Rogue One has gained a cult following within Star Wars fandom and has a wide appreciation from a large swathe of the fandom. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was a desire within Lucasfilm to capitalize on that by creating a prequel series about one of the main protagonists of the film, Cassian Andor. The titular series follows Andor as he is slowly recruited into the rebellion against the galactic empire. Along the way he becomes embroiled in plots that tie into the very center of Imperial power. In this episode we discuss Andor. We talk about the plots of the series and how we appreciated or didn’t how they all weave together. We also tackle the idea of whether an actor should always play the same role within a franchise. We also talk about the various characters, their arcs, and whether we feel that it fits with what we know about those characters or about the situation that they’re in.
Due to time constraints there is no five-minute controversy this week.
This week Stephen, Kelley, and Cammie join the cast.
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The Batman is a movie that courted controversy from the beginning. From the troubled origins of the film as a showcase of Ben Affleck a the dark knight to the casting of Robert Pattinson as the titular character, fans had many strong and vocal opinions of how the film would turn out. In this episode we talk about the finished film. We discuss the aspects of the character brought to the fore as well as the performances of the various actors. We’ll also talk about racism in the fan base ad the themes of the movie. We’ll also get into the soundtrack and what we want to see out of the sequel. 
Our epic length recording about the life and works of legendary author, J.R.R. Tolkien, comes to a close. In this episode we ask whether The Hobbit truly needed to be three films. We also discuss the musical language of the Lord of the Rings movies. Bree mentions what it’s like to live near so much Tolkien history. Anji laments missing her chance to hear Billy Boyd sing in person Stephanie discusses similarities between names in Babylon 5 and Lord of the Rings. Stick around, because we have outtakes after the episode! 
The Black Panther was a character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in the 1960’s. Portraying him as the ruler of a technologically superior African nation, Lee and Kirby showed just how visionary they could be in a time when the idea of a black superhero was controversial. Knowing the history behind the character and the potential for this movie, Marvel took it’s time introducing the character to ensure that it gave him a movie of the quality that he deserved. In this episode of The 42cast we delve into Black Panther and talk about whether it succeeded in its goal and what we thought of the storytelling, characters, and it’s place within the greater MCU.