Monopoly at McDonald’s, Johnson and Swift on ‘SNL,’ Skydance victorious, and every single Uglies flavor
Your weekly rundown of everything from Snackology, Popculturology and The Cold Open.
Popculturology • Friday Newsletter
‘Star Wars: Episode X’ has a director. But does it have a purpose?
The Skywalker Saga resumes with Jon Watts at the helm. PLUS: The Russo Brothers can’t stop being weird, ‘VisionQuest’ unleashes James Spader, and Danny McBride’s ‘G.I. Joe’ enlists Bradley Cooper.
17 min read
What’s up, Popculturology fans? Welcome to the Friday newsletter.
This edition is bursting at the seams with news. Seriously. In addition to a fantastic new VisionQuest trailer and a ton of SNL news, I had to make the difficult decision between leading with Star Wars: Episode X or the very bizarre press tour for Avengers: Endgame Encore and Avengers: Doomsday.
But first, did you buy your ticket to Whalefall yet? Tickets for the adaptation of the Daniel Kraus novel went on sale this week, but more importantly, the tie-in sperm whale popcorn bucket has been revealed!
🚨
In this edition of Popculturology: Star Wars: Episode X, the Russo Brothers and Avengers: Doomsday, Game of Thrones, VisionQuest, Seth Meyers, Fast & Furious, Musk, Bradley Cooper and G.I. Joe, Ashley Padilla and SNL, and the algorithm known as Tilly Norwood.
‼️ THE BIG STORIES
Star Wars: Episode X is (almost) a go
I have mixed feelings over the news that Disney is on the verge of returning to the Skywalker Saga, selecting Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Jon Watts to direct Episode X. The Rise of Skywalker, the ninth episode in the multigenerational series at the heart of Star Wars, was heralded as the triumphant conclusion to the Skywalker Saga.
George Lucas launched Star Wars with the original trilogy, before jumping back in time to tell the story of how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader with the prequel trilogy. After Lucas sold his company to Disney, J.J. Abrams kicked off the sequel trilogy with The Force Awakens ... and then bitterly returned to the franchise to undo the bold choices made by Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi.
While The Rise of Skywalker should have been the culmination of a saga that had stretched across four decades, it instead served as Abrams’s petty method of pushing back on The Last Jedi. Rey was now a Palpatine. Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico was almost fully erased for the crime of not being a white dude. (A similar thing would play out with The Acolyte.) The movie was a mess.
So from a creative standpoint, I can see why Disney and Lucasfilm would like to return to the Skywalker Saga. “This will begin to make things right,” said Max von Sydow in The Force Awakens.
But how will Disney reignite the Skywalker Saga?
The Rise of Skywalker was a rotten ending for the Skywalker Saga. But is Episode X the way to fix that? That answer is for Popculturology+ and The Omnicosm+ subscribers. To read this edition of Popculturology, please upgrade your membership or sign into your account.
Read next
‘Like displaying heads on pikes’: Skydance merges Paramount and Warner Bros.
David Ellison now controls more media than any man should. PLUS: Marvel announces ‘Zodiac,’ and a Disney exec defends live-action ‘Moana’ remake as ‘excellent.’
A victory for ‘Verity’ as Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ hits rock bottom
Warner Bros. expected ‘Digger’ to play like a blockbuster. It’s instead one of the worst opening weekends of the actor’s career.
It’s 2026, and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is back on top of the box office
Thanks to ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore,’ the Infinity Saga’s conclusion added $26M to its domestic total.
‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’ turns an ending into an ellipsis
‘Endgame’ is back in theaters this weekend, complete with multiple new scenes to connect the Infinity Saga conclusion to ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’