Science-Fiction Weekly – Guardians Of The Galaxy, Aliens 5, The Dark Tower

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens in theaters on Thursday night, and the chatter from early screenings and critics alike is Marvel has another hit on its hands. This James Gunn-directed sequel currently holds a "fresh" rating of 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a few points lower than the series' debut of 91 percent. I read a few of these reviews and it seems like the common takeaway is either "great action and humor," or "too much action and humor." Sounds like this space-faring journey offers action and humor.

You can get a taste of Guardians of the Galaxy's humor in the clip below, which is pretty damn great. You can never go wrong with raccoon humor, in my opinion. Chris Pratt delivers it with style.

The next new clip gives us our first look at Ego, played by the always engaging Kurt Russell. Although this clip sets up the first meeting between Ego and Star Lord, it concludes with a huge SPOILER, so watch at your own risk.

Marvel has already given the green light to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Gunn is returning to write and direct what will likely be an end to a trilogy. Gunn broke the news in a lengthy post to Guardians fans on his Facebook page. "In the end, my love for Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Star-Lord, Yondu, Mantis, Drax, and Nebula – and some of the other forthcoming heroes – goes deeper than you guys can possibly imagine," he said. "I feel they have more adventures to go on, and things to learn about themselves and the wonderful and sometimes terrifying universe we all inhabit. And, like in both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, we will work on creating the story that goes beyond what you expect." He also revealed the story will take place AFTER Avengers: Infinity War, which debunks a popular rumor that the third movie would lead into the Avengers' clash with Thanos.

One sequel that won't be coming to life is Neil Blomkamp's Aliens 5. We knew the project was scrapped long ago, but we're now learning it never made it that far along into development. Blomkamp made some noise with concept art and his thoughts on what the film should be, but Fox didn't apparently didn't give it much thought. This revelation comes from a Ridley Scott interview with French publication Allocine. "“I don’t think it will ever see the light of day," Scott said. "There was never a script. Just an idea that evolved from a dozen or so pages. I had to participate as producer, but it didn’t go farther because Fox decided it didn’t want to do it. As far I was concerned, I had already done Prometheus and I was working on Covenant.” What comes next after Covenant remains to be seen, but Scott did hint at a third movie that slots in between Prometheus and Covenant called Awakening.

Here's a spoiler that I don't mind ruining for you. You're going to see Audi's logo a lot in Alien: Covenant, but don't roll your eyes at it just yet. The Audi lunar quattro vehicle is used during the crew's colonization efforts in the film, but it isn't just a prop with Audi's logo on it. The lunar quattro will soon be exploring the "eighth continent" of our moon. Yes, I know it's still lame to see a modern device in a sci-fi film, but it could be worse, right? You can get your first look at the quattro in a new Alien short below:

Brace yourself for the next bit of news. Wesley Snipes is back. Not as Blade, but as an astronaut turned alien killer in a new film called The Recall, which looks to be a slasher flick and alien-invasion story rolled into one. A handful of teenagers are looking for a fun weekend in an abandoned cabin, but didn't anticipate aliens showing up in the same location. Enter Snipes. He looks like he's ready for a war. Yes, this sounds like a terrible story, but it actually looks quite fun. Take a look at the first trailer, and let me know what you think of it in the comments section below:

Lastly, the official trailer for the movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower launches tomorrow, but you can get your first look at Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black and Idris Elba as the Gunslinger now. Two short teaser clips give us a hint of what is to come, and I can already say it looks and sounds awesome.

I sadly don't have any game news for you this week, but should have plenty to share in the weeks ahead, including more on The Surge, which I'm currently playing. Keep this Dark Souls-like game on your radar, folks. Lots to discuss. See you in seven days.