CUT TO: EXT. PICKET LINE—DAY
It’s been quite a couple of months for labor and for Hollywood (both independently and together). We don’t have any WGA or SAG-AFTRA members on staff here (at least not yet—if you are and you want something to do during…
Imago Droid
Are the droids of the Star Wars universe sentient? As the world’s most popular space fantasy franchise podraces toward its fiftieth birthday, the question is only getting muddier. The ineffable reality that there is something about humans which makes us…
Redemption in the Desert: Obi-Wan Kenobi season 1
Now THIS is Star Wars: Lightsabers, saving the princess, and redemption.
Retcon Artist
Sometimes it’s a plot hole. Sometimes it’s a holy plot.
The Unavoidable Allure of Alternate Universes: Right Place, Right Time
Alternate universe stories give us a chance to see what the characters in the narratives we love are really made of. Strip away the trappings of their circumstances, put them in different hardships and opportunities, and what do they become?…
The Unavoidable Allure of Alternate Universes: Women in the Room
There’s a real seduction to multiverse stories. Seeing how all the same pieces rearrange themselves into a recognizable but different whole; seeing who these characters really are by removing the trappings; watching how a tiny choice made in a tiny…
Editorial: My Part in The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill
I don’t think I’ve heard this much buzz around a podcast since Serial came out in late 2014. Remember that show? For a few tantalizing months that year, we were all wrapped up in the story of a young man…
How to Ruin a Movie in 45 Minutes
I talked in my last article about the bedrock principle behind what Reel World Theology does: figuring out the core of a story, and pointing out the resonance (or the dissonance) with God’s story. But what is the core of…
The MCU is Trying to Kill Reel World Theology
Marvel is trying to put Reel World Theology out of a job with phase four of their cinematic universe. In our little corner of the multiverse, it’s not exactly news that every story is about something; but over the past…