve
Stardew Valley — Jenae Sitzes, Commerce Editor
Instead of diving into my enormous backlog, I’ve recently found myself sucked back into a game I first played in 2016: Stardew Valley. The farming sim was an immediate success when it launched on PC nearly four years ago, and since then, it’s been ported to almost every gaming platform.
If you’ve never played or haven’t checked out Stardew Valley in years, there’s truly no better time to dive in. A massive 1.4 update just released in December, adding a slew of improvements to multiplayer mode as well as brand-new content, quality-of-life improvements, better controller support, and much more. There’s a new Four Corners map designed for co-op, and there’s even a new multiplayer mode that has players acquire wealth separately, adding a competitive element to Stardew for the first time.
I never got far in Stardew Valley back in the day–the time limit stressed me out, and I was tired of watering my dang crops–but my relationship with the game was rekindled this past Christmas when, in a moment of boredom, I started up a multiplayer farm with my brother and boyfriend. Tackling Stardew’s challenges together helped me get past some of the game’s early struggles (the mines, daily watering, etc.), and I finally began to see why this game is still so popular, four years later. Once you start to automate your farm and earn real money, you begin to have more choices in how you design your farm and spend your time, and that fuels an increasingly addictive gameplay loop.
I now have a solo farm as well where I’m in Year 3, married with kids, and rolling in money. And despite over 140 hours logged on my Nintendo Switch, I have no plans of stopping anytime soon. RIP, my backlog. | Twitter: @jenaesitzes
Street Fighter Alpha 3 On CPS2 Hardware — Peter Brown, Managing Editor
One of my favorite avenues of my video game hobby is modifying and upgrading old game hardware. In the last year, that involved me dipping into arcade games–the proper hardware that would typically live in the guts of your favorite arcade cabinet. Capcom’s CPS2 platform is a good entry point for anyone interested in trying out arcade gaming at home. Not only is it designed in a somewhat console-like fashion, with a baseboard that interfaces with a separate game board (both encased in plastic for easy handling), but it was the home for several of Capcom’s most beloved games from the ’90s, including one of my favorite games of all time: Street Fighter Alpha 3.
Installing an HDMI mod into my CPS2 setup was the perfect excuse to spend some time with Alpha 3, which I gladly play on occasion on other platforms anyway. Still, there’s something about playing it on the hardware it was designed for, which makes the experience feel that much more special. And no matter how many times I play it, Alpha 3’s roster, graphics, music, and selection of fighting systems make me just as happy today as they did back in 1999. I love a lot of fighting games, but Alpha 3 feels like home to me, insomuch as a game can. It means a lot to give the original version of the game a place in my own home over 20 years after I first fell in love with it. | Twitter: @PCBrown
Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation — Kevin Knezevic, Associate Editor
Despite my fondness for JRPGs, I’ve only played a small handful of Dragon Quest games in my life, and most for only a couple of hours. That said, I’ve always been intrigued by the series thanks to its monolithic status, so seeing Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation on sale on the Switch Eshop last month was the perfect excuse to give the classic a try.
At the moment, I’m about 10 hours into the game, but I think it holds up remarkably well considering its age. Of course, it has all the archaisms inherent in an RPG from the NES era; random battles occur far too frequently, and your progression through the story relies almost entirely on speaking to random NPCs to learn clues about where to go next, which means it’s easy to forget what you need to do to advance if you don’t take frequent notes. Despite these complaints, however, I’ve been greatly enjoying my time with the title so far.
It’s particularly interesting to me to see just how indebted the entire genre is to this game. Dragon Quest has always been regarded as the grandfather of JRPGs, but now that I’ve played Dragon Quest III, its influence can clearly be felt not only in other RPGs, but in subsequent Dragon Quest games as well. I was particularly struck by how similar Dragon Quest IX for the DS (the only other entry I’ve put a considerable amount of time in) is to it, not only in terms of structure, but in how both give you the ability to roll your own party members.
What I especially enjoy about Dragon Quest III is the sense of adventure the game can instill thanks to its vast overworld, which you can more or less explore freely (if you can stomach the high random encounter rate). It feels thrilling to wander around and discover a new town or dungeon. I have a terrible habit of not finishing JRPGs, so it remains to be seen if I’ll see Dragon Quest III through to the end, but right now, I’m eager to play more.
Assassin’s Creed III — Matt Espineli, Editor
As a burgeoning fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise during 2012, I hated Assassin’s Creed III when I first played it. The game’s slow start, fragmented world design, and broken stealth mechanics left me feeling deeply frustrated. I held a bummer view about the game throughout the years, often voicing how low it sits in my ranking of the series with every passing entry. But that seems to have changed because I’ve been playing it these past few weeks for 30+ hours, and dare I say, I’m actually enjoying it.
I’m honestly shocked that I’ve been turning around on Assassin’s Creed III after all these years. So far, what’s been appealing to me are the questions it asks about the moral conflict between the Assassins and the Templars–something I was unwilling to unpack at the time for some reason or another. Connor’s struggle to maintain loyalty to his people and the Assassin Brotherhood while dealing with the brewing revolution is worlds more compelling to me in my older age. On the other hand, my enjoyment playing Assassin’s Creed III finally clicked after allowing myself to accept what it’s trying to be. What I’ve found is a world that rewards you when you engage with everything it has to offer. While not all of its activities are substantial or meaningful, the rewards you receive feed into the flow of playing the game in a way that’s continuously satisfying.
Assassin’s Creed III remains a bit of a mess in parts, but I’m happy to report that my enjoyment of its accomplishments is finally outweighing the disdain I once had. There’s really something special about being able to reconcile poor feelings about an old game; I feel like a great weight has been lifted. Anyway, please excuse me while I spend the next seven hours collecting treasure chests, sending out convoys, sinking naval warships, and talking to George Washington. | Twitter: @MGespin
Star Wars fans love to rank the various movies, and it seems like no two fans rank them in the same order. That’s probably because, for all the enduring love we have for the series, it’s not exactly consistent in terms of quality. Every trilogy has its weak link movie. As a whole, the prequels were a major step down from the originals. Even within individual movies, you have films like Return of the Jedi and Rogue One where the incredible final act makes up for a relatively weaker opening.
Compare that uneven track record to that of the various Star Wars animated series. Prequel haters and lovers may not agree on much, but both can attest The Clone Wars is one of the best things to come out of that era of the Star Wars timeline. The Clone Wars greatly fleshes out one of the most pivotal conflicts in the series and the various new and familiar characters who played a part. It’s even managed to spin gold out of seemingly ludicrous plot twists like Anakin having a Padawan who never appears in the movies and Darth Maul surviving the events of The Phantom Menace.
Similarly, Star Wars Rebels has struck a real chord with fans. It tells a much more intimate story than The Clone Wars, exploring the struggles of one small band of Rebel freedom fighters in a time before Luke, Han and Leia have rallied the galaxy’s heroes. To many, characters like Kanan Jarrus, Hera Syndulla, and Sabine Wren have become every bit as beloved as the movie icons. Rebels has also added rich new material to the saga, introducing elements like the Sith Inquisitorius and even bringing Grand Admiral Thrawn into the official canon.
Star Wars: Resistance hasn’t necessarily been as well-received as its predecessors, but that’s more a case of the series veering in a very different direction. Resistance is more directly aimed at younger audiences, leaving Rebels fans still hungering for a true successor.
Star Wars Live-Action TV: This Is the Way
For a long time, the idea of a live-action Star Wars series seemed wholly impractical. Even George Lucas himself toyed with the idea. Prior to the Disney purchase, Lucas was developing a spinoff series for ABC called Star Wars: Underworld, which was set in between Episodes III and IV and would have explored Coruscant’s criminal underworld in the era of the Empire. Lucas reportedly commissioned 50 scripts – including some from Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore – before ultimately shelving the project. At the time, a live-action Star Wars series (especially one set on one of the most populous and technologically advanced worlds in the galaxy) was considered too expensive to be feasible.
But that’s not really the case anymore. The Mandalorian proves that it’s now possible to craft a live-action series that looks and feels like the movies that inspired it. CGI technology has progressed to the point where showrunner Jon Favreau and his team can conjure entire worlds out of nothing and create a convincing portrait of a galaxy caught between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic.
Disney has been facing the same struggle so many big studios are right now. There’s a fine line to walk when it comes to selecting directors who have a unique vision but are also willing and able to work under the constraints of a major blockbuster project and a protective studio. That requires a certain temperament and experience not all directors possess. As we’ve seen over the years, a great many of Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy’s director picks haven’t panned out as hoped. Marvel Studios has mostly figured out how to find that balance, but it remains a major hurdle for the Star Wars franchise.
Lucasfilm’s TV projects haven’t been entirely immune to these problems. Recently, Kenobi was reportedly being put on indefinite hold due to script concerns, though McGregor assured us production is still set to begin in early 2021. In general, though, we haven’t seen the sort of major creative shakeups and course-corrections that have plagued the movie side. The animated shows have been steered by Dave Filoni, a storyteller with a clear love for and understanding of Star Wars and a very close relationship with George Lucas himself. Meanwhile, The Mandalorian is overseen by Jon Favreau, a man with plenty of experience working inside a shared cinematic universe.
The Mandalorian also benefits from a talented lineup of directors with franchise experience, including Thor: Ragnarok’s Taika Waititi, Mr. Robot’s Deborah Chow, and Filoni himself. These are all storytellers with a distinct vision who work well inside the studio system. Is it any wonder Lucasfilm has reportedly approached Waititi to direct a Star Wars movie, or that Chow is set to direct the Obi-Wan Kenobi series?
Star Wars Movies vs. TV Shows: The Storytelling Potential
By now we’ve established Star Wars has had a much more consistent track record on television than it has on the big screen over the past couple of decades. But that’s not the only reason Lucasfilm would be wise to pivot to TV. Small screen projects like The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian open up new storytelling possibilities and avenues that aren’t really possible on the big screen.
Star Wars movies tend to follow a fairly predictable pattern. That’s both a blessing and a curse. The movies deal in mythological archetypes and chronicle the hero’s journey of aspiring Jedi Knights like Luke and Rey. The movies “rhyme” with each other as new plot points echo older movies and the whole Skywalker Saga forms a giant, interconnected tapestry. At the same time, that rhyming can also devolve into needless repetition, with both The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker taking flak for their similarities to the original trilogy movies. How many planet-destroying super-weapons does one franchise need?
There’s also the fact that the movies can only cover so much ground. Each of the Star Wars sequels unfolds over the course of a day or two, meaning we only see a handful of battles in the much longer war between the Resistance and First Order. More than 30 years of history in between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens has been left largely unexplored. Or look at Solo, which exhausts itself in the effort to compress every salient detail about Han’s past (how he met Chewbacca and defected from the Empire, his friendship with Lando, winning the Millennium Falcon, the circumstances surrounding the Kessel Run, etc.) into one feature film. Is there any doubt Solo would have worked better as a full season of television rather than a movie?
There’s always going to be a certain degree of familiarity to the Star Wars movies. They’re epic, sweeping stories of space fantasy and mythic heroism that have to remain broad enough to appeal to the widest possible audience. It’s in the TV realm where storytellers have more room to surprise fans and flesh out these Jedi Knights, bounty hunters, and droids. Baby Yoda would no doubt play well anywhere, but would fans have taken as strongly to the enigmatic Din Djarin if The Mandalorian were condensed into a film rather than allowed to unfold over the course of eight episodes? The prequel movies showed us the very beginning and end of the Clone Wars, but it’s only thanks to the animated series that we truly understand how destructive that conflict truly was and the significance of Episode III’s proclamation “there are heroes on both sides.”
As Lucasfilm slowly develops new Star Wars movies, no doubt we’ll come to meet new heroes who live both before and after the time of the Skywalker family. But in the wake of the underwhelming Solo and The Rise of Skywalker, the prospect of new movies isn’t half as exciting as what lies in store on the small screen.
The Mandalorian saga has only just begun. There’s the prospect of a new animated series building on the loose ends from Star Wars Rebels. There’s the hope that we’ll eventually see the sequel trilogy’s answer to The Clone Wars – a show that fleshes out those missing years where Luke built his Jedi Academy, Leia spearheaded a new government, and Ben Solo fell from grace. Maybe we’ll even one day see Rey return in a new series that explores what happens to the galaxy after the First Order is defeated.
It’s not that Lucasfilm needs to stop making Star Wars movies altogether. But given the course of the franchise in recent years, the time has come for a shift in focus. Television is now where Star Wars feels truly at home.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
