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James Whitbrook

@jwhitbrook.bsky.social
4K followers 384 following 9.2K posts

Freelance Writer and Editor │I used to run a website, now I write at observationdeck.ghost.io │Questionable taste in puns, sci-fi, and video games. 🏳️‍🌈│He/Him │Icon by @joehunter.bsky.social ❤️

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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 11m
100000%, put headphones on 🤤🤤🤤
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 2h
hell! yeah!
A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Sebulba and Ben Quadinaros—a gangly alien with a bulbous, diamond-shaped body with high cheeks and small, raised eyes—race their podracers narrowly by each other, Quadinaros barely just ahead of Sebubla, through the starting line of the Mos Espa podrace circuit, flanked by colored flags and grandstands of crowds.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 2h
Hell yeah
A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Through the rocky dunes of the Mos Espa circuit, Sebulba boosts his podracer—a floating racer with an orange body connected to two large front inverted angular engine chasses, linked by a crackling bolt of purple plasma—to camera.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 4h
you joke but when he appeared in Star Wars: Resistance he did actually style himself as Not Like Those Other Hutts, so, maybe
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 4h
it's been an incredible year for glups shitto, but honestly, an embarrassing one for the hutts all around
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 4h
brother, you are so fucked up
A cropped screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Shade looks at a holographic bust of Vranki the Blue, a Hutt with a thin collar accessory around its neck, a conical head and upturned nose, and a generally wide-eyed, dead expression.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 10h
Minus Zero day one IMAX tickets secured
A photoshopped image of Godzilla roaring with his arms wide open against a backdrop of a chart of the highest grossing films at the US box office, showing Godzilla Minus Zero at the top, having earned one godzillion dollars.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
and, unfortunately for other people, kaboom
A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Shade leans heavily to his left in his speeder turning over ice, as another skimmer explodes behind him, sending parts high into the air.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
nyoom
A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Shade drives a landspeeder down a desert dune, its engines smoking and flaming, as a skimmer disintegrates in the distance behind him.A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Shade pilots his landspeeder—a rectangular wedge of a vehicle with a yellow tainted windshield, with an exposed engine in the center of the front section flanked by two sections, the right ending with a vent, the left with a headlight—through a desert junkyard.A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. With the screen encircled with an icy frozen effect, Shade boosts his landspeeder off of a snow embankment and into the air, the sparks of crashing vehicles in the distance behind him.A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Shade drifts his speeder through the exploding debris of a skimmer piloted by a Nautolan as pieces break up and roll behind him.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
A stellar year for video game gonks, tbh
A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. On an icy world, with a large tower in the distance, a Gonk Droid turns away from the camera to marvel a glowing sunset.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Started playing Galactic Racer, which is annoyingly good. The roguelike elements are on the right side of annoying, the sensation of speed and the riskiness of crashes/being aggressive is fantastic, and, perhaps most annoyingly of all for me, they put a goddamn photo mode in it
A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. In a cloudy desert, Shade, a humanoid piloting a black landspeeder with teal livery, races beside a speeder bike, as a skimmer explodes and breaks up into pieces in the background alongside them.A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Shade drifts through a heat haze as another racer dramatically explodes into a rock wall behind him.A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. On an icy, mountainous track, Shade drifts round a corner trailing two other racers, as the engines of his landspeeder blast cones of blue afterburner.A screenshot from Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Shade races side by side with Sebulba, who pilots a speeder inspired by his old orange and black pod racer. Sebulba's engines spew jets of flame on either side, brushing up against the right of Shade's speeder.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
tired: timothy zahn writing about the chiss, a shadowy threat from a relatively unexplored region of space wired: timothy zahn writing about the dominion, a shadowy threat from a relatively unexplored region of space
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
hard to tell if this is just set *on* DS9 or set *during* DS9, but either way, hell yeah
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I mean, I would've taken more Ascendancy books, but sure, Timmy Z aboard DS9 is an equitable tradeoff
nerdist.com
STAR WARS Author Timothy Zahn to Write First STAR TREK Graphic Novel (Exclusive)
Iconic Star Wars author and Grand Admiral Thrawn creator Timothy Zahn will write his first Star Trek story for IDW in 2027.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Wrote about Marvel Rivals' downwards turn in recent months, and how a lot of the anger at the game has managed to coalesce around one figure in particular: Luna Snow.
observationdeck.ghost.io
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Luna Snow?
"Marvel Rivals" has found itself facing a series of backlashes lately—but general ire has found a figure to pile on in the form of one of its most potent strategists.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
And Alexander wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer
A photo of the Godzilla Minus Zero popcorn bucket. It is a large statue of Godzilla, with an opening near the top of his back that is bursting full of popcorn, like an aberrant growth, as further kernels are splayed around his feet and tail.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The new preschool kids show they're doing for Cbeebies
bbc.co.uk
First look at Doctor Who animated adventure coming to CBeebies
Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew will arrive on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer in late 2027/early 2028
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Tired: explaining how the billie regeneration will be addressed when doctor who comes back Wired: explaining the time the doctor was a teenaged SSGSS Goku running around with a toaster
An image from Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew. On an alien world surrounded by floating rocks, the Doctor, a young boy with spiked sky blue hair, runs waving his sonic screwdriver forward followed by a young girl, Hannah (holding a small round pink alien in her hands), and an anthropomorphised Toaster robot, as they are chased by Daleks.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I tried looking at them for Trek and its just not worth it to spend that much in favor of other bundles or play boosters, no matter how much I love Trek 💀
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Its worded weird, but at least there you're getting some losses in direct exchange for a chance to access a previously Collector-only variant, yeah!
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Collector Boosters have become so insanely expensive over the past few years, deciding to cut the number of cards in them while keeping the current price is a wild decision
magic.wizards.com
Updating Our Boosters in 2027
We're making the booster-opening experience even more exciting in 2027. Here are the changes you can expect starting with Nauctis: The Sunken Realm.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
(personally, I'd start with the fact that your supposed "fresh start" for new audiences included plans for Sutekh, the Rani, Omega, and Billie Piper)
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This era of Doctor Who was clearly doomed well before anyone learned of, or leaked anything about, the return of Sutekh, the Rani, Omega, or Billie Piper, and if RTD wants to remain wildly delusional over that, then it's a very good thing he is truly done with the show this time.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Today's newsletter is about that excerpt from Russell T. Davies' new book that caused a stir over the weekend—not his explanations for just how his second tenure on Doctor Who fell apart, but instead Davies' bizarre rant about the BBC not trying to jail people who spread leaks about the show.
observationdeck.ghost.io
No, Russell T. Davies, Spoilers Shouldn't Land Someone In Jail
The former 'Doctor Who' showrunner has decided to close the book on his time with the show with a bizarre screed on what he perceives as its real enemy: leakers.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I've not seen it either 😭
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I'll say this at least: when you're that high on your own supply it takes a lot to look at something and realise that the shit is hitting the fan, and at least he had the grace to see that with scrapping the special. Goodbye indeed!
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This is just his "as long as it generates content" shtick but its even more head-up-his-ass because genuinely no one was talking about the Billie regeneration in a positive way unless they conveniently happened to be talking to RTD
A screenshot of a paragraph from the quoted article. It reads:

"And it worked, because everyone paid attention to the show once more. I can’t begin to tell you how many people – in the streets, students here in Manchester, members of my own­ family – were talking about it. Two days after transmission, I went to Charlotte Moore’s farewell drinks in London. The great and good of television were there, and I couldn’t believe how many people asked me about Billie. Proper, seasoned television professionals who I never would have thought watch Doctor Who, all saying: 'Billie, Billie, Billie!'"
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This entire excerpt is so incredibly telling, and not in the way RTD thinks it is
theguardian.com
‘Goodbye Whoniverse. God, that was fun!’: Russell T Davies on writing the end of Doctor Who
In an extract from his new memoir, the screenwriter bids farewell to the show he helped save – and welcomes its new future, whatever that is
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Crait Luke Any sequel-era Leia A Poe that actually looks like him (Kreia would've replaced Poe but now we have Traya I feel like a regular Kreia is inevitable in the next year or so less of a "dream")
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Admittedly, I do love having a bunch of them for silly poses and whatnot, so I will probably grab a couple of these lol
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
how many definitive Stormtrooper figures can I own at this point?
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The new trailer for VisionQuest this week got me thinking about how its release might end up marking a big change in my ongoing relationship with the MCU—a fitting end through the story that had kept my spark in it alive for the past half-a-decade in WandaVision.
observationdeck.ghost.io
The End of the Quest
The impending arrival of "VisionQuest" has made me realize a few things about my relationship with the MCU.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
(Madame Web, of course, remains innocent)
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Today's newsletter is about that potential Kaine/Ben show cooking between Sony and Amazon, and how the SSU might have realized how to have its cake and eat it with projects about Spider-Man that don't necessarily have *the* Spider-Man in them
observationdeck.ghost.io
Send In the Clones
Sony's hopes for an expanded Spider-Man multiverse have reached their logical conclusion: who needs Peter Parker when you can have guys who just look like him?
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Today's newsletter is, of course, about the new trilogy of Star Wars films—and with a familiar set of hands established behind the scenes, some ideas about what the new films need to do to truly go beyond the sequels, and not just rehash old ideas.
observationdeck.ghost.io
Notes Toward an 'Episode X'
The next chapter of the Skywalker saga is beginning to take shape—but where else can it go beyond the safe pair of hands it's been entrusted to?
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
On the one hand, Skeleton Crew was cromulent enough to prove he can handle a Star War on the other, three Spider-Man films suggest otherwise to me, specifically
hollywoodreporter.com
‘Star Wars’: Jon Watts to Direct Next Movie for Lucasfilm
Simon Kinberg is writing the new trilogy that is said to be next episodes of the Skywalker Saga.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I do not create content for the New York Times if I can, but it's clear the answer to the greatest TV show of the 21st century is Turn A Gundam Which, by virtue of beginning its run in 1999, is also successfully the greatest TV show of the 20th century as well
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Wrote, in what is hopefully last blog about the show for a while, about the thing that bothered me most about SNW's finale—and a thing it just cannot stop doing with its female characters.
observationdeck.ghost.io
'Strange New Worlds' Can't Imagine More for Its Women
As the fourth season of 'Strange New Worlds' wraps up, time and time it runs back to one well in particular for its female characters.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I think overall season 4 was better than season 3, if only because the crushing lows there were *crushing*, and S4's strong points were much stronger than any of S3's But it's still like being asked to compare two different house fires while Holly Hunter stands outside a perfectly not-on-fire house
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Overall ranks: 1) Orders of Magnitude 2) Off Hour 3) Tomorrow's Enterprise 4) Valles Marineris -- insert huge quality drop here-- 5) A Case of Chiaroscuro 6) The Griffin Incident 7) Once La'An a Time 8) Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass 9) Level Five Transporter Accident 10) Human Best Friend
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
At least this season of Strange New Worlds ended on a mixed bag of an episode where the good outweighed most of the bad, I guess that's about thematically appropriate for a season with a 40% win rate
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Would be incredibly funny if the P5 collab curse hit fortnite of all things
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
They've teased some kind of persona crossover in fortnite since I started playing a few years ago, and now its been almost a year since I dropped it its finally here and... lol not even a ryuji to team the og shujin trio 😭
A screenshot of Joker, Ann, and Morgana in their Phantom Thieves uniforms, as they appear in Fortnite.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Today's newsletter is about the death, rebirth, and death of Daredevil, and with it, the end of another era of Marvel's TV ambitions
observationdeck.ghost.io
Born Again, Dead Again
Marvel Studios finally cracked out to make good TV—right as it was no longer of interest to it.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Emma wanting to lay her life down for Jeff the Land Shark and Miss Piggy is in fact perfect characterisation
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
How do you name a studio for making halo the halo studio and then lay most of them off to let someplace else make halo instead
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
There can never be a fourth season of a daredevil TV show
hollywoodreporter.com
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ to End With Season 3 (Exclusive)
Showrunner Dario Scardapane, who headed up the Marvel show's second season, is no longer working on the series.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I'd seen reality fracture had a ton of delays worldwide too, kinda feels like a combination of The Economy and also just so much stuff needing to be printed so fast Neither is great tbh!
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
That seems Worrying
magic.wizards.com
Statement on the Cancellation of the Magic: The Gathering® | Star Trek™ Beginner Box
The Magic: The Gathering | Star Trek Beginner Box has been canceled and will not be released. For more information, contact your local game store or retailer.
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James Whitbrook @jwhitbrook.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
They've not said officially yet but I assume the only other one that would be returning (even if its returning from P5/P3R instead of OG P4) would be Kirk Thornton as Igor, basically everyone else has been recast for Revival
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