The question was "what happened to that?", and the answer is "it's very actively happening". Whether they actually succeed is a whole different question that I can't answer, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Starship is a terrible idea and vehicle. The fact they keep trying to make the thing work is just because Musk is burning government funds. It has no chance of making it to the moon, let alone mars.
It sure is questionable, but so far each test got further than the last one, so while I wouldn't be making any bets on it working, I'm not going to discount it either. People said the same thing about reusable rockets and now it's no big deal. They might have a chance, as long as the president of SpaceX manages to keep Musk away from it.
Anything can make progress if it's within the realm of possibility and you throw enough resources at it.
My issue with Starship is that it's not really good for any of the things Musk has promised it for. It's a heavy lift rocket that has not yet proven capable of surviving flight. Best case it can be used to get materials up to space, but used as a lander or a long distance ship? No way. It's just not designed that way. Too heavy, too unsafe, too inefficient, too complicated.