08/17/2026
Okay, there was A LOT coming out of D23, so I wanted to give some quick thoughts on Ahsoka Season 2, Star Wars: Starfighter, the new X-Men, VisionQuest and, of course, that second Avengers: Doomsday trailer.
🌌 AHSOKA SEASON 2
Overall, I thought the trailer looked good. I love having Thrawn back, and there are elements here where I can't help but think about the Timothy Zahn novels and Heir to the Empire.
But that's also where I already have one big frustration: Where are Luke, Han and Leia?
They should be front and center for something like this, and if they're not, there had better be a fantastic reason why.
We've seen Luke in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett in scenes that went well beyond a quick cameo. As much as I appreciate Disney wanting to protect the images of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher as these characters, Solo also proved that another actor can step into one of these roles. Whatever you thought of the movie itself, I thought Alden Ehrenreich did a great job as a young Han Solo.
Cast the right actors and let these characters continue.
And I LOVE Filoni's Rebels. Hera, Ezra, Kanan, Sabine and Zeb are fantastic characters. But when the marketing starts leaning heavily into Zahn and Heir to the Empire, there's an expectation that comes with that.
If Luke, Han and Leia aren't going to be involved, don't tease something that makes people think they might be.
I'm obviously watching. Thrawn is an incredible villain. But writing off the original three because this is supposedly some minor skirmish or regional conflict isn't going to work for me. If they're absent, give us a better reason.
🚀 STAR WARS: STARFIGHTER
This one looked really cool.
I like the idea of Ryan Gosling's character being a shipbuilder. There's almost a test-pilot quality to what we're seeing with him and his son, and I like that I still don't entirely know where the story is going.
More importantly, it feels different.
There's something unique here, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more.
❌ THE X-MEN ARE COMING
Now let's jump over to the MCU, because we're finally starting to see the core of the new X-Men take shape.
Jake Schreier is directing, with Sadie Sink returning as Jean Grey after Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Maya Boyd as Storm and Inde Navarrette as Rogue.
On the villain side, we've got Samara Weaving as Emma Frost and Adam Driver as Mister Sinister.
That's a REALLY interesting group.
But there's still one enormous question mark for me:
Magneto.
I understand the timeline problem. If this X-Men exists in the modern day, maintaining Magneto as a Holocaust survivor becomes increasingly difficult without adding another explanation for his age. I can get behind updating that part of his history if that's what the filmmakers decide to do.
But his Jewish identity is a different matter entirely.
Do not erase it.
If anything, take a swing and make this version Israeli. I don't expect them to do that, but it would certainly be a bold way of modernizing Erik while maintaining an essential piece of who he is.
More than anything, though, I hope they remain faithful to the spirit of these characters. Don't marginalize Cyclops again. Let Scott actually be the leader of the X-Men. Give the original characters their due while still finding something new to say with them.
🤖 VISIONQUEST
I generally liked this trailer quite a bit.
Vision has his memories back, but having memories and actually understanding what they mean are two very different things. This looks like it's going to be about Vision trying to understand his own life and, ultimately, rediscover his humanity.
It's a little sad that Elizabeth Olsen apparently isn't part of this because Wanda is so intertwined with Vision's story. Of course, she may be dead, faking her death, trapped somewhere or whatever else Marvel eventually decides happened to her.
But I really hope this show gives us a little more explanation about Billy and Tommy.
How exactly are Wanda's sons alive?
Was Wanda exerting her powers in a way even she didn't completely understand? Did she actually create something more permanent than she realized? There's still a lot to unpack there.
And I REALLY like the idea of this wise but potentially evil version of Ultron existing inside Vision's mind and acting as a sounding board while Vision tries to reconstruct his life.
Plus, it's just awesome having James Spader back doing what James Spader does best: messing with people's minds.
I think this one's going to be fun.
🔥 AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY — TRAILER 2
Okay.
WOW.
I had some mixed feelings about the first Doomsday trailer, although overall I liked it.
This one?
Fantastic.
It's all Doom.
Yes, I know RDJ is under that armor, but that VOICE and his presence feel like something else entirely. He's making Doom feel like the threat Doctor Doom absolutely should be.
I also love the confirmation that, as we suspected, he's from the retro-'60s 828 universe and clearly has a long, complicated history with Reed and Sue.
But what's even more interesting is their reaction to him.
They seem genuinely surprised by his heel turn.
It almost feels as though Doom may have been their ally for years and only recently broke bad because of some personal tragedy. If that's where they're going, that's a fascinating wrinkle in his relationship with the Fantastic Four.
Obviously the larger story here is about the incursions, but Doom's role seems almost Thanos-like in its logic.
He's willing to make the horrific decision to wipe out entire universes if he believes doing so will save the others.
And, in classic Doom fashion, he believes he's the hero.
He even says that one day they'll forgive him for what he's done.
That's Victor Von Doom.
He's not twirling his mustache thinking about how evil he is. He's making an unimaginable decision because he believes he's the only person strong enough to make it, and eventually everyone else will understand that he was right.
Then you add the fact that several of our core Avengers now have children of their own, and suddenly those incursions become much more personal.
The stakes feel HUGE.
After this trailer, I'm starting to think Avengers: Doomsday could be something really memorable.
Maybe, just maybe, we're looking at something capable of reaching the heights of Infinity War and Endgame.
If they stick the landing, we're in for one hell of a ride.
