Random Nerdery: Star Wars, Tsutomu Nihei’s Blame!, and The Silver Chair

A new Star Wars trilogy, Netflix plans a Blame! sequel, and Eleven might be going to Narnia.

Random Nerdery is a regular Opus feature covering the latest nerdiness from the worlds of film, TV, literature, comic books, video games, technology, web development, and more.


A New Star Wars Trilogy

Star Wars Logo
Still a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

Even though The Last Jedi doesn’t come out for another month, Disney announced that the film’s director, Rian Johnson, will be creating a brand new Star Wars trilogy. This new trilogy will be completely separate from the Skywalker saga, and instead, “will introduce new characters from a corner of the galaxy that Star Wars lore has never before explored.” Oh, and they’ve announced a new live action Star Wars TV series that will stream on Disney’s upcoming streaming service.

While this certainly smacks of milking and money-grubbing, there’s also a part of me that’s kind of excited about this. The galaxy’s a big place, so there are plenty of opportunities to explore and expand other facets of the Star Wars mythos. I doubt we’ll see any of the crazier aspects of Star Wars’ now-retired “expanded universe” — like the Yuuzhan Vong — but still, a Star Wars series freed from the narrative confines of galactic war that have dominated three trilogies sounds promising to me.

io9 has some interesting ideas and theories for where the new trilogy could go. Of course, I want to see them take some real risks, go for broke, and either take us into the distant future of the Star Wars universe, or into the truly unexplored corners of the galaxy (like the Unknown Regions).


Netflix Is Making Another Blame! Movie

Blame, Tsutomu Nihei
The further adventures of Killy

Earlier this year, Netflix released a full-length movie adaptation inspired by Tsutomu Nihei’s Blame! manga. Set in a far distant future populated by transhumanist technology run amok, the manga series is grim, dystopic, and pretty brilliant. The Blame! movie was a decent adaptation — read my review — though it was lacking of the weirdness that makes Nihei’s manga so fascinating.

Fortunately, the movie did well enough that a sequel has been confirmed by Polygon Pictures, the studio that produced the first movie (as well as another Nihei-based series, Knights of Sidonia). No release date has been announced, but given Netflix’s growing focus on original anime, I wouldn’t be surprised if Blame! 2 arrives sooner rather than later.


The Silver Chair Casting Turns Up to Eleven

Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown(Gage SkidmoreCC BY-SA 2.0)

I haven’t paid much attention to the Chronicles of Narnia movies, and I try not to get too absorbed by Hollywood rumor mills, but this particular rumor is just too tantalizing. Supposedly, Millie Bobby Brown — who has turned many heads due to her outstanding performance as Eleven in Stranger Things — was offered the role of Jill Pole in the upcoming adaptation of The Silver Chair.

Pole is one of the best female protagonists in C.S. Lewis’ fantasy series, and she’s introduced in The Silver Chair, where she’s sent to Narnia by the lion Aslan to track down a missing prince. Given the strength of her Stranger Things performance, Brown seems like an excellent choice for the role — but again, this is only rumor. (And if, in fact, she is cast as Jill Pole, it better not interfere with Stranger Things’ third season.)

Brown aside, the other reason that The Silver Chair has piqued my curiosity is that it’ll be directed by Joe Johnston, who also directed The Rocketeer and Captain America: The First Avenger, and worked on effects and art direction in the original Star Wars trilogy. Indeed, The Silver Chair will be Johnston’s final directorial effort.

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