We’ll dedicate more time to this topic after the jump, but in just a few sentences I want to share a quick thought I had while watching Netflix’s House of Cards last weekend. It’s not just that I think the show is great. When you involve talents like Kevin Spacey and David Fincher, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where quality work is in short supply. It’s that this level of material was birthed by and is only consumed via the Internet. I’ve been in debates where the question was whether or not the web would foster an age of amateurs. A future in which the training and dedication required to further perfect one’s craft would fall by the wayside leaving audiences with less than stellar work produced by those made lazy by the eased production and distribution technologies afforded by the Internet. While the fact that I’m writing to a considerable audience today via this site is evidence to that very argument, the overall quality of HOC is a strong rebuttal against those concerned about the quality of entertainment work in a digital age.

All thinking out loud aside, this week’s Top 5 features an editorial response to Disney’s announcement that Star Wars spinoff films are in the works, Side Effects interviews with Steven Soderbergh and more, a word about Hulk’s movie future, Matt’s editorial on Netflix and the affect time shifting has on viewing habits, and the latest news out of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 camp. As you’re probably expecting, a brief recap and link to each waits after the jump.

We knew that Disney was developing Star Wars movies outside of the sequel trilogy, and a couple days ago, it was rumored that one of those spinoffs would focus on Yoda.  Today, we’ve received the news that we’ll be getting a spinoff focusing on a young Han Solo, and a new adventure featuring Boba Fett.  Even though George Lucas has removed himself from the new movies, it seems like Disney and LucasFilm are continuing one of the key mistakes of the prequel trilogy.  They’re taking the gigantic, rich world of Star Wars and making it smaller by clinging on to old characters as if audiences would stay away unless there were familiar faces.  Holding on to Yoda, Han Solo, and Boba Fett could weaken the Star Wars legacy as the mystery and allure of the characters is washed away.

J.J. Abrams is officially on board to direct Star Wars: Episode VII, the first entry in a new trilogy.  As Abrams gets the mothership in order, you better believe Disney is working on the fringes to realize the full potential of their recently acquired franchise.  In particular, Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are reportedly developing scripts that “could form the basis for spinoffs focusing on side characters.”  One possibility that surfaced is Zack Snyder‘s version of Seven Samurai in the Star Wars universe.  Since Snyder’s reps quickly shot that down, it’s time to move on to the next rumor which involves Yoda.