Like everything else it seems, the pop culture news drops are dialling up, not down before year end. As there’s a lot to get through this week, let’s jump straight into the stories and trailer reveals that stood out for us this week.

Series

If we could get a break from shocking cancellations, especially those involving Warner Bros. Discovery and HBO, that would be great. Despite creators and showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy hoping, and presumably planning, for a fifth season to wrap up their heady sci-fi series Westworld, the show has been cancelled. Westworld’s Season 4 will be its last.

As some series end, others are making their start. Quite a lot actually. Here are some of the week’s revelations:

  • Gears of War is coming to Netflix. Xbox’s other iconic sci-fi shooter is becoming a whole universe on the streamer, starting with a live action feature film, then an adult animated series, and then maybe more to follow.
  • You can’t keep a killer clown down. There’s an It prequel series in the works over at HBO Max. Set before the events of the movies It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two – both, of course, based on the horror novel by Stephen King – the upcoming series is potentially called Welcome to Derry. It now has showrunners, who will be working with the films’ director and producer, Andy and Barbara Muschietti.
  • It won’t be the first time there was an Indiana Jones project on the small screen (remember The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles?), but now Disney and Lucasfilm are considering a return to TV for the whip-wielding archaeologist, in some form or other. This to keep the franchise going as Harrison Ford finally steps down from playing the title character. Story continuation? Prequel? Something focused on another key character in the universe? It’s too early to talk specifics.

What would the holiday season be without Netflix’s The Witcher in some form or other? Debuting on Christmas Day, 25 December, The Witcher: Blood Origin, is a prequel four-part miniseries to Netflix’s main live-action The Witcher series.

Set in an elven world 1200 years before the time of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri, The Witcher: Blood Origin’s story centres on the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that led to the Conjunction of the Spheres, when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged. The cast includes Sophia Brown, Michelle Yeoh, Minnie Driver, Laurence O’Fuarain, Lenny Henry, and Mirren Mack.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, but are fatigued by all things Skywalker, you should probably be keeping an eye on all-star The Acolyte. This week the official full cast list was revealed – now including The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss – along with an on-set rehearsal image, and the official plot synopsis.

Set a few hundred years before the events of Episode I through IX, this mystery thriller takes place during the last days of the High Republic, a golden age of peace when the Jedi were at their peak of power. Except, dark-side powers and secrets are emerging. In The Acolyte, a former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.

Learn more about the upcoming Disney+ series on the official Star Wars blog.

Still speaking Star Wars, iconic Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli revealed an upcoming collaboration through this logo tease of a tweet. We’re not sure if this partnership is related to a TV series or film project, but something is evidently coming. The current rumour is that Studio Ghibli has contributed to the upcoming Season 2 of animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions, which will feature an eclectic mix of Star Wars shorts from animators around the globe.

Film

Following a teaser drop in September, we now have the official full trailer for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the sequel to the similarly star-studded Knives Out (2019), also from writer-director Rian Johnson. A whodunnit with modern sensibilities, Glass Onion sees Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) invited to a private Greek island by tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton) for a “murder mystery party.” When someone turns up dead for real, Blanc must solve the case. Suspects are played by the likes of Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista and Ethan Hawke.

With a limited cinema release around American Thanksgiving, Glass Onion comes to Netflix on 23 December.

Drama The Whale made a huge splash when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September, although it does seem to be extremely divisive over its depiction of obesity. Anyway, The Whale is coming to cinemas starting 9 December, and there’s now a first trailer for this tale of a 600 lb/270 kg middle-aged teacher (Brendan Fraser) who tries to reconnect with his seventeen-year-old daughter (Sadie Sink) even as he continues his plan to binge eat himself to death. The film is directed by Darren Aronofsky, and adapted by Samuel D. Hunter from his own play.

Fingers crossed this earns Fraser the Oscar he deserves after some very tough years for the likeable actor.

Pushing a bit further into arthouse cinema release territory, there’s historical biopic Chevalier. What’s the drawcard here?

Chevalier tells the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, who rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer. This included an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and her court in the run up to the French Revolution. Also with Samara Weaving and Minnie Driver in the cast.

Chevalier releases on 7 April 2023.

Capping off the movie section this week, here’s your first, very early image of JK Simmons as Santa Claus in Prime Video’s Red One, a Christmas action adventure coming out for the holidays 2023. The film is directed by the Jumanji reboots’ Jake Kasdan, and the cast is headed up by Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans.

Gaming

You know how we feel about casual but clever puzzle games on this site, so our standout piece of gaming news is that Storyteller finally has a release date. From game maker Daniel Benmergui and publisher Annapurna Interactive, Storyteller lets players build tales of love, betrayal and revenge through a drag and drop system that combines blank frames with iconic characters, settings and emotions.

Storyteller comes to PC and Switch on 23 March 2023. To get you even more hyped, you can play the demo now. We highly recommend this small taste of what’s to come.

Comics & Books

Two influential European comic creators passed this week.

English artist Kevin O’Neill made his name with seminal 2000 AD, where he co-created Nemesis the Warlock, before going on to work on Marshal Law (with writer Pat Mills), and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (with Alan Moore). O’Neill is also notorious for being blacklisted professionally in the United States for his entire art style, which the Comics Code Authority found “objectionable.” O’Neill passed aged 69. Here is the 2000 AD tribute to the man.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Carlos Pacheco died aged 60, just two months after announcing that he was suffering from neurodegenerative disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). After breaking into the American comics market in the 1990s, the penciller attaining popularity for his work on such “Big Two” titles as Avengers Forever, JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice, X-Men: Legacy, Fantastic Four, Green Lantern, and Superman/Batman. He also contributed to the likes of Final Crisis at DC, and Age of Ultron at Marvel. More here.