You guys1! It’s almost May the 4th! I almost didn’t do a Death Star HR today and thought I’d save it for the 4th. But I had time this week, so it’s a good one. I went on a podcast, Maul: Shadow Lord is just about done, and there’s a lot of stuff happening this weekend.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

I honestly didn’t realize that ClickHole was still around. If you’re not familiar with with, ClickHole was started by The Onion, the same Onion that’s been featured here a couple times recently, as a parody of sites like Buzzfeed and Upworthy. I also hadn’t realized it’s now owned by Cards Against Humanity.

This is also a good excuse to post what I think is their most viral quiz, Which One Of My Garbage Sons Are You?

I’ve got some shit boys. My huge beautiful wife gave me children who think and speak like the toilet. I have four garbage sons: The first son is named Royce, the second son is named Preston, the third son is named Lance And Blake (two names for just one son), and the fourth son is the dreaded Laramie. Which one of my toxic sons are you? Take this quiz to find out!

You don’t want to be the dreaded Laramie. I promise you that.

Career Goals: Professional Podcast Guest

Since my dream job of playing for the Detroit Tigers died decades ago, I’ve decided that the next best thing is being a professional podcast guest. So this week, for the 3rd May the 4th in a row, I chatted with and on the aptly named The Brian Lennon Show.

TheBrianLennonShow

Episode 189: The One About The Mandalorian & Grogu with Death Star Human Resources' Jeff Kramer

Cold Open Question of the Week: Ewoks or jawas…

Listen now

4 days ago · Brian Lennon, Gary McDaniel, and Jeff K

It was a lot of fun talking about the latest Star Wars news and what’s coming up. Along with talking about cats, music, and my love of Far West Texas. Check it out and make sure you’re subscribing to Brian and Gary.

Maul Shadow Lord: Generational Truma & Laser Swords

It’s hard to believe we’re down to just two episodes of Maul: Shadow Lord. Like Rebels, which has several episodes with Maul, Shadow Lord is a way better show than it has any business being. I’ve said this a few times, but just start with this is easily the best looking Star Wars animated show we’ve seen. The use of the handprinted backgrounds really gives Janix its seedy, almost space-noir vibe. The look is (obviously) animated and it’s not trying to pass itself off as photorealistic. But at the same time, I think it’s the most like humans (or humanoid aliens) that Star Wars has ever looked. Like it’s not trying to pass as real like Lucasfilm just used AI. I don’t know, I feel like I’m not being very clear. Just know that the animation is stellar and they do a great job with the little details. Like when Maul, Marrok, and The Eleventh Brother jump through the waterfall, you see stream rising off their lightsaber blades. Just little stuff like that.

Something I’ve also thought is that it’s likely Shadow Lord is going to avoid the issue of The Acolyte. In that it was pretty clearly written with season 2 in mind. There was no reason to tease both Yoda and Darth Plagueis unless you were planning on incorporating them into it. Shadow Lord has already confirmed season 2, and as such it’s allowed the show to let the story breath. They don’t have to cram everything into one season. And they know any cliffhangers can get resolved. I firmly believe that streaming shows should either be written with the expectation they only get one season. Or the show should commit to multiple seasons right off the bat so again, the story tellers can actually tell the story. Look at me spending Disney’s money like it’s my own.

It’s a testament to just how good Dave Filoni and the rest of the creative team at Lucasfilm is to have turned Darth Maul from essential a blank slate killing machine in The Phantom Menace to a character that might only be behind Anakin Skywalker in terms of being a tragic hero. This week we really got a peak behind the curtain, so to speak. Episode 7 was your standard Star Wars animated show. There’s some action and adventure. The plot moves along as the Empire looks to tighten its grip on Janix and capture and/or kill Maul, Devon, and Eko-Dio Daki. We’re treated to a pretty cool blaster shootout between Rook Cast and her crew of Mandalorian mercenaries versus the Empire’s never-ending supply of disposable Stormtroopers. The highlight of course is Maul taking on both Marrok and the Eleventh Brother in a lightsaber duel.

It’s only after the duel and we get to episode 8 that the real emotional weight of the series bears down on you. Yes, I am actually typing this words about an animated series about space wizards with laser swords. The title of Episode 8 is “The Creeping Fear.” As friend of Death Star HR Matthew Freeman noted, that was a rumored title for Revenge of the Sith.

Ahch-To Baby

The Creeping Fear

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2 months ago · 7 likes · 1 comment · Matthew Freeman

It’s very on brand for the current iteration of Star Wars to either recycle a (maybe rejected) title or just go with an internet joke. Anyway, we do get to find out what the creeping fear is. It’s not the Empire taking over a planet then the galaxy. It’s not the Inquisitors hunting people down. It’s not even the ever present fear of the Dark Side. It’s the fear of history repeating itself and you’re powerless to stop it.

After Maul escapes from Marrok and the Eleventh Brother, he’s in bad shape. He’s gotten away from the Inquisitors but they’ve damaged his robot leg, he’s cut off from Rook Kast and the rest of his crew, and he still hasn’t convinced Devon to leave Daki and follow him. Not great. Even if you’re a very powerful Force user, not being able to run, let alone walk when you’re being hunted by two other powerful Force users is in fact bad. So the episode slows down and we get Maul having Force visions.

And here we get to the crux of Maul’s actions across The Clone Wars, Rebels, and now Shadow Lord. In each of the shows, he’s tried to convince one of the young Jedi to join him and destroy the Empire. First Ahoska Tano, then Ezra Bridger, and now Devon Izara. We the viewer are lead to believe Maul is simply trying to do a Rule of Two here. If you’re going to take on the most powerful Sith Lord in the galaxy, it would certainly help to have a buddy. Turns out Maul, at least from a certain point of view, trying to save the kids. Hear me out.

After watching the extended flashback, it all makes sense. We see a young Maul with his brother, Savage Opress2. Maul goes with Darth Sidious. We get to see that Sidious isn’t exactly a believer in gentle parenting. Rather than train Maul by putting him in timeout, Sidious resorts to Force lighting. And what does young Maul get in return for his loyalty? He gets cut in half by some jerk with a bad haircut and falls down a reactor shaft. Does his master go looking for him? Nope. Sidious just moves on and gets some geriatric disgruntled former Jedi to be his new apprentice. That's no way to say “thank you” for off’ing Qui-Gon.

Can’t expect gratitude from a Sith Lord.

Ever since he was brought back to life3, Maul has always been motivated by his burning desire to get revenge on Sidious. Only it turns out he’s not motivated by the pure hatred you’d expect from a Sith. But rather a chance to right his wrongs. Maul truly believes that killing Sidious is the right thing to do (it is) but not because he wants to seize the throne as King of the Sith or something like that. It’s to kill Sidious so he can’t hurt anyone else. Not just on a galaxy-wide scale, but to save all the little Force-sensitive Zabraks out there so they can’t be twisted to the Dark Side just for kicks.

Last two episodes this Monday. And they drop at 12:01 am in whatever time zone you’re in. I like the staggered release. Wonder if Disney will keep it up.

Also, the chase sequence when Devon, Daki, Lawson, Rylee, and Two-Boots are trying to escape was 100% an homage to F-Zero for the Super Nintendo.

Leaving the House for May the 4th

It is very close the holiest day in the Star Wars calendar. What’s the best day of the week for May the 4th to fall on? I kinda feel like Sunday might actually be the best day so you can celebrate all weekend. Monday, like it is this year, isn’t the worst. But until May the 4th gets recognized on the same level as the 4th of July and is a federal holiday, it’s probably better that it falls on a weekend. Hopefully you can find something fun to celebrate with.

Dallas area. Starting with the obvious since I live here.

• The Texas Theatre (aka the best movie theater in Dallas) is showing A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back on the 2nd and the 3rd and then showing Rogue One on Monday.

• Order 66 Toys in Plano is holding their grand opening this weekend. Morgan Eslbeth herself, or Diana Lee Inosanto as she’s known in this galaxy, will be signing autographs on the 2nd.

• Martin House Brewing in Fort Worth is holding their “May The 3rd Be With You” day on, wait for it, Sunday May 3rd. Lots of vendors with Star Wars themed merch and all sorts of fun stuff.

• The City of Carrollton is hosting a May the 4th Celebration in downtown Carrollton.

Elsewhere around the country. The city of Huntsville, Alabama’s animal services is holding a “May the 4-Pawed Be With You” adoption day where all adoption fees are waived.

If you live in Phoenix, Arizona, the Tatoonie of America; the Arizona Science will be showing the Original Trilogy over the weekend at the Dorrance DOME. Which I’m guessing is like the Las Vegas Sphere but I’m not sure.

The San Francisco International Film Festival closes on the 4th with a screening of Empire Strikes Back. Anthony Daniels will be there along with Lucasfilm veteran Howard Roffman, who served as the head of licensing for a number of years.

If you’re in Eastern Tennessee, on the 4th there’s the May The Fourth Be With You 4K in Elizabethton. There’s the 4K for everyone and the much shorter Darth Dash for kids under 10. Fun fact, Elizabethton was home to the Watauga Association. Formed in 1772, it’s considered the first independent frontier government.

Speaking of East Tennessee, if you’re in or around Chattanooga, the Collegedale Parks & Rec Department is hosting a May the 4th Be With You Star Wars celebration on the 4th. Fun fact about Collegedale, it’s the home of Little Debbie snacks. Jabba the Hutt would approve.

The movies just keep happening. If you’re near New Bedford, Mass, the Zeiterion theater is doing a back to back to back screening of the Original Trilogy. I’ve done this before, it’s going to depend on how supportive the seats at the theater are. When I saw it, by the time we were halfway through Jedi I was just like “blow up the Death Star so we can leave.”

Dayton, Ohio residents can hit up Dayton Brick Shop’s Star Wars Block Party on Saturday the 2nd. There’s a costume contest, the 501st will be there. And later that night, you can go head up to Springfield and see an Alice In Chains cover band.

For any Imperials in the Mitten State, the Great Lakes Garrison of the 501st is going to be busy this weekend with charity events and library appearances.

For a week, the Motor City transforms from Detroit to Detroitoonie with Space Dive 313. Think if you dropped the Mos Eisley Cantina on the east side of Motown. One of my cousins tipped me off to this. I have several cousins that are loyal readers and always appreciated. And then I have several more that don’t subscribe and are dead to me. This is very much a Star Wars adjacent type of thing. Come in your best costume that gives off Star Wars vibes. Space Dive 313 has been going since 2015, may have to head back to Detroit for this next year.

Also in Detroit, the best4 team in baseball is hosting a Star Wars night on the correct date. As I noted a a couple months ago, the Detroit Tigers are one of the few teams to hold Star Wars night on May the 4th. The Motor City Kitties are taking on the Boston Red Sox and if you were fast enough, you could have gotten yourself a spiffy and spacey Tigers jersey.

Five teams are holding a Star Wars night this weekend. On May 2nd, the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals have their event. And then along with the Tigers, the Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays, are also holding Star Wars night on the 4th.

Just as an aside about the greed of MLB team owners, it seems like more promotions like Star Wars day require an extra ticket to get whatever the promotion item is, instead of just having one handed to you when you walk through the gates. I love baseball but Rob “Palpatine” Manfred and the current crop of failson nepobaby owners makes it tough to enjoy. I have some beefs with the Texas Rangers as an organization, but at least for Grogu Bobblehead day at the end of May, it’s for the first 10,000 fans. No extra ticket required. Too bad the new Rangers ballpark has all the charm of the ISB offices.

Switching to footy, the Philadelphia Union are holding their Star Wars night May 2nd. There’s a costume contest, the Union mascot will be dressed as a Jedi, and all sorts of fun Star Wars related events.

And finally, if you’ve ever wanted to watch Empire Strikes Back where they filmed part of Return of the Jedi, you can head over to Yuma Historic Theater on May the 4th. You can also get a special Star Wars themed dinner from Prison Hill Brewery to nosh on while you watch the movie.

There are obviously tons of May the 4th activities out there, this is just what a quick Google News search turned. Decent chance no matter where you live, there’s something Star Wars related going on this weekend.

Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising

I feel like the fact that there is a video game simply called PowerWash Simulator and it is exactly as advertised was something I knew and had buried deep in my brain. The game was simple, you are a person with a power washer, and you wash things. I’ve never actually played the game but I watched some YouTube videos. The gameplay isn’t Call of Duty or Madden or Fortnite. But I can see how there would be a certain zen to it. As far as house work goes, power washing the back patio is high on the list of enjoyable jobs.

Friend of Death Star HR and real life friend known only as V-DUBS tipped me off to this. Now there’s good news for people who want to play a Star Wars video game, but think to themselves “I wish I didn’t have to be a Jedi or X-Wing pilot or Rebel spy and I could just be a guy who cleans Y-Wings.” There’s now PowerWash Simulator: Star Wars Edition.

How many hours of gameplay to power wash all the trash compactors on the Death Star?

This Day in Star Wars History

It’s not quite May the 4th, but May 1st is pretty close. Lots of good stuff today.

• Way back when in 1977, the first public preview screening of A New Hope, or just Star Wars as it was known then, took place in San Francisco. Willing to bet it’s one of those things where 200 people were there and 2,000 people claim they were.

• The book that kicked off the Expanded Universe, Heir to the Empire was published in 1991. Written by fellow MSU Spartan Timothy Zahn, the book introduced the World to Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade. I’m not a Sequel Trilogy hater, but the Thawn Trilogy is my sequel trilogy.

• Do the words “Katana Fleet” mean anything to you? If they do, you probably remember the 2nd book of the Thrawn Trilogy: Dark Force Rising. Published on this day 1992, the book continues the adventures our favorite blue skinned Imperial and his love of art.

• I know lots of people mock Palpatine returning and the method in which Disney informed us of it, but it’s not the first time Sheev survived getting tossed down a reactor core. The trade paperback version of the Dark Empire comic books was published in 1993.

• Actor Jake Cannavale was born in 1995. Cannavale played wannabe bounty hunter Toro Calican in The Mandalorian. When you try to double cross Mando, you only get one episode.

• The biggest sin of the Jedi was they ruined the career of the best podracer in the Outer Rim. But you can relive the glory days as Star Wars: Episode I Racer was released for the Nintendo 64 on this day in 1999.

• The series finale of The Bad Batch entitled “The Cavalry Has Arrived” aired on Disney+ in 2024. It might be time for a rewatch of The Bad Batch.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

I’m not sure how many articles there are in Wookiepedia, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time the randomizer has hit me with a page I’ve already talked about. Orcon. Who looks like Mer-Man from He-Man. I was going to skip him and move on, but then I realize that Orcon has done something that not even Mara Jada has managed to pull off, and that’s get himself back into canon.

I wrote about Orcon for FTDOW on August 23, 2024.

Orcon returned in comic book form in December 2024 in Ewoks #3. Not sure what the instructions from Lucasfilm were to the comic book writers, but I’m sure “make him look more like a badass” was part of it. As he had quite the glowup.

Orcon is still the king of whatever his species is and still lives in the lakes of the forest moon of Endor. But even with his new look, he’s still kind of a jerk.

Orcon was an alien male with green skin and black eyes. He considered the terrestrial beings that crossed the Endless Lake as intruders, calling them insufferable land-walking trash and attempting to feed them to young devil snakes. Orcon spoke in a language other than Galactic Basic.

Also worth noting, the Underwater Kingdom did not believe in pants.

When fighting the Imperials, Orcon wore no clothing but carried a red-staffed trident.

I like Orcon’s style. Or lack of it.

News From the HoloNet

Gina Carano Teases Potential Star Wars Return After ‘Really Nice’ Conversation With Lucasfilm Following Disney Lawsuit

Somehow…Cara Dune has returned.

The Mandalorian and Grogu has a runtime

132 minutes. Plan your spotchka breaks accordingly.

Lucasfilm Exec Says Fortnite is the Future of Star Wars Storytelling

The old person in my does not approve. But I understand meeting your fans where they are.

“Star Wars fans double down on call to bring back canceled show after it briefly returns to Disney Plus’ top 10”

I would like season 2 of The Acolyte as well but I’m not going to hold my breath.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

Welcome back once again to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. It’s a good one this week, worth the wait. The Death Star HR Podcast returns to talk about The Hunt for Ben Solo, we’re 3/5th of the way through Maul: Shadow Lord and being a teenager is tough in every galaxy. Mara Jade is back in one form but so far not the one people are hoping for. And Mando is going to clog your arteries.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

Someone at The Onion has been on a Star Wars kick lately.

“Fans of the rich world George Lucas created can expect a consistent output of wildly varying guesses at what might appeal to them,” said Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, who noted that the studio’s upcoming slate featured a half dozen or so untitled Star Wars films that would continue the stories of characters that executives sure hoped were beloved, or at the very least well-known.

I mean, the best satire is rooted in truth…

DSHR Podcast - Talking The Hunt for Ben Solo

Not going to lie, I am pretty proud of myself for getting the DSHR Podcast rolling on at least a semi-regular basis. Also not to brag, but it’s definitely the best Star Wars podcast in the history of the internet so you should check it out and subscribe.

This week I’m talking with and Kimberly about The Hunt for Ben Solo. The proposed movie that is currently trapped in the World Between Worlds. As you can see from the YouTube thumbnail, we clearly had a lot of fun talking about the latest news on the movie, their experiences at Toronto Comic Con, and what they’d want a Ben Solo movie to look like.

If you’re interested in the movement, check out Save Ben Solo for all the info. There’s two fun events coming up. This Sunday, April 26th, there’s a screening of The Last Jedi at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana and it’s presented by the Save Ben Solo fan campaign. If you’re in Southern California, go check it out. It should be a good time.

And then over May the 4th weekend, Save Ben Solo is hosting a Sequel Trilogy online watch party. Jen is hosting The Force Awakens, Kimberly is hosting The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker is hosted by The Sacred Texts Podcast, one half of which is friend of Death Star HR Reychel of Jakku.

You obviously have to provide your own copy of the movie. Despite what AI would have you believe, copyright law is real and Disney does not mess around. I am going to at least pop in for this, it’s May the 4th weekend and there are some events going on in DFW (more on that in next week’s Death Star HR). It will be a great chance to come together and talk with other Star Wars fans.

Shadow Lord: Talking to Girls is Awkward

Something I’ve really enjoyed so far about Maul: Shadow Lord is normal the non-Maul/Jedi characters are. Sure, Maul is Maul. We’ve got awesome lightsaber skills and Sam Witwer chewing the scenery with his voice acting. Same with Marrok, Devon, and Eeko-Dio Daki. But it’s the regular people on Janix and in the galaxy that are just trying to get by. Lawson has his caf addiction.

The chief just wants to avoid any fallout. Friend of Death Star HR wrote about Drea Lawson and how ordinary people find themselves and rationalize working for evil organizations.

Ahch-To Baby

Calling Mom At Work

Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord’s latest dual release represents the center of ten-episode season and the action accelerates accordingly. The Empire has finally arrived on Janix, pouring fascism into the city like it’s Frosted Flakes being poured into a cereal bowl. Marrok the Inquistor (who dies in the future…

Read more

13 days ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · Matthew Freeman

Jedi and Sith are what they are. People that would be considered gods in any other circumstances. There’s a great scene in one of the New Jedi Order books where Luke Skywalker and Anakin Solo stage a lightsaber duel to basically distract and calm down a hostile crowd. But Lawson, he’s just a man with a crippling caf addiction trying to get through the day. I mean, look at this. He’s driving and not even using a travel mug.

He manages to survive an Imperial interrogation with an Inquisitor, only to come home and find that his son, Rylee is harboring not one, but two Jedi fugitives. I compared Lawson to Al Pacino in Heat. Which I guess makes Rylee Natalie Portman, it always comes back to Star Wars. Anyway, this is not what Lawson needs. So he and Daki send the kids out of the room so the adults can talk.

Poor Rylee. He’s got a rough homelife with a workaholic dad who might have a thing for a blue/purple-skinned crime boss but can’t be bothered to stay for a whole botekin match and a mom who’s on Coruscant working for the fascists. Not great. But maybe things are looking up. There’s a girl at your house, and she’s a Jedi! Even better, your dad and the weird old dude she’s hanging around with tell you and her to go to your room so they can talk. Only you don’t really know what to say to her.

Here I’m going to go on a classic Death Star HR digression. George Lucas takes a lot of heat for some of the wooden dialog in the movies. And one of the lines people often point to is Anakin’s “speech” to Padme in Attack of the Clones about how he hates sand. You know the one.

Yes it’s extremely awkward but as I’ve decided over the years, that’s the point. This of this from Anakin’s perspective. He’s had 10 years of building up the image of Padme in his mind. He’s also spent the last 10 years cloistered with a bunch of warrior monks who aren’t exactly encouraging when it comes to relationships. Being in a romantic relationship is not forbidden under the Jedi Code, but it’s definitely more of something you see in the books or cartoons. George’s vision of the Jedi seems to be Catholic priests with laser swords while some of the other media lets them be more like Episcopalians. Anyway, Anakin has had 10 years to think about Padme, he finally gets the chance to hang out with her, and realizes that being at the Jedi Temple might teach you a lot of things, but how to talk to girls isn’t one of them.

Back to Rylee, the kid just can’t catch a break. He gets a girl in his bedroom, only to have the moment interrupted when yet another person with a lightsaber comes barging in. Teen years are not fun.

Mara Jade Is Not the Chosen One

A month or so ago there was an announcement that a Mara Jade Funko Pop! was going to released. I thought I wrote about it for Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising but it doesn’t look like I did.

For those who don’t know, Mara Jade is probably the second most popular character from Timothy Zahn’s OG Thrawn trilogy from the early 90’s. I know, I know, the Talon Karrde and Joruus C’baoth stans are screaming at me right now, but it’s undeniable. Obviously Grand Admiral Thrawn is the most popular character and has made the jump from Expanded Universe to canon. But Mara Jade has been stuck in Expanded Universe purgatory. She had plenty of appearances in the Expanded Universe, starting out as the former Emperor’s Hand who just wanted to kill Luke Skywalker, to later on the books marrying him and having a kid. Your classic enemies to friends to lovers story. Not only was she in the books, but there was a Mara Jade action figure from the Power of the Force 2 line plus the Star Wars collectable card game and plenty of other appearances.

Despite all of this, Mara hasn’t made her way into canon yet. The reasons aren’t exactly known. Allegedly Uncle George did not like the character. There’s no real confirmation, just suggestions. Per her Wookieepedia page:

In 1988 to the question of why Luke Skywalker didn't get a love interest in the story, Star Wars creator George Lucas responded "You haven't seen the last three yet". After the introduction of the character, according to author Jonathan W. Rinzler and Lucasfilm executive Pablo Hidalgo, Lucas did not hold positive opinion of Mara Jade especially of her marriage to Luke, since it contradicted the monastic lifestyle of a Jedi Knight. The notion about Lucas disliking Jade's character was previously supported by the DVD bonus features for Robot Chicken: Star Wars. In 2008, Lucas stated the story of the Expanded Universe regarding the events after Episode VI "isn't at all what I would have done with it", specifically saying, "Luke doesn't get married."

Here’s the thing though. You will never convince me that Luke and Mara getting married in the EU happened without approval from Lucas. There are hundreds of Expanded Universe novels. Probably thousands of books if you get into the kids, young adult, and comic books. That’s not even getting into other things with plots, like video games that introduced characters that continued on into the books. Obviously Uncle George was not approving every single plot point for a novel. He didn’t have to sign on off say, the Yuuzhan Vong destroying Ithor with a bio-weapon, but he signed off on the Vong killing Chewbacca.

Now, Luke and Mara getting married isn’t on the same level as Chewie getting whacked, but it’s a pretty big deal. Lucas may not have loved the idea of a Jedi getting married. But he was well within his power to stop it and he didn’t1.

I had thought Mara getting a Funko Pop was all the Mara Jade news we’d get, sort of a fun little curiosity from a company might be staring down bankruptcy, turns out there was more Mara Jade news. Headlines popped up a couple weeks ago that Disney/Lucasfilm has been telling writers they can’t bring back everyone’s favorite Star Wars ginger.

It set all the Nerd News sites into a tizzy. Or at least sent them all a flutter. As Gizmodo notes:

“A couple of times I was like, ‘Really? Really, no Mara Jade?’ And they were like, ‘[Stern voice] Nope,’” Claudia Gray, who’s written several canon Star Wars novels, including the Leia-focused Bloodlines as well as several entries in the High Republic publishing initiative, revealed during the “Writing the Star Wars Universe” panel at MegaCon 2026 recently (via PopVerse).

“I asked them too,” Zahn added in reply, although that’s not the first time Mara’s creator has been on the record as saying he’s attempted. A few years ago at Dragoncon 2024, Zahn described his pitches to bring Mara Jade back into continuity being met with answers from Lucasfilm ranging “some place between ‘no’ and ‘heck no.’”

There are two possible and logical reasons for this.

1. Uncle George really does hate Mara Jade and included something in the contract with Disney that Mara never comes back. I have long speculated that Lucas included some clauses in the contract restricting Disney’s ability to do certain things. Such as showing the original, non-Special Edition versions of the movies. Maybe he really hated the Mara Jade character so much he told Disney a condition of the sale would be that Mara Jade would never appear in canon again. Possible. It would be a weird hill to die on. But you never know.

2. Mara Jade is coming back. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But eventually. Lucasfilm has a plan for her. Or to borrow the vernacular of our current (very stupid) timeline, there is a concept of a plan for her.

If I were to bet my hard earned Republic Credits, I’d go with option two. Mara Jade will return at some point. There’s an obvious spot for her right now, there were rumors last year when it was announced Amy Adams was going to be in Starfighter that she’d be playing Mara Jade. I didn’t believe that at all for two reasons. First off, the timeline wouldn’t match. Starfighter is going to take place in 40 ABY. Mara was born in 17 ABY, which would make her 57 in Starfighter. That’s not that much older than Amy Adams who is 51. And Hollywood regularly has people who are in their mid 20’s playing high schoolers, so a 51 year old playing a 57 year old makes sense.

But what I mean by the timeline is by 40 ABY, Luke Skywalker is dead, having died at the end of The Last Jedi. I know, I know; I say all the time that nobody really dies in Star Wars. You can watch a podcast of me talking about Ben Solo who isn’t getting another movie because Bob Iger says “isn’t he dead?” Mark Hamill has pretty much ruled out ever returning as Luke. So bringing back Mara Jade in a timeline where she’s a widow is not at all what people want to see. They want to see the Luke/Mara relationship.

Mara Jade is the type of character that’s Dave Filoni catnip though. A popular Expanded Universe character that can be brought back? It wouldn’t surprise me if Cowboy Dave already has a script in his desk. The only question is how could they bring her back? Especially since there haven’t been any hints of Mara Jade in the last 11 years of Lucasfilm. Based on the current, meager, list of known Star Wars projects there’s not an obvious place for her. Maybe you could sneak a hint of her into season 2 of Ahsoka and then give Mara a grand debut in the Filoniverse movie.

And this goes back to why the current crop of Star Wars authors can’t use Mara Jade. It’s one thing to have Mara’s whole story spelled out in the Expanded Universe and Disney being able to hand wave it away. It’s another to allow Claudia Gray and Timothy Zahn to come up with a new story for Mara Jade and not have it jive with whatever Filoni and company are planning on doing with Mara Jade. Death Star HR is staking its claim that we’ll get Mara Jade sometime soonish. Unless we don’t.

Garazeb Orrelios Is Ready For His Closeup

We are less than a month from the first Star Wars movie on the big screen since 2019! Do you have your tickets? I certainly do. The slow yet steady drip of clips/teasers/interviews from The Mandalorian and Grogu continues. First off, everyone’s favorite Lasat is back and we finally get to see him kicking ass. I know Zeb officially made his live-action debut in season 3 of The Mandalorian, but let’s be honest. It might have been live, but there wasn’t any action. It was just Zeb sitting in the New Republic cantina. Well, now we get all the action.

Oh Grogu, you’re so silly. And speaking of Grogu being silly, I can’t help but love the bit when people treat Grogu like he’s real. It’s like Michael Caine in A Muppet Christmas Carol2 where he absolutely plays it straight.

@starwarsPedro Pascal and Grogu reflect on the fun times. Experience Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu only in theaters May 22. Get tickets now at the link in our bio.

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Also putting these here since it’s tied in. Jon Favreau, director of The Mandalorian and Grogu, has been hitting the talk show/con/podcast circuit.

Fully expecting Disney to bring out the big guns closer to the release date and send Pedro out there on the late night circuit.

Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising

If you were alive for The Phantom Menace, then you remember the fast food ties. Lucasfilm struck a deal with YUM! Brands and had plenty of little toys at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. I know I still have a few tucked away in a box somewhere. If you’re in your 40’s on up, this will probably unlock some core memories.

Well, Star Wars is at it again to help raise your cholesterol. This time Burger King is teaming up with Disney for The Mandalorian and Grogu. Just look at this feast.

Fire up your Razor Crest and head to your nearest BK and you can try the BBQ Bounty Whopper, Grogu’s Blue Cookie Shake, Grogu's Garlic Chicken Fries, and the Imperial Cheddar Ranch Tots. There are also 4 different cups along with some toys that aren’t pictured but available in a kids meal. Am I going to go to Burger King and order something so I can get a cup? Yes. Will it be worth the 3 years that Burger King takes off my life? Also yes.

This Day in Star Wars History

Kind of a mixed bag for April 24th in the galaxy far, far away.

• Screenwriter Damon Lindelof was born in 1973. Lindelof is probably best known as a showrunner on Lost. In the Star Wars universe, he’s been one of the 53 writers3 who’ve worked on the Rey New Jedi Order movie.

• The final day of Star Wars Celebration III took place in Indianapolis in 2005. Celebration is noted for Uncle George making an appearance and promising A) a live action TV show that Wookieepedia says was supposed to be Underworld. It didn’t happen. And B) Star Tours II.

• The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film by J.W. Rinzler was published today in 2007. I have it somewhere in my stacks of Star Wars books. It’s a good read and has a lot of history.

• The Expand Universe novel Scourge, by Jeff Grubb was published in paperback on this day in 2012. I have a pretty close to complete collection of Expanded Universe novels, I’m actually not sure I have this one. It would have been one of the last ones published before the sale to Disney. I also always get it confused with the Revan novel because there’s a character in that one named Scourge. But not the same Scourge in this book.

• I usually don’t list comic books here simply because there’s so many, but since Galaxy’s Edge 1 was published today in 2019, we’re going for it. Written by Ethan Sacks, who’s written quite a few Star Wars comics, it was written as a tie-in for the recently opened Galaxy’s Edge/Black Spire Outpost.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

If you’re a long time reader of Death Star HR, you know my holy trinity of articles for FTDOW is A) Food, B) Music, and C) Sports. And as luck would have it, the first time I hit the randomizer, I ended up with Food market A.

Food market A was a location on the Death Star battle station. Food market A was listed on the Death Star Directory in sector 612, and was destroyed alongside the Death Star by the Rebel Alliance at the Battle of Yavin.

What’s fun here is I had assumed this was going to be something from the Expanded Universe novel Death Star, by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. Instead, it’s from the Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars crossover. Go figure.

News From the HoloNet

Why Star Wars’ 8-Part Sith Show Is Trending On Streaming

It does make sense that anyone wanting more Sithy content would watch The Acolyte.

Star Wars: Tales Of The Jedi Rumored To Return With Luke Skywalker As Its Lead Character

I get the “Tales” shows are kind of a bonus for the fans, but please use those as a chance to showcase new, or at least lesser characters.

Andor’ Wins a Peabody Award

Just give Andor all the awards.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

It’s Monday morning. You’re dreading logging on and work and seeing what fresh hell is waiting for you in your Teams notifications. Your weekend was meaningless since there wasn’t a Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter last Friday. But what’s this in your inbox? A Monday morning Death Star HR? Suddenly the week is looking up. There’s a new Mando trailer. There’s a new Spaceballs 2 teaser. And the Death Star HR Book Club is back.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

Disney pulling out all the stops from The Mandalorian and Grogu.

@starwarsYou never know who you'll run into at WrestleMania. Tap the link in our bio to get tickets to experience Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu only in theaters and IMAX May 22.

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I’m not sure what it says about the state of our culture where we have a Mando and Grogu/Wrestlemania crossover. That’s not a shot at professional wrestling at all. I don’t watch it now, but back in college all my buddies and I would watch Monday Night RAW. It’s just not something I would expect.

DSHR Podcast: The Top Star Wars Scenes

The Death Star Human Resources Department Podcast returns. This week I’m talking with who writes Our Star Wars Scenes here on Substack.

We talk about Attack of the Clones, what it took for him to watch, rank, and write this top 100 Star Wars scenes, and a whole lot more. So give us a watch and make sure you’re subscribed to Our Star Wars Scenes.

Our Favorite Star Wars Scenes

A friendly place to discuss Star Wars

By Christopher Wilbur

Shadow Lord: It’s Only After We’ve Lost Everything That We’re Free To Do Anything

Editor’s Note: I know episodes 5 and 6 of Shadow Lord are out. Those will be covered this Friday.

It never ceases to amuse me that Fight Club and Star Wars will be forever tied together. One is a movie that is a scathing critique of capitalism and consumer culture and the worst person you know completely misses the point of the movie1. The other is the franchise that helped create the modern blockbuster as we know it and set the template for merchandising. How many tons of plastic Star Wars paraphernalia are in landfills. After humanity has wiped itself out, extra-terrestrial archeologists will unearth a bunch of Star Wars figures and conclude we worshiped Chewbacca as a god.

There is a point, episode 3 of Maul: Shadow Lord gave us the first meeting between Maul and Devon Izara. Maul’s stated goal is to get an apprentice. He might not be a Sith Lord but he’s still down with the Rule of Two. And rather than killing her with a lightsaber, he decides to kill her with kindness.

Maul offers Devon what she wants, which is a chance to fight. Devon and her Master, Eeko-Dio Daki have been surviving but not thriving. Devon stealing the fruit against Eeko-Dio Daki’s advice is an act of frustration. Daki preaches the typical Jedi advice. Be patient. Trust the Force. Stay out of sight, yada yada yada. The last one is good advice. At this point we don’t know if Daki and Devon are aware of the Inquisitors. But we do know for the trailers at the very least we’re going to see Marrok and the Eleventh Brother. Possibly Barris Offee as an Inquisitor as well. Her helmet is in the opening credits.

We can all agree that eventually Devon is going to turn to the dark side, right? Even if she’s not actually Darth Talon, it will be one of those Yuuzhan Vong/Grysk type of situations, where’s she’s Darth Talon even if she gets a different name. Anyway, all the teaching from the Jedi Temple still has a hold on Devon. She’s tempted by Maul’s offer that they join forces and have a grand adventure fighting Darth Sidious. After all, he’s responsible for their current predicaments. She of course refuses and runs off after a lightsaber duel. But she’ll be back.

One really can’t blame Devon when she eventually goes dark side though. All she’s known in life is either at the Jedi Temple or hiding from the Empire. It’s no way to live. She’s lost everything, so why not give the dark side a try.

Side note, Two-Boots has gone from beloved side character to Two-Boots Licker. Calling in the Empire like that? What a narc.

It’s the Final Countdown…Errr…Trailer

By the time you read this, we’ll be just over a month away from The Mandalorian and Grogu. And that means we got the Final Trailer!

Tickets are on sale. I’ll see you at the movies. Well, I actually won’t. But you know what I mean.

Spaceballs: The Teaser Trailer

The Spaceballs sequel has been teased since, well, Spaceballs. Which was 39 years ago. Wild. It’s funny to think Spaceballs was only 4 years after Return of the Jedi and only 10 years after Star Wars debuted.

While Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money was a very, very good joke, it worked then and it still works now, but I didn’t think it would actually be the name. Mel would switch it up to keep us on our toes. I believe it was Rick Moranis who once suggested Spaceballs 3: The Search for Spaceballs 2. There’s no new footage, just the name: Spaceballs: The New One.

Honestly, I like it because The Force Awakens could have been called Star Wars: The New One. As Mel Says, “It’s just like the old one, but it’s newer.”

I’m sure I’m not the first person to say it, but it seems obvious there’s going to be Baby Yogurt a la Baby Yoda, right? Grogurt maybe?

A Bigger Party Than A Chandrilan Wedding

As we all know, or at least you should know if you’re a regular reader here, next year is the 50th anniversary of Star Wars. I don’t really like thinking about it because while I am not older than Star Wars, I’m also not that much younger. It’s kinda scary to think about, that the grim reaper is stalking me like Sand People stalking Luke Skywalker in the Dune Sea. But, I’m not going out yet. At least not before I make it to Star Wars Celebration 2027.

It’s far too easy to make a joke about Los Angeles being the wretched hive of scum and villainy and honestly, I like California. Every time I’ve visited, I’ve always had a good time. I know there’s all the ‘DON’T CALIFORNIA MY TEXAS’ nonsense down here, but that’s largely so state leaders can have a scapegoat to blame so people will ignore the fact the Texas power grid is basically held together with duct tape and prayer. I don’t think California cares about us, they’re too busy enjoying mountains and oceans and good weather.

Anyway, all that to say that Tickets for Star Wars Celebration go on sale May 6th. Nobody, as far as I know, knows who or what exactly we’re going to see at Star Wars Celebration. I think it’s safe to say Uncle George will be there in some capacity. There were people online in groups hoping he’d sign autographs but that seems unlikely2. Same with Harrison Ford who thinks we’re all a bunch of weirdos. Also seems very likely there will be an extended sneak peak at Starfighter. But given the current lack of announced projects, who knows what kind of treats there will be for us.

The entire team at Death Star HR, ie me, are planning on being there. I’ve suggested a few times to Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan she come to a con and do a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog type of routine, but so far she has declined.

Mark your calendars and I’ll see you in all in the city of (are you an) angels.

The Death Star Human Resources Department Book Club

It’s been a while since I’ve had an entry for the Death Star HR Book Club. My goal this year was actually to get more books read, not less. And here I am halfway through April and I’m behind. It’s not all bad I suppose, this is the fifth Death Star HR Book Club of the year, even if one entry was for a comic book. I’m taking a little break from Legends Expanded Universe books to read a couple canon ones. And then it will be back to the EU. I haven’t picked up an almost complete collection of EU paperbacks to not read them.

• Title: The Living Force

• Series: Standalone.

• Author: John Jackson Miller

• Date published: April 9, 2024

• Pages: 432

• Status: Canon

• Summary in less than 20 words: The Jedi Council takes a road trip but they can’t outrun generational trauma.

Something Star Wars sort of hand waves away, like a Jedi Mind Trick, is the process in which a child somewhere in the Star Wars galaxy gets to be a Jedi. We know some of the process, even if we don’t see it we’re told enough. You go to the Jedi Temple, and you train. Then eventually if you do a good enough job you’re a Padawan and you train one on one with an older Jedi. Do good there and you get to cut your little braid off and become a full-fledged Jedi Knight. Guardian of Peace and Justice in the Galaxy. And who knows, maybe your first assignment as a Jedi Knight will be kidnapping Force sensitive children.

I’m just saying, if you remove the word “Jedi” it sure looks like a religious order engaging in child trafficking with the approval of the government.

There’s no doubt there are plenty of parents on planets like Coruscant or Corellia or Kaut who would seek out the Jedi if they thought their kids had any Force powers. Because why not? Living in the Jedi Temple, especially during a time of relative peace, would be a pretty sweet deal. But what about in places off the beaten path? The Jedi couldn’t even find the Chosen One out on Tatooine before he was too old to be trained. It was only thought a very complex scheme that Anakin even made it to the Temple. Out on Brendok, Masters Sol and Indara basically threaten Mother Aniseya and the coven with the full backing of the Republic; give us your children, or else. And the Sol even leaves with Osha after the Jedi Council tells him not to. How many parents lost their kids to the Jedi Order against their will?

Not only that, what do you think it did to the children? To be ripped away from their parents by a bunch of warrior monks with laser swords and mostly bad haircuts. You tell someone that you want to go home, only for some little green weirdo to say “your home, this temple is now.” It’s probably a good thing the Sith had the Rule of Two because you have to think there’s a lot of kids with a lot of abandonment issues. It would make for pretty good recruiting grounds for the Sith.

Which brings us to Zilastra, the main villain in the book. Zil, as she was known to her friends, had a grand scheme to become a pirate queen. Her crew, the Riftwalkers, might be the new pirate crew on the block out in The Slice, but Zil’s got big plans that she’s going to unite the various pirate crews with her in charge. Good goals, especially for an orphan (more on that in a bit).

Meanwhile, the Jedi Council is in a bit of a rut. They’re bogged down in the paperwork and minutia of leading an organization of warrior monks who can move things with their mind. It’s exciting to be a Jedi Master when you’re out having adventures, battling pirates or the Sith. It’s a lot less exciting when you’re sorting documents from a decommissioned Jedi outpost on some distant planet that includes, but are not limited to, a catering bill involving a Hutt. I know Yoda said a Jedi does not crave adventure and excitement, but surely there’s a happy medium between fighting the Sith and mountains of paperwork.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan have a run in with some dim-witted pirates on a passenger ship, and rather than being in awe of the Jedi, the unwashed masses express anger that the Jedi closed an outpost on their planet and it allowed the pirate gangs and criminal syndicates to take over. The nerve of the rabble!

Qui-Gon gets the bright idea that the Jedi have become a little too comfortable in their literal ivory tower and pitches the Council on a Jedi road trip. He proposes that since the Jedi are going to close an outpost on Kwenn, a planet in The Slice, they all go to Kween, get in touch with the real people, and maybe not close the outpost after all. Of course, the Council doesn’t really want to do this. I think there’s a reason that when we first meet the Jedi Council in The Phantom Menace, Mace Windu looks extremely annoyed at Qui-Gon. Mace has dealt with years of Qui-Gon’s nonsense, bad enough they had to do this Jedi retreat, but then he thinks some desert rat is the Chosen One?

And finally, at least one member of the Jedi Council gets to have an adventure. Master Depa Billaba is working undercover in The Slice, trying to take down some pirates. This kinda seems like overkill to have a member of the Jedi Council doing this. Surely there’s some local law enforcement that should be handling this, or at most this should be a the job for a Jedi Knight. While undercover she befriends Kylah, an orphan who wants to be a pirate and is hooked up with Zilastra (file this under obvious foreshadowing).

Everything comes to a head on Kween. The Jedi Council have to get out and get their hands messy, literally and figuratively, and remember that there’s more to being a Jedi than paperwork and moving things with your mind. The Force runs through all living things in the galaxy so it’s a good idea to get out and actually talk and interact with people. They also have to work together with the citizens of Kween to A) restore their faith in the Jedi and B) fight off the pirates.

So, I promised to address this. Why was Zilastra so mad at the Jedi? I mentioned she was an orphan. While she was being raised in orphanage with her two friends, Jedi Master Syfo-Dyas, the Clone army creator, paid a visit to the orphanage and decided that while her friends would be good candidates for Jedi training, Zilastra herself was not and she was too be left behind to fend for herself. To be fair to the Jedi, Syfo-Dyas wasn’t supposed to do this. But he seems to care about Jedi regulations about as much as Qui-Gon did. So yeah, Zilastra was abandoned and left in an orphanage and then the Jedi took her only friends. You really can’t blame her for having a grudge against the Order.

I’ve read some of other Star Wars books by John Jackson Miller, the Expanded Universe novel Kenobi is a good one, and never picked up on any overtly political leanings from him. Likewise Miller’s social media is generally just updates on convention appearances and regular updates about what he’s up to. I also can’t help but wonder if this is supposed to be some sort of meta-commentary on America and maybe the world these days. The gap between the haves and the have nots is increasing. We’re in what’s called a K-shaped economy. It’s not a perfect one to one extrapolation to the galaxy far, far away, but the Jedi are certainly part of the elite of the galaxy. Even if they’re not rich (has Star Wars ever said if the Jedi get a salary?) they are high-status just by having telekinesis and being able to carry a laser sword. Anakin gets to meet with the Chancellor in his private opera box in Revenge of the Sith. The Jedi are in regular communication with high ranking Republic officials. And even getting off of Corsucant, the Jedi are routinely called on to handle disputes between various important people throughout the galaxy. Is this Jackson trying to say (or state the obvious) that the elites in society are out of touch? Or am I just reading too much into it.

The Good:

• This is a genuinely good Star Wars book. Miller gives all the members of the Jedi Council time to shine and their own personality. It would have been really easy to ignore the “lesser” members and just focus on say Yoda, Mace Windu, and Ki-Adi-Mundi. But instead Yaddle, Yarael Ploof, and Even Piell all get things to do.

• Likewise, Jackson manages to keep the story moving even with all the characters that need some time. I’ve thought with other Star Wars books that try to have too many characters can get confusing. Not this one.

• Zalistra is a good villain. It would have been easy to make her one dimensional, but she’s not. I know there is some consternation among some people I see on Substack that we can’t just have villains that are evil for the sake of being evil. And I’d argue Star Wars has those. The Sith are generally just bad dudes and dudettes. But there’s also room for the sympathetic villains like Zalistra.

The Bad:

• Not much and I’m kinda reaching to think of something. While I complimented Miller that he gave all the members of the Jedi Council their own story and time to shine, the middle of the book also felt like we were just sending the Council members on side quests so each one could get their pages.

• And even then, all the Jedi Council Members doing side quests had a point because each of them got to reconnect to people in their own way. But it still felt bogged down at times.

Wild Card:

• Mr. Miller, this is libel against my profession and you will be hearing from my lawyer (me) shortly.

Next up is the canon novel Master of Evil by Adam Christopher. I’m pretty excited, it’s a Vader novel and had really good reviews.

Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars

It’s Friday night. Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan and I are talking about what we’re going to do and if there’s anything we want to watch.

Me: It’s OK, I already picked out what we’re going to watch.

Her: Is it Darth Stupidhead?

Me: Uh, no.

Her: Is it the Tigers?

Me: Yup.

Me: Darth Stupidhead, really?

Her: Not my best work, but I didn’t have anything locked and loaded.

Maybe I won’t take her to Celebration to do her Triumph routine of Darth Stupidhead is the best she’s coming up with.

This Day in Star Wars History

Two births and a death to cover on April 20th in the Star Wars universe.

• A man who needs no introduction, George Takei was born in 1937. Takei of course is best known for playing Sulu in Star Trek. But he voiced Lok Durk in the The Clone Wars along with voicing two different characters in Visions. He was also the first Star Trek regular to have a part in Star Wars.

• Someone else who doesn’t need any introduction, Andy Serkis was born in 1964. Serkis established I guess what is a niche for himself doing motion capture work. He’s best known as the one ring-loving Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies. Who hasn’t uttered “my precious” in a creepy voice at some point? In the galaxy far, far away he played Snoke in the Sequel Trilogy along with Kino Loy in the first season of Andor. An unforgettable character in a show filled with unforgettable characters.

• Scottish actor Alex McCrindle passed away in 1990. McCrindle played General Dodanna in A New Hope, and is believe it or not, the first person on film to say “may the Force be with you.” He also had a pretty lengthy career in the UK, both in movies and television.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

As you all know, KOTOR and KOTOR II are some of my favorite video games. And when the randomizer turned up a random item from KOTOR II, you know that’s what I was going with. This week is the Strength D-package.

The Strength D-package augmented the user's strength and stamina without the need for increased muscle mass through a combination of regulating brain stem functions and small doses of adrenal stimulants. The technology of D-package implants had the consequence of rendering them larger and more intrusive than other types. Thus, they tended to have more impressive effects, but could only be used by very healthy individuals.

Basically proteinmaxxing but in the Old Republic.

News From the HoloNet

Super rare Boba Fett action figure fetches $1.3 million at auction

If I win the lottery, there will be signs.

Lego’s May the 4th Star Wars drop is here, and half the sets are under $50

OK, the Naboo N-1 ship is really cool. It’s not $250 worth of cool though.

New ‘Star Wars’ Series on Disney Plus Shatters Streaming Records

The people demanded more Maul.

Disney Refuses To Bring Back The One Character Who Could Save Star Wars

I am going to write about the whole Mara Jade thing on Friday. But saying she’s the character who could save Star Wars is classic clickbait. So don’t click. He’s talking about Mara Jade.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

Happy Friday and welcome once again to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. Maul mania is officially upon us, with the first two episodes of Shadow Lord being released on Monday to universal rave reviews. There’s been a not very good update in The Hunt For Ben Solo. And one of the best Star Wars video game characters is finally getting their own action figure.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

I’ve had this guy pop up in my Instagram algorithm a few times, probably because I live in Texas.

If you’ve never watched a hatter do his or her thing, it’s pretty cool. I actually have a nice hat, I just never have an excuse to wear it. Because even though I live in Texas, I’m in Dallas. Which is different from “Texas”. Trust me, they are two different things.

Darth Maul: Shadow Lord is a Dudes Rock Movie

Something I hadn’t really thought about until I sat down to watch the first two episodes of Darth Maul: Shadow Lord on Monday night. This is the first new Star Wars series we’ve had, animated or live action, since season 2 of Andor. Yes, I know there was Visions Volume 3 and Tales of the Underworld, but those were either a series of one-off stories or a very short series. Any show following Andor is going to have a lot of live up to. Even if Shadow Lord is animated, it’s not like Star Wars doesn’t have a pretty great track record of animated shows. The story telling in some of The Clone Wars and in Rebels is top notch, challenging any live action show for its depth and emotion. It’s also unfair that most Star Wars media for the foreseeable future is going to get compared, fairly or unfairly, to Andor.

Andor is a slow burn, that’s deliberate. It makes the action sequences that much more impactful. Shadow Lord is giving the people want they want, pedal to the metal Star Wars action! The opening scene is straight out of Heat or maybe The Dark Knight. And we get all the beats those two movies have to offer. The criminal masterminds who are way too smart and always give steps ahead of the cops. The honest cop with the train wreck of a homelife, Lawson is basically Al Pacino in Heat or Commissioner Gordon in the Christopher Nolan Batman movies. His side-kick who I am positive isn’t going to make it, RIP in advance, Two-Boots. Since it’s Star Wars there’s the ever present threat of the Empire. This is not a show that’s going to deal in many shades of gray.

Or at least there aren’t going to be shades of gray for the A Plot. The B Plot, Maul taking Devon Izara as his apprentice who OF COURSE is going to become Darth Talon or another Sith apprentice who is Darth Talon but with a different name. As yet another Jedi who survived Order 661 along with Eeko-Dio Daki, voiced by Dennis Hasbert. Is this the first time 24 and the Star Wars galaxy has collided? It seems pretty obvious she’s going to struggle between staying with Eeko-Dio Daki and her Jedi training, and thinking that Maul offers her the best opportunity to get her revenge on the Empire that upended and ruined her life.

When Devon is busted for swiping a few pieces of fruit from a street vendor, Eeko-Dio Daki advises her just explain her situation to the police and hope they’ll be understanding. Maybe that would have worked during the Republic, when a Jedi might have been given a little slack by the local authorities. But we’re in a new world now. Even if the Empire is not on Janix (yet) it’s still a place where keeping your head down and your mouth shut is the way to go. And that’s an important life lesson for anyone watching the show. If you are being investigated by the police, do not talk to them. Zip your lips and lawyer up.

The Good:

• Quite simply, Shadow Lord is the best looking Star Wars animated series we’ve seen yet. The detail on the characters is great, and the entire city/planet of Janix looks amazing. I think it’s a combination of matte paintings for the backgrounds and CGI for the characters? Not sure but whatever they are doing is fantastic.

• This is going to be fun. I hate that I keep coming back to Andor, it’s really not fair considering they are two completely different shows. But Andor is the grim warning about fascism that we in America did not take seriously. Shadow Lord is going to be kick-ass battles and Darth Maul going HAM with his lightsaber.

• The evolution of Maul. Darth Maul has always suffered from Boba Fett Disease, he’s been considered way more important than you’d think given his minimal screen time. Even when he was first introduced for The Phantom Menace as basically just Sidious’ enforcer, albeit a really cool looking one. Over the years we’ve been able to explore his character. Will this be the Darth Maul magnum opus?

The Bad:

• Short episodes? I guess? I don’t know. I have no complaints.

• OK, if I have to think of something. Did this show need to exist? I am 99% certain I am going to enjoy the hell out of this show, but there are a lot of other Star Wars stories out there I’d like to see.

Wild Cards:

• The scene where Lawson goes to the club or the lounge to meet Rheena Sul, we all see that’s just a ripoff of Aria and the Afterlife club from Mass Effect 2, right?

• Speaking of Rheena Sul, the character is voiced by Pamela Aldon, better known for voicing Bobby Hill on King of the Hill. It all goes back to Texas. Always does.

• Chicken parm exists in the Star Wars universe. Also, that sounds like a good idea for lunch today.

  

Two new episodes this coming Monday. Can’t wait to see what’s in store next.

We Are No Longer(???) Hunting For Ben Solo

Funny that this article popped up on Thursday when I have a podcast session scheduled for tomorrow to talk about The Hunt for Ben Solo. As a quick refresher, last fall it was learned that there was a script written for a Ben Solo movie. Adam Driver was on board along with Steven Soderbergh. The script was shown to Lucasfilm head honchos Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Carrie Beck who were all reportedly big fans of it. However, Emperor Igertine AKA Disney CEO Bob Iger along with Alan Bergman, Chairman of Disney Entertainment, put the stop on the movie because Ben Solo was already dead.

There has been a significant fan movement that has popped up to try to save the movie. Last November I chatted with Reychel of Jakku who went viral for standing outside Disney headquarters in California while dressed as Rey.

Once Dave Filoni was named President of Lucasfilm and Bob Iger was replaced as CEO, there was a new hope surrounding the film. Filoni was already on board with The Hunt For Ben Solo and maybe he’d be able to convince incoming CEO Josh D’Amaro to green light it. After all, there was at least already a script written, the star was on board, and there was a director. The Rey New Jedi Order movie is on its third for fourth writer, has Daisy Ridley and a vague idea and that’s about it. And Rey is allegedly the face of the franchise. But let’s be honest, it’s really Grogu.

So when The Playlist asked Soderbergh if he though there was a chance to revisit The Hunt For Ben Solo with the Disney regime change, he didn’t mince words:

However, in a wider The Playlist interview about his upcoming film “The Christophers,” Steven Soderbergh made clear he is not interested in reopening the door on his abandoned “Star Wars: The Hunt For Ben Solo” project with Adam Driver, no matter who is now running Lucasfilm or Disney.

His answer was brutally short: “Nope.”

Now, there is probably a little context or explanation needed. The full interview hasn’t been released yet so there’s no context as to the question or the answer. If Dave Filoni and Adam Driver called up Soderbergh, would he change his mind? The interview is pretty clear that Driver was the one driving the idea, that Adam came to Soderbergh with the idea that there was more to the Ben Solo story left to tell. Hopefully the full interview will give a few more clues. I’m not giving up hope, but it’s also not looking good.

Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising

The usual goal for Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising is to highlight either A) weird and obscure Star Wars items that catch my fancy or B) something that’s in my personal collection, and hopefully it’s weird and obscure. Today is neither, but it’s still really cool.

I’ve mentioned plenty of times about my love for the Knights of the Old Republic video games. KOTOR II suffers some gameplay issues because it was done way too quickly so the game could be released for the holiday rush, but it has a great story. And one of the more interesting characters we’ve seen in Star Wars, Darth Traya. Traya isn’t just your average Darth, she wants to kill the Force altogether. It really is a great story. And now, we’re finally getting Darth Traya in plastic.

So on the one hand, this is awesome because it’s an awesome figure plus she comes with a re-sculpted Darth Nihilus. I have the original Black Series Nihilus sitting my bookcase, in between Darth Revan and Dedra Meero. Real murderers row of evil, quite literally. I love it. On the other hand, it’s $60 bucks and I’m not sure I love it that much. And it’s an Amazon exclusive. I’m going to have to think about this one.

Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars

This one’s from a few week’s ago but just haven’t had a chance to write it up. So I was texting back and forth with the Crazy Old Hermit From Tarrant County about John Boyega making an appearance at this year’s Rebel Scum Con. At the same time, Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan was on the phone with a friend, so she’s trying to ask me questions and explain to her friend what’s going on.

On Boyega:

EP#1F: He’s in the new movies, right? He’s the pilot? No…he’s the one who used to be a Stormtrooper!

Me: Good job!

EP#1F: I hate that I know that.

On Denise Gough’s appearance at RSC.

Blondie from Andor is going to be there. And if I cared about Andor, I know she’d be my favorite character.

Dedra Meero deserves more respect but I’m glad she’s been paying attention.

On Manny Jacinto:

Did you watch The Good Place? OK, he was on that. It was the Star Wars show with the twins, the witches, and the guy with the creepy helmet. I guess Jeff wants his autograph.”

All this just goes to show that despite her claims otherwise, she actually does pay attention. I offered to bring to to Rebel Scum Con this year. So far, no luck.

This Day in Star Wars History

I really thought I had already covered April 10th previously because of the first person listed below. But I went through the archives and it’s not popping up. So who knows.

• Legendary actor Max von Sydow was born in 1929. Von Sydow had a career spanning nine decades, from 1949 to a posthumous appearance in 2021. His only appearance in Star Wars was the old guy at the start of The Force Awakens. He was probably best known for playing Father Merrin in The Exorcist, but appeared in everything from Conan the Barbarian to Dune to Three Days of the Condor.

• Actor Peter MacNicol was born in 1951 in Dallas, Texas. Like Max von Sydow, MacNicol appeared in Ghostbusters II. In the Star Wars universe, he voiced the Rodian Tseebo in two episodes of Rebels.

• An actress who needs no introduction, Daisy Ridley aka Rey Palpatine Skywalker was born in 1992. Since I am in my mid-40’s, I generally divide the world into two time frames, before and after grunge music. Ridley was born after grunge came out, which officially makes me old.

• English actress Margaret Towner passed away in 2017. Towner played Jira, the woman who tells Anakin he needs to run home because the storm’s a brewin’ in The Phantom Menace.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

Music in the Star Wars universe is one of the top three things I look for every week in FTDOW. Star Wars food and articles that shouldn’t exist are my other two favorites. This week we’ve got the Arconan flute.

An Arconan flute was a special type of flute played by the Arconans.

Yup. That’s it. There you go. The Wookieepedia equivalent of “this meeting could have been an email.”

News From the HoloNet

‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ Sets A Star Wars Rotten Tomatoes Record

I have a tough time believing Shadow Lord will keep a 100% score, but so far so good.

Disney Eats: Star Wars Popcorn Buckets, Sippers, and More New Novelties Deploying Soon Across Disneyland

If you’ve ever wanted to eat popcorn out of the disembodied head of a protocol droid, now’s your change. Thanks to friend of Death Star HR for tipping me off on this one.

Quantic Dream’s Star Wars Eclipse Is Reportedly Still ‘Years Off’

Eclipse will get released right after the KOTOR remake does. Scheduled release date, the 10th of Never.

Disney plans layoffs of as many as 1,000 employees

I hope the woman playing Rey who laughed at my joke isn’t one of them.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

Welcome back to the Friday afternoon edition of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. It’s a pretty quick one this week, just as last week’s prophecy had foretold. Darth Maul: Shadow Lord kicks off in just a few days. The Mandalorian and Grogu kicks off in just over six weeks. Surely we’re going to get something in a month for May the 4th. Oh, and the Death Star Human Resources Department Podcast returns. It’s not a bad time to be a Star Wars fan.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

As an area man who is a long time reader and enjoyer of The Onion, it warmed my heart to see this.

From the “story:”

“By naming the film The Mandalorian And Grogu, Disney is leaving money on the table from consumers who have no idea who Grogu is but would immediately take out their phones and buy a ticket for any movie of any genre with ‘Baby Yoda’ in its title,” said report author Heather Flynn, who cited a poll in which 81% of potential moviegoers responded “Who the hell are they? Is this a Lord Of The Rings thing?” when presented with marketing materials for the upcoming film.

The Onion actually raises an interesting question. It feels like among Star Wars, people generally use his given name of “Grogu.” But has that caught on among the general public, or in their minds, is he still “Baby Yoda?” I don’t know.

Talkin’ About Taborr

The dynamic duo of Feats N’ Faults and Death Star HR return with yet another episode of the Death Star Human Resources Department Podcast. The people demanded it, so once again and I are talking about Young Jedi Adventures. But this time, we’re discussing the villains. Spoiler alert, one of the villains actually has the best character arc in the show.

Watch the podcast and then be sure to subscribe to Feats N’ Faults.

Feats N' Faults

Feats N' Faults, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures Villains

Welcome back to Feats N’ Faults, where our Tiered Point System ranks and records our favorite characters based on their achievements and deeds. Please check the About Page for a more in-depth look at how points are awarded. Our Tier System is below for quick reference…

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a month ago · 4 likes · Shane Elliott

All the Maul You Can Handle

We are very, very close to the premiere of Darth Maul: Shadow Lord, dropping on April 6th. Disney has been pulling out all the stops. Behind the scenes interviews, little teasers in the way of a single scene, and a big announcement. For your consideration:

And finally…the big news. Season 1 of Shadow Lord hasn’t even aired yet, and Disney has already confirmed we’re getting season 2. And this isn’t some internet rumor, this comes straight from Cowboy Dave.

Ahead of the series premiere, creator and executive producer Dave Filoni has announced the continuation of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord with confirmation of Season 2 in the works from Lucasfilm Animation. Season 1 debuts on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere on Monday.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord presents fans with a pulpy adventure that finds Maul plotting to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire. There, he crosses paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who may just be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit for revenge.

Right now Temuera Morrison, Ewan McGregor, and everyone involved in The Acolyte are sending extremely angry and bewildered text to Dave Filoni wondering how their shows can’t get a second season.

Grogu Might Get an Executive Producer Credit

Something I’ve always enjoyed about The Mandalorian is in all the behind the scenes stuff that’s been released, people treat Grogu like he’s an actor instead of a puppet. I know a lot of this is just for the cameras, but it still is a lot of fun. Now that Grogu has been an A-Lister for over five years now, it makes sense that he’s old enough to participate in some of the promotional material for his movie.

Disney is pulling out all the stops for The Mandalorian and Grogu, having the little green guy join Sigourney Weaver, Jon Favreau, and Pedro Pascal for a roundtable chat. It also seems like Disney is getting Pascal in front of the cameras for the movie as well, especially after it was confirmed that at least for season 3, he was primarily just doing Mando’s voice while Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder did the vast, vast majority of being in costume and doing stunts.

Seems like at the way things are going, if there’s a season 4 of The Mandalorian, we’ll see a “Directed By: Din Grogu” in the credits.

This Day in Star Wars History

Quite a few birthdays on April 3rd in the Star Wars universe.

• Concept artist Colin Cantwell was born in 1932. His whole Wookieepedia entry is worth the read. I think most Star Wars fans know what an impact Ralph McQuarrie had on the look of Star Wars, and Cantwell should probably be mentioned right along side him. And I say this with absolutely zero shade towards McQuarrie. Cantwell is credited with the design and name for the X-Wing and the Y-Wing, among a bunch of other ships. Also, I didn’t know this but it really feels like something Uncle George would try”

The X-Wing, like other Rebel spacecraft, originally had wheels on its landing gear. This was because George Lucas had envisioned hiring the Spanish Air Force, redressing their F-104 fighter jets as Rebel fighters, and filming them taxiing and taking off a runway. This idea was scrapped because it was deemed too expensive, and Cantwell replaced the wheels with landing pads.

• Comedy writer Pat Proft was born in 1947. His only entry in the Star Wars universe is being a writer on the Holiday Special. Sure, he was a writer for movies such as Police Academy, The Naked Gun, and Scary Movie 3, 4, and 5. But The Star Wars Holiday Special might actually be the funniest one of all, even if most of the humor is unintentional.

• Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn was born in 1969. We first saw Mendelsohn in Star Wars as Orson Krennic, who was basically a project manager who was set up to fail. The scene with Krennic and Mon Mothma at the art exhibition with Kleya and Lonni is one of the best ones in Andor.

• Author Paul S. Kemp was born in 1972. Kemp wrote three Expanded Universe novels, Crosscurrent, The Old Republic: Deceived, and Riptide; along with one canon novel, Lords of the Sith. Lords of the Sith is fun as it’s basically Vader and Palpatine on a road trip.

• The famous cantina scene (or at least the outside of it) for A New Hope was filmed today (and yesterday) in 1976. Lucas and company turned Ajim, a port city in Tunisia, into Mos Eisley. I can only imagine what the locals thought when the movie came to town.

• New Jedi Order novel Edge of Victory I: Conquest, by Greg Keyes was published in 2001. This was the book that starts Tahiri Veila’s journey. It also has what I referred to as “Boy Band Anakin” on the cover.

  

• Voice Actor Erik Bauersfeld passed away in 2016. He voiced both Admiral Akbar and Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi and returned to voice Akbar again in The Force Awakens. He also voiced the good admiral in Star Wars: X-Wing and Star Wars: Battlefront: Elite Squadron. Just getting those Akbar dollars!

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

Whenever I see this warning on a Wookieepedia entry, you can almost always guarantee it’s an entry that shouldn’t actually exist.

And I’ll argue that the entry for Lux Bonteri’s wife is probably not needed. But I do think it’s accurate.

The wife of Lux Bonteri was an Imperial female. At some point she had a daughter, before she eventually married Lux Bonteri.

I don’t think anything there is conjecture. But when are we going to get the 8 episode streaming series about Mrs. Bonteri?

News From the HoloNet

Hasbro Unveils Playful Star Wars Black Series Figures for May the 4th

Hasbro goes with the meta jokes for May the 4th.

Jon Favreau to Sit for CinemaCon Chat Ahead of ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Launch

There’s a lifetime Death Star HR subscription for any media member who asks where the Darth Jar Jar series is.

2026’s Most Divisive Star Wars Character Could Address A Horrible Trope

Petition to refer to ripped Rotta the Hutt as “Stinky Bonds.”

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

Welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. It’s a fun one today. I say that every week, but they’re all fun ones. The Death Star HR Podcast returns. We’re oh so close to Darth Maul: Shadow Lord. We’re not close, but we’re not exactly far away from The Mandalorian and Grogu. But we are far away from Finn returning, even if all the headlines suggest otherwise.

Just a heads up for next week. There may or may not be a Death Star HR. My goal is always to do one every week, but I have some family obligations so we’ll see. Most likely if there is one next week it will be a short one.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

If you’re a baseball fan, yesterday was a high holy day. Better known as Opening Day. Yes, the capitalization is intentional. My beloved Detroit Tigers opened the season out in San Diego with a resounding 8 - 2 win over the Padres. Clearly this means the Motor City Kitties are going 162 - 0 and winning the World Series. I should probably just go ahead and book an October flight to Detroit for the championship parade. I’m not aware of anyone on my Tigers who’s a well known Star Wars fan. Last thing I could find was a 2019 article for Star Wars Day at Comerica Park talking to Blaine Hardy (that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time) about his love of Star Wars.

It’s not the Tigers, but Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Cody Ponce is a huge Star Wars fan.

Also, 29 of the 30 Major League Baseball teams are doing a Star Wars night. For whatever reason, the only team not doing a Star Wars night is our neighbor to the north, the Toronto Blue Jays. I can’t believe Cody Ponce wasn’t able to get the club to do one.

I checked a few promotions to see what each team is doing. My Tigers are one of the four teams doing their Star Wars night on May the 4th. As of right now they don’t have the promotion listed on their website. My (current) hometown Texas Rangers are doing their Star Wars Day on May 31st and are giving away a Grogu bobblehead. That might be worth firing up the old landspeeder and heading over to Arlington. As much as I love Grogu, I truly dislike the Rangers ballpark. So we’ll see.

Just down I-45, the Houston Astros are doing a Carlos Correa Mandalorian & Grogu Bobblehead. But it will cost you an extra $49.50 in addition to your ticket. That sounds like a fun bobblehead but certainly not worth driving to Houston for. If I have some time, I’m going to a review of all the MLB Star Wars night promo items I can find.

Yakkin’ About Andor

The Death Star Human Resources Department Podcast is back once again. This time, friend of Death Star HR and I talk about the heroes and villains of Andor. If you’re not familiar with Feats ‘N Faults, you should be. Shane has his ranking system where all your favorite characters get points, or negative points depending on if they, well, commit a feat or a fault.

Also as an added bonus, we’re doing a giveaway! That’s right. Make sure you’re subscribed to both Death Star HR and Feats ‘N Faults, and leave a comment. One lucky person will win a Star Wars Black Series ISB Tactical Agent! The real star of Andor if you ask me.

So make sure you like and subscribe to the Death Star HR Pod and make sure you check out the F’NF rankings for Andor.

Feats N' Faults

Feats N' Faults, Star Wars: Andor

Welcome back to Feats N’ Faults, where our Tiered Point System ranks and records our favorite characters based on their achievements and deeds. Please check the About Page for a more in-depth look at how points are awarded. Our Tier System is below for quick reference…

Read more

a month ago · 2 likes · Shane Elliott

The First Step Into a Larger World

Normally I’d save something like this for a This Day In Star Wars History, but it’s such a monumental occasional it seems like it warrants its own entry. On March 22, 1976, Star Wars began filming. History was made on Tatooine, or as it’s known in our galaxy, the Sahara Desert of Tunisia.

The first scene shot was Luke (then named) Starkiller and Uncle Owen buying the droids from the Jawas. As we close in on the 50th anniversary of Star Wars being released next year, it’s funny how the first scene filmed features C-3PO and R2-D2, the only characters to appear in Episodes I - IX. The whole article is worth the read, especially for the behind the scenes photos. I think, and hope, we’ll get a lot more articles like this throughout the year.

The (Unlikely) Return of FN-2187

Over the last week or so, the Star Wars internet has been abuzz with the possible return of John Boyega to the Star Wars universe.

The TL;DR version of it is Boyega was appearing on a panel at MEGACON in Orlando, FL when he was asked a question about if he’d return to the Star Wars universe. Per Screen Rant:

While speaking during a panel that was moderated by ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley, Boyega, who is best known for portraying Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (The Rise of Skywalker, The Force Awakens, and The Last Jedi), was asked about the possibility of reprising his role in future projects. One enthusiastic fan reportedly shouted, “Get Dave [Filoni] on the phone.” And the actor’s response immediately grabbed the audience’s attention.

The star stated, “I actually have, actually,” implying that discussions with the President and Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm, Filoni, may have already taken place. The brief but significant comment likely has Star Wars fans in a frenzy as they eagerly await the potential return of Finn in future projects.

Sounds exciting!

And a little surprising given that Boyega has been pretty vocal about what feels are issues with how his character was handled in the Sequel Trilogy and what he felt were negative experiences as a Black actor in the Star Wars universe. Similar experiences that were echoed by Kelly Marie Tran in her experience playing Rose Tico.

Boyega has been very open about his experience with Star Wars, citing both positive and negative things surrounding his time with the franchise. While he has expressed gratitude for the opportunities Star Wars provided, he has also openly discussed frustrations with how his character was handled across the sequel trilogy. In past interviews, the actor noted that Finn’s arc did not evolve as much as it should have and how he got shoved to the side in The Force Awakens.

I think that might be a bit of a typo on the part of Screen Rant, as Finn had a good arc in The Force Awakens but really it was The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker that really felt like they couldn’t decide what to do with Finn.

"[W]hat I would say to Disney is do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side," Boyega told GQ back in 2020. "It's not good. I'll say it straight up."

Subsequent years have seen Boyega distance himself from Star Wars further, most notably in a 2022 interview with SiriusXM where he said that "at this point I'm cool off it, I'm good off it." He continued: "Versatility is my path and Finn is at a good confirmation point where you can just enjoy him in other things: the games, the animation. I feel like [Episodes] 7 to 9 was good for me."

Even if those interview are several years old at this point, that doesn’t exactly sound like a man who’s really looking to get back to the galaxy far, far away.

And it turns out, maybe those comments about talking to Dave Filoni needed a little extra context. Turns out, he was just joking.

Our own Tyler Bradshaw was in attendance at the John Boyega panel during the convention. The topic of Star Wars was raised repeatedly throughout the panel, he said, with the actor saying multiple times how he hasn’t been in contact with anyone at Lucasfilm since the leadership changed in January. Someone even asked about the Daisy Ridley-led New Jedi Order-era movie, to which he replied, “Is that still happening? I hope we hear something soon.”

Tyler was also next to someone who said into the mic “Get Dave [Filoni] on the phone”, to which Boyega replied, “I actually already have,” and immediately laughed it off. ScreenRant reported on that last quip (and even Variety picked it up), but the context throughout the panel seems to have been a much different one than what the single quote paints. Boyega, after all, likes to have fun with these things, and it sounds like he was being quite jokey — a change of pace for him, given his comments over the past few years.

Funny enough, as I’m typing this on Tuesday evening, Rebel Scum Con just announced that Boyega will be there signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans. Doesn’t sound like someone who’s that upset with Star Wars. Unless he just needs the money.

It would not surprise me that if/when the Rey New Jedi Order movie happens, we get an appearance from Finn. Will we ever actually get the Rey New Jedi Order movie? Who can say. But if we do, I’ll put down a couple Republic credits that we get some kind of appearance from Finn.

March Mando Madness

When you read this, half of the Sweet Sixteen have finished. It’s been a fairly meh NCAA tournament this year. The usual suspects of NIL, the transfer portal, and conference realignment have conspired to ruin what used to be one of the most fun three weeks of sports. But, that is a conversation for another day. Today’s conversation is a TV spot for The Mandalorian and Grogu that’s been airing during the games.

It’s a little bit of new footage. The clip of Pedro saying “monsters” is new. There’s a new clip of Mando and Grogu in the AT-AT. Like the rest of the trailers and what seems to be the Disney strategy, it’s mostly old footage with just enough new shots they can justify calling this a new trailer. But I want to focus on here is the creature that appears at the 9 second mark. Is that a Loth-wolf???

I’ve thought for a while now we might see Loth-wolves in some form in Ahsoka season 2. We’ve already had Loth-cats. Wasn’t thinking we’d get them in The Mandalorian and Grogu but I’m here for it.

One Minute of Maul

We are less than two weeks away from the first two episodes of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter. And Disney just keeps throwing little teasers to us to keep everyone excited. This week, IGN got a little one minute exclusive clip.

How can you not be excited? I said this last week. The Duel of the Fates theme hits and then you see Maul ignite his lightsaber? Come on!

April 6th can’t get here fast enough.

This Day in Star Wars History

Pretty good number of births on March 27th in the Star Wars universe.

• English actor Julian Glover was born in 1935. Glover played General Veers in Empire Strikes Back. Veers was the smart Imperial at the Battle of Hoth. As opposed to Admiral Ozzel, who was the dumb one. Glover also appeared in For Your Eyes Only, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and 31 episodes of Game of Thrones.

• Another English actor, Michael York, was born in 1942. York appeared in two episodes of The Clone Wars, voicing insane scientist Dr. Nuvo Vindi. York is also the stepfather of Rick McCallum, producer for the Prequels. I think people my age would probably best know York as Basil Exposition in the Austin Powers movies.

• Special effects guy Grant McCune was born in 1943. McCune got his start being one of the co-designers of the shark in Jaws, although he was uncredited for it. This lead to work at ILM where he was the chief modelmaker on A New Hope and appeared in an uncredited role as a Death Star gunner.

• Author Kevin J. Anderson was born in 1962. Anderson wrote four Expanded Universe novels, the Jedi Academy Trilogy along with Darksaber. The Jedi Academy Trilogy introduced Kyp Durron and Admiral Daala and I’m pretty sure it was the next Expanded Universe trilogy after the Thrawn books. Anderson also wrote the stories for quite a few comic books and wrote the Young Jedi Knights books with his wife, Rebecca Moesta.

• Peter Diamond passed away in 2004. Diamond was the stunt coordinator for the Original Trilogy. Diamond also played various characters as needed, including the Tusken Raider that attacks Luke, a Death Star gunner, a Snowtrooper, and switching sides as a Rebel Commando.

• In 2009, C-3PO himself, Anthony Daniels visited Star Wars: The Exhibition in Madrid, Spain. The exhibition was a traveling show across Europe featuring costumes, props, concept art, and the like.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

Pop quiz. Is the Void of Aogros a minor Norwegian Black Metal band that had one decent song but broke-up after the drummer set himself on fire trying to burn down a church, or is it and object in Wild Space? The former would be more interesting, but it’s actually the latter.

The Void of Aogros was an astronomical object located in Wild Space. It was located in grid square H-18 on the Standard Galactic Grid.

The Void of Aogros actually originated in the Expanded Universe as a section of Wild Space that was empty, as the name would suggest, but for five stars that may or may not have been created by Celestials. If you don’t know the name the Celestials, you at least know them from Rebels as The Father, The Daughter, and The Son. You should get to know them because there’s about a 99% chance they’re back in some form for Ahsoka season 2.

News From the HoloNet

C-3PO Head From ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back’ Nets Whopping $1M at Propstore Auction

Sure a 3PO head would be cool. But you could have had a Shorty Klown head from Killer Klowns From Outer Space for a mere $82K.

Everything you need to know about Star Wars Zero Company

I don’t know if it’s actually EVERYTHING you need to know. But there’s quite a bit of info.

AHSOKA Season 2 Rumor Casts Doubt on Abeloth’s Star Wars Debut

If you don’t know what any of this means, congratulations you are probably a relatively normal person.

‘And That Day Tatooine Was Killed.’ The Big Names Behind Why Disney World’s Original Star Wars Plans Were Changed

I understand why Disney is changing Galaxy’s Edge into a more generic Star Wars land. But I really do think you’re going to lose some of the experience of feeling like you’re on an Outer Rim planet outpost.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

Is there a better way to start your weekend than the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter? I mean, probably. But let’s pretend this is in fact the perfect way to kick off your Friday evening. So welcome back to Death Star HR. This week we’ve got Grogu on the red carpet. Or at least on a red booster seat. And speaking of red, there’s a certain Sith Lord with a red face and a double-bladed red lightsaber who’s getting his very own show in a couple weeks!

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

This is the 100% absolute truth.

Only problem for Vader is Palpatine is pretty clearly a “let’s just hop on a call, cameras on” type of guy.

Din Grogu is Now an A-Lister

The Oscars were last Sunday. Given that most of my media consumption either involves lightsabers or just rewatching The Simpsons/Always Sunny/Bob’s Burgers ad nauseam, I realized I hadn’t seen any of the movies nominated for Best Picture. Culture has passed me be. But at the ceremony there were several Star Wars people in attendance that night, including Sigourney Weaver and Pedro Pascal - co-stars in the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu - who were there as presenters for the award for Best Production Design.

Oh, and there was America’s little green sweetheart, Grogu.

I do wonder how exactly Kate Hudson, a person with absolutely zero (as far as I know) connections to Star Wars, got involved in the bit. Conan O’Brien, sure. That makes sense. He’s a well known Star Wars fan. And Conan trying to get Grogu to clap and the puppeteer going along with it was fun. Definitely looking forward to seeing Grogu at next year’s Oscars accepting this Best Actor award.

Darth Maul Excitement Increases

I didn’t realize just how badly I do in fact want to see this Darth Maul show. When it was first announced, I was of course excited because I get excited for every new Star Wars show or movie or anything Disney licenses the name to. I’m an easy mark and the Walt Disney Corporation knows it. And while I was pretty sure it would be a fun series, I wasn’t convinced it was a series we needed. How many more Darth Maul stories do we need to tell? Obi-Wan Kenobi cut him in half at the end of The Phantom Menace. He miraculously returned in The Clone Wars with a new set of spider legs. Maul popped back up in Rebels, only to be killed (again) by Obi-Wan. And finally there was his cameo at the end of Solo. Which came as to surprise to everyone (myself included) who hadn’t seen The Clone Wars or Rebels at that point. So yeah, that’s a lot of screen time for a character who was supposedly killed off in what should have been his first and only appearance.

And yet…and yet after watching the latest trailer, I really can’t help but get excited for Darth Maul: Shadow Lord. Which drops its first two episodes in just over two weeks. I mean, just watch!

Are you not entertained?!

Does this trailer not contain everything you could want in a Star Wars trailer. Lightsabers! Jedi! Sith! Inquisitors! Shadowy underworld type of cities. You’ve got slicing an AT-ST in half with a lightsaber, come on! Get hyped!

Did your heart rate not increase when you heard “Duel of the Fates” at the end?!

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, please go back and watch the trailer on repeat until you can say yes. I mean, just look at that!

The plot of course is still fairly bare bones. Darth Maul is mad at the Empire. Jedi are on the run. Is the enemy of my enemy going to be my friend? Will Devon the Twi’lek Jedi turn out to Darth Talon? We’ve already seen the Eleventh Brother and Marrok, will there be cameos from anyone else? I guess we’ll find out.

We also got the release schedule and the episodes titles. All of which are very Sithy sounding.

Friend of Death Star HR noted that the title for Chapter 8, “The Creeping Fear” is a bit of inside baseball.

Ahch-To Baby

The Creeping Fear

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a month ago · 6 likes · 1 comment · Matthew Freeman

This title is a pushing-up-your-glasses-on-your-nose Gen X early internet joke. It was the incorrect title scooped by to (now zombie) Aint It Cool News of Revenge of the Sith. (Can anyone confirm that it was also the fake-leaked original title of Episode I somewhere? I seem to remember it was, but that was a long time ago.) Someone on the writing staff is having a good guffaw.

First off, I hadn’t thought about Ain’t It Cool News in years. I’m pretty sure it’s founder, Harry Knowles got #METOO’d in 2017 for some (allegedly) pretty disgusting behavior. I do have a very vague recollection of a rumor that “The Creeping Fear” was going to be the Episode III title. I have no idea if whoever gave Knowles the info thought it was legit or they were just trolling. I’m sure there’s someone out in Death Star HR land who knows if it was ever a serious contender. The post is dated roughly 14 months before Revenge of the Sith came out, plenty of time for Lucas to decide on and then change his mind about a title. After all, Episode VI was called "Revenge of the Jedi” for a while.

We’re not that far off from April 6th. Get pumped!

This Day in Star Wars History

March 20th is a big birthday for voice actors in the Star Wars universe.

• Canadian voice actor Andrew Kishino was born in 1970. Kishino voiced Saw Gerrera in The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch but not Rebels. Forest Whitaker, who plays the live-action Saw, voiced him for Rebels. Kishino is also married to Vanessa Marshall, who provides the voice for Hera Syndulla.

• Another voice actor, Jonathan Lipow, was born in 1972. Lipow has done quite a lot in Star Wars, although he doesn’t really have a stand-out role. He’s provided a variety of voice work in: Resistance, The Bad Batch, Visions, and Young Jedi Adventures. Maybe you can say RJ-83 from Young Jedi Adventures would be his signature role? I guess.

• The cartoons continue, voice actress Myrna Velasco was born in 1988. Velasco appeared in three episodes of Resistance, voicing pilot Torra Doza.

• Hostage Crisis, the season finale for season 1 of The Clone Wars first aired today in 2009. Cad Bane takes the Imperial Senate hostage, only Anakin is in the building! There’s danger, intrigue, and Ziro the Hutt.

• On this day in 2019, the merger between Walt Disney Corporation and 20th Century Fox was completed. Between this merge and the blending of Disney+ and Hulu is why Disney+ will suggest that you want to watch Toy Story, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Alien, and Bluey. An unholy combination.

• Actor/stuntman Paul Grant passed away in 2023. Grant played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi. He also appeared in Labyrinth, Willow, and and the first Harry Potter movie.

• Author Michael Reaves also passed away in 2023. Reaves was an old school Star Wars guy, having one episode of Droids and two episodes of Ewoks. He later on got into writing books for the Expanded Universe including Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter (different than Darth Maul: Shadow Lord), the MedStar duology and the Coruscant Nights trilogy.

• Casting director Dianne Crittenden passed away in 2024. She was the casting director for A New Hope way back when. I almost skipped including her since there really isn’t much to her Wookieepedia page. But when I checked her IMDB page, she had a pretty extensive career. She worked as casting director on, including but not limited to, Witness, Howard the Duck, Pretty Woman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and last on the list here but certainly not least, Hackers.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

One thing Star Wars is pretty bad as is giving you a sense of time. How long did Luke train on Dagobah, and at the same time, how long did it take the Falcon to get to Cloud City without its hyperdrive? Was Ahsoka stuck in the mouth of a purrgil for days, weeks, months? I just don’t know.

All that to say, it (probably) takes a while to fly from one end of the galaxy to the other even if you’re traveling via hyperspace. Just imagine how long it would take if you’re using the dimensional drive.

This type of propulsion system worked by rippling space-time such that faster than light travel could be achieved. Interstellar ships that made use of a dimensional drive were rather slow when compared to those that would later use hyperdrives. Due to this fact, crews were placed in suspended animationthrough the process of carbonite freezing to accommodate for trips that could last decades or even centuries. This technology was used by sleeper ships from Coruscant to colonize planets like Kuat, Alderaan, and those in the Tion Cluster.

I think my favorite part here though is one of the sources is something called "Fly Casual.”

News From the HoloNet

Disney Plus Perks Offers a Chance to Attend ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Premiere

If I win, I will take a Death Star HR reader. Because for the sake of my marriage, I can’t let Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan get anywhere near Pedro Pascal.

Epic and Disney now let Fortnite creators make Star Wars games

This will either be the best or worst idea ever.

Star Wars Got The Design For The X-Wing While Its Creator Was At A British Pub

Whom among us haven’t come up with their best ideas over a pint?

Tom Cruise Interrupted ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ Filming with Surprise Helicopter Landing

Such a classic Tom move.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. It’s a quick one this week. The last few weeks have just gotten away from me. But, I wanted to send something out so this week we’ve got an extended “This is Where the Fun Begins” and an extended “News of the HoloNet.” I’ll be back next week with a fully armed and operational Death Star HR.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

Lot’s of memes this week. First one and the most topical, from V1-DE0-F1O. Uncle George has been vindicated.

I once speculated that somehow came of age during Vietnam and lived through Watergate, Lucas really wanted to write a political thriller but knew the fanbase would revolt if there weren’t lightsabers.

This Is Where The Fun Begins, Pt 2

From an old friend, the proprietor of Ord Mantell’s only Irish pub.

Honestly I prefer the theory that Care Bear are Ewoks who dropped acid.

This Is Where The Fun Begins, Pt 3

From old friend Darth Vo. Probably need to come up with a better nickname for him.

Are the Younglings still doing 6-7 or have they stopped now that all us old folks are aware of it?

News From the HoloNet - Expanded Edition

‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ First 60-Second Spot Drops With Glimpses Of New Footage, Noah Kloor Listed As Co-Writer

So far the newish trailer hasn’t been on any official channels. It’s basically a cut down version of the trailer we saw a few weeks ago with a couple new, blink and you’ll miss them, shots. Noah Kloor (whose last name sounds like a Star Wars planet) previously worked on The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett.

‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’: New Spoilery Image and Quotes From Cast and Crew, Including Sigourney Weaver

More new Mando and Grogu news. The big article in Empire has come out, and while it’s not officially online yet, the contents are already online. Also, Grogu is in trouble!

Star Wars Legend Harrison Ford Says ‘Of Course’ He’s Made Love While Listening to His Own Film Soundtracks

Sharing strictly for the headline.

The Next ‘Star Wars’ Book Sets the Stage for the ‘Andor’ Revolution

“Mask of Fear” was a top tier Star Wars book. Can’t wait to see what “Edge of the Abyss,” the next book in the Reign of the Empire Trilogy has in store. Pretty good chance it will hit a lot closer to home than we’d all like.

Prince of Wales hands Warwick Davis his OBE

Through the transitive property, does this mean that Wicket the Ewok is now Sir Wicket?

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic PS5 Remake Gets Official Update

“We’re working on it” is technically an update. I guess. Better than an official cancellation I suppose. Looking forward to it’s eventual release on the PS12.

Remembering the 30-year-old computer game that introduced me to Star Wars

Shadows of the Empire is a fun game. But what I really want to highlight is this paragraph from the author talking about growing up in a conservative Christian household.

“My parents were committed to controlling which movies, books, and music I could consume, but for whatever reason, there was almost no oversight on the video games I played. I couldn’t watch Star Wars, but I could play Doom.”

For those of you not familiar with Doom, you literally fight demons that have transported from Hell to Phobos, one of the moons of Mars.

Canceled Star Wars Game Is Now Playable for the First Time After 13 Years

Call of Duty but in Star Wars sounds like fun. I had thought the Battlefront games were the Star Wars version of CoD. But as I’ve said before, in my book KOTOR and KOTOR II are the pinnacle of Star Wars gaming so I have no clue what came after that.

Oga’s Cantina at Disneyland Reopens After Timeline Change Refurbishment

Galaxy’s Edge isn’t “officially” changing the timeline until the end of April, but at least Oga’s Catina is getting a head start. Does this mean drink prices will tied to what they were 40 years ago, before Mon Mothma’s runaway inflation drove up the price of Juri Juice.

The Mandalorian And Grogu Is Teasing A Fan-Favorite Villain

All the strip-mining of the Expanded Universe for content and they still can’t bring back Mara Jade?

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

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It’s a very special Sunday edition of The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. Why are you getting this Sunday? Last week was a busy one here at Death Star HR HQ. But, better late than never. This week there’s new photos from The Mandalorian and Grogu, an update on what we’re getting on IMAX, a new Star Wars book that should be very interesting, and a completely expected update about The Book of Boba Fett.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

“I have friends everywhere” has joined the Star Wars lexicon, up there with “may the Force be with you” and “this is the way.” Last week the Minnesota United soccer team revealed an Andor-themed tifo head of their home opener.

I also learned that those large banners are called tifo’s. Learn something new every day.

Din Grogu Gets His Magazine Spread

We’re only about ten weeks away from The Mandalorian and Grogu. Now that official trailer has been released, we’re likely to get the drip drip drip of news and info. Nothing like the trailer, likely nothing else that gives too much of the plot away. But just enough to make sure you don’t forget the movie is coming out and Disney tends to have the habit of releasing them after the weekly Death Star HR has dropped. No doubt this is Filoni messing with me for my continued Darth Jar Jar activism. Meesa won’t be silenced, Dave!

The latest attempt to keep Mando and Grogu at the forefront of your brain comes from their cover and story in Empire Magazine.

It doesn’t look like the full article is out yet. Right now, like the movie, we’re just getting the teaser for the article. It doesn’t give us too much new information. Nothing we didn’t already know or that could be reasonably inferred.

“It only felt like the ending of a particular chapter,” Pedro Pascal tells Empire. The same finale also saw Mando agree to take on missions solely for the New Republic at Adelphi Base. “They open up the opportunity for him to continue his best work as a bounty hunter, but just working for the good guys,” says Pascal. “Combining skill and morality. Whereas when we meet him first, it’s simply skill, and beskar, and [the Mandalorian] Creed. Through his relationship to Grogu, there is an expansion of his heart and a disarming of his armour, so to speak, that leads him to fight for what he knows is right.”

I said this a few weeks ago and it still seems reasonable to me. Mando is working for the New Republic tracking down Imperials. The Hutt Twins make a deal with the Imps that if they can get rid of Mando, the Imperials will look the other way on their criminal activities. And the twins then outsource the “dealing with Mando” job to Embo, who we first saw in the latest trailer. It doesn’t sound like Moff Gideon will return. But again, this is still Star Wars. Nobody ever dies except for Ben Solo.

One other thing worth nothing. In our age of A.I., Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni seem to want to lean into the practical effects for this movie.

It’s that sense of heart that Filoni and director Jon Favreau hope to translate to the big screen. Yes, the action will be bigger for cinemas. There will be massive practical sets, puppetry galore, stop-motion courtesy of Phil Tippett’s studio.

So this makes me happy. Because I do think the day is coming, possibly sooner rather than later, where a major studio is going to try to pass off a movie they made using a prompt. It won’t be something as big as Star Wars. It will be something small and under the radar, as a test balloon. That being said, we got a new picture of the practical effects.

I’m not going to lie, if you told me that was a new Black Series figure that Hasbro was releasing for the show, I’d believe you. I like practical effects, but having them indistinguishable from the action figures might not be great. Or it’s an endorsement of just how good of a job Hasbro is doing with the Black Series figures. Who can say.

The full article, which hits newsstands March 12th, will have interviews with Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Sigourney Weaver, and some new photos we haven’t seen.

Wedge Antilles In His Own Words

I have mentioned this a few times, but if you’re a Star Wars book reader and you haven't yet read The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire by Dr. Chris Kempshall, you really need to. Stop what you’re doing, read the book, and come back in a week after you’ve finished it.

You’ve finished? OK, welcome back. For those who haven’t read it, Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire is an “in world” book. Dr. Kempshall, writing as Resistance historian Beaumont Kin is basically a history book that covers exactly what the title says it does. The rise and fall of the Palaptine regime. It really is a top tier Star Wars book. Immensely readable, full of interesting information, and unfortunately all too applicable to the failing state that myself and my American readers live in.

Dr. Kempshall is back, and this time he’s channeling Red 2.

Kempshall announced his new book, Star Wars: Star Pilots, an in-universe oral history told by pilots who fought in crucial battles throughout the saga. Kempshall revealed that this book isn’t “written” by a historian, but is actually by Wedge Antilles, the longtime Rebel and Resistance pilot who can be seen throughout the original and sequel trilogies. He was a Red Squadron pilot during A New Hope’s Battle of Yavin, flew as Rogue Three in The Empire Strikes Back, and led Red Squadron in Return of the Jedi. He didn’t stop flying after that, having had a cameo in The Rise of Skywalker.

This is going to be good. Star Wars: Star Pilots currently has a release date of October 6, 2026. Mark your calendar.

Size Matters Not, Except on the Big Screen

We already know that The Mandalorian and Grogu is getting an IMAX release. Now we’ve learned that both the 50th Anniversary release of A New Hope and Star Wars: Starfighter are getting an IMAX release as well.

Almost all the movies are either based on existing property, sequels, or remakes. It’s possible all of them are since I have no idea what “Children of Blood and Bone” or “Panic Carefully” are. I get that you’re not going to have prestige dramas on IMAX. I don’t know, I guess it’s just the state of Hollywood these days.

I’m guessing this is an effort by Disney, and the other studios, to fight back against streaming and trying to get butts in the seats at the theater and get people off their couch. I’m not surprised that Starfighter is getting the IMAX treatment. I am a little surprised with a A New Hope, but either way I’m here for it. Time to figure out where the IMAX theaters in Dallas are.

Temuera Morrison is Still Stuck in the Sarlacc Pit

I don’t think it’s controversial to say The Book of Boba Fett was a bit of a mixed bag. Honestly, it might be worth a rewatch since I’m pretty sure I rewatched it shortly after the season wrapped up, and haven’t watched an episode since. The most common criticism is that it’s actually The Mandalorian season 2.5. A whole episode with Mando and Grogu was certainly a choice, and I think a very unexpected one for viewers. I’m sure it also caused some confusion for more casual viewers who may have tuned into season 3 of The Mandalorian and were very confused as to A) why Mando and Grogu were reunited and B) why does Mando now have a Naboo starfighter?

The confusing moments and less than stellar reviews tend to overshadow what were some pretty cool moments. I know there are people who felt the Sandpeople scenes went on too long, but in retrospect it was pretty interesting. The scene with the Pyke spice train was cool; as was seeing Cad Bane in live action, even if he was kind of wasted. Temuera Morrison was doing the best he could.

And honestly, there’s a pretty good argument that The Book of Boba Fett wasn’t exactly set up to fail, but there was a pretty narrow lane for the show that would have received a positive response. The Boba Fett show that a lot of fans wanted to see was arguably already made and it was called The Mandalorian. For years, Star Wars has sold us on the idea that Boba Fett was this almost unstoppable badass. He was the lone gunslinger, The Man With No Name but in the Star Wars universe. Someone who kicked ass, took names, and looked cool doing it. Think about the first second1 time we met Boba Fett:

Darth Vader has assembled a crew of the most dangerous scum bounty hunters in the galaxy to find the Millennium Falcon. And Vader singles out Boba Fett as being extra dangerous. Plus, Fett just looks cool. Dengar was wrapped in toilet paper, Bossk was just a big lizard. But Boba Fett, dude looks COOL. And while Boba Fett kind of went out like a punk in Return of the Jedi, there’s tons of Expanded Universe were Fett goes back to being the ultimate badass. In one of the few comic books I’ve reviewed, Boba Fett fights the Dark Lord of the Sith and fights him essentially to a draw.

Instead of Boba Fett traveling around the galaxy kicking ass and taking names, we got an over-the-hill Boba Fett cosplaying as Don Corleone, random appearances from Mando, Grogu, Ahsoka, and Luke, and an extended digression on the ways of the Sand People. That’s not exactly what people were expecting or hoping for.

All that to say, it’s not exactly surprising that Disney isn’t rushing to film The Book of Boba Fett season 2. Despite Temuera Morrison and Daniel Logan’s lobbying efforts. Last year Morrison and Logan urged fans to send a fax to Disney. I described it as “Temuera Morrison is Still Trying to Make Fetch Happen,” where Morrison said:

“No,” Morrison said frankly. “I think we really have to treasure those moments now. All of you need to send a fax, or a letter, or an email, to those powers that be at Lucasfilm. I'm sure they'd love to hear from everyone. Please give Daniel Logan and Temuera Morrison another chance and put them somewhere.”

All this to say, we got an update from Morrison and it’s about what you’d expect.

The actor reportedly caught a bit of flak from Lucasfilm after telling fans to “send a fax, or a letter or an email” lobbying for more Boba Fett in 2025. “I was only joking. I’m at a convention, and I say stupid things,” Morrison tells Inverse. “Then I’ve got [Lucasfilm] ringing me: ‘Look, you’ve been put on the shelf, Boba Fett. We might open up the jar later.’”

As I said before, I honestly feel a little bad for Morrison. Or at least as much as I can for someone who got to put on the Mandalorian armor. He clearly enjoyed his time playing both Jango and Boba Fett.

It’s bittersweet, but Morrison looks back on his time on the Boba Fett set fondly. “It was a big deal for me,” he continues. “When you do a series like Boba Fett and work with Ming-Na [Wen], I started to think, ‘Man, this is it. I’m away. Season 2, 3, 4.’ But at the end of it, we had a great time. I was honored to be brought back after all that time.”

There’s probably an element where he wants, maybe not a redo, but considering the mixed reception Morrison would probably like a chance to make another season and give the fans something they really want. Unfortunately, it’s just not in the Sabacc cards. I’ve had a thought for a while now that all streaming shows should be self-contained because a season 2 isn’t guaranteed. Disney went from movies to streaming and now they’re back to movies. Even for a giant company like Disney, there’s only so much money to go around. And while there isn’t an official cancelation notice from Disney, it sure sounds like The Book of Boba Fett is stuck in the Sarlacc pit, only this time there’s no escape.

The Death Star Human Resources Department Book Club

First Expanded Universe series of the year is done.

• Title: The Swarm War

• Series: The Dark Nest Trilogy

• Author: Troy Denning

• Date published: December 27, 2005

• Pages: 357

• Status: Legends Expanded Universe

• Summary in less than 20 words: The war against the Bugs is over and Luke realizes that letting Jedi do whatever they want might not work.

It’s no secret if you’re a long time, or short time, subscriber of Death Star HR that I’m a huge fan of The Simpsons. There is an alternate universe where instead of writing about Star Wars, I’m reviewing a classic Simpsons episode every week. I think every Simpsons fan has the little throwaway gags that make them laugh every time. This is one of mine and I promise I do have a point here.

It makes me laugh every time. The episode itself, “Bart’s Inner Child” features James Brown, Phil Hartman (R.I.P.) and Albert Brooks as self-help guru/snake oil salesman Brad Goodman. After Goodman’s lecture and encouraging everyone in Springfield to be more like Bart and do what they feel like, the whole town goes to hell, as Springfield often does, because nobody feels like doing their job.

What does this have to do with Star Wars? Well, at the end of the New Jedi Order books, Luke Skywalker thinks maybe the Jedi need to change their ways, a New Jedi Order, if you will. The previous Jedi Order was rigid, dogmatic. You either did things The Jedi Way™ or you weren’t a Jedi. It really gets back to the idea if the Force is “god”, then the Jedi are just one sect of the religion. The New Jedi Order as dreamed up by Luke gets relaxes the dogma and allows a Jedi to follow the Force as they see fit.

Unfortunately, this ending up leading to some problems in the galaxy far, far away, namely that you had a bunch Jedi heading off to the Unknown Regions, becoming part of the Killik hive mind and potentially under the influence of a Dark Jedi/Killik. Like I’ve said before, there’s a lot going on with The Dark Nest Trilogy. Because Luke let all the Jedi just go all hippy-dippy and use the Force however they want, the Jedi Order has fractured. Luke has to get them all on the same page if they’re going to stop a Dark Jedi/Killik from starting a war that envelopes the whole galaxy. To do this, Luke has to reassert himself as the leader of the Jedi Order, after learning an important lesson.

Of course, the one Jedi they can’t get back on the same page is Jacen Solo, to be fair he did get waterboarded by the Yuuzhan Vong so he has an excuse for being a little different. Jacen wants to do the very un-Jedi like thing of killing Raynar/UnuThul. The former Jedi who merged into a Killik and now leads the hive mind. Or at least the light-ish side of the hive mind. You still have the Dark Jedi bug out there. Luke is of course opposed to straight up murder, because even if Luke let the other Jedi run off to the Do As You Feel Festival, he’s still one with the Jedi code. Luke manages to kill the Dark Jedi Bug while convincing the Light Jedi Bug to abandon the Bug Life. War is avoided. The Killik go back to just being a hive mind without a Dark Jedi causing mischief. The Chiss decide not to go to war. The galaxy is safe…at least until the next book.

I think I said this when I talked about the middle book, the series ended on a much stronger note than when it started. The first book…I wouldn’t call it a mess but it felt like there was just too much going on. The second book narrowed the focus and the number of characters that got page time and it made the books better. There was better flow, there wasn’t as much trying to keep track of everyone, and it just made for an easier read. Would I recommend the Dark Nest Trilogy? Eh, it depends. If you’ve read the New Jedi Order books and want to continue on in the Expanded Universe then yes, absolutely. You could read these without reading NJO, but it wouldn’t make as much sense. Likewise, there are events in these books that set up a major plot point for Legacy of the Force, the next series of books.

The Good2:

• The idea of a hive-mind that can somehow suck the Jedi in was a good idea. Also it was a good move after NJO and the Yuuzhan Vong to come up with a new enemy and not just go back to Jedi/New Republic vs. Sith/Imperial Remnant. I have wondered if Denning was influenced by Starship Troopers which had come out before these books.

• If you’re a fan of Star Wars realpolitik, this might be for you. New Republic Chancellor Galactic Alliance Chief of State Cal Omas is up to all sorts of shady doings to try to bring the Jedi Order under Galactic Alliance control.

• It’s been 14 years of Expanded Universe novels, but Leia finally is officially a Jedi.

The Bad:

• As I said, while like the idea of the Killik hive mind, I did not buy that so many Jedi would get sucked into it.

Wildcard:

• Tarfang! An Ewok smuggler with the death sentence on more than 10 systems, this Ewok is my new Glup Shitto. And not only is Tarfang basically a Chihuahua who gets to use a lightsaber, he also becomes a member of the Galactic Alliance Intelligence Service. Look, if Dave Filoni ever called me up and said we’ll make whatever series you want, Darth Jar Jar will always be number one. But Tarfang’s adventures might be number two.

That’s it for the Dark Nest Trilogy. I’ve got two canon books I’m going to read next, The Living Force followed by Mastr of Evil and then it’s back to the Expanded Universe with the Legacy of the Force series.

This Day in Star Wars History

We’ve got some fun ones today, March 8th. A couple names you’re sure to recognize and maybe one actor who you don’t know, but certainly has a good story from his time in Star Wars.

• Mickey Morton was born in 1927. Morton was a triple threat in the Star Wars Holiday Special. He played Malla, aka Mrs. Chewbacca. He played Tork, the bouncer at Bea Arthur’s cantina, and he assisted with Gormaanda, the four-armed Julie Child. Looking over his IMDB page, it looks like Morton was the very definition of a character actor. It doesn’t look like he ever had any leading roles but appeared in everything from The Monkeys to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to WKRP in Cincinnati to Growing Pains. He does hold the distinction of being the first person to appear in both Star Trek and Star Wars.

• Voice actor Bob Bergen was born in 1964. Bergen has appeared in 18 Star Wars video games along with The Clone Wars, Resistance, The Bad Batch, and Young Jedi Adventures. He’s considered the official “audio double” of Mark Hamill.

• Mr. Michelle Gellar, better known as Freddie Prinze Jr., was born in 1976. Prinze voiced Kanan Jarus in Rebels and he’s in end of Rise of Skywalker where Rey hears all the Jedi of the past.

• Long time actor Max von Sydow passed away in 2020. Sydow is probably best known for playing Father Merrin in The Exorcist. He had one appearance in the Star Wars universe, playing Lor San Tekka who is killed by Kylo Ren at the beginning of The Force Awakens.

• The second episode of The Mandalorian season 3 was released in 2023. “The Mines of Mandalore” featured just that. Traveling to Mandalore and going to the mines. I remember being somewhat confused when this episode aired…errr…streamed because it really seemed like the whole plot of the season 3 was Mando going to Mandalore to atone for taking his helmet off. And then, he’s in the living waters of Mandalore and Bo-Katan is swimming with the mythosaur and we’ve still got six more episodes.

• The Star Wars: Fun With Nubs web series episode “Nubs Gets A Tummy Ache” is released in 2025. It’s not subtle. Nubs eats too much and gets a tummy ache. Sorry for spoiling it.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

So if you read enough random Wookieepedia entries as I have, you get almost a Force sensitivity about some things. Like you can see an entry’s title or the name of a character and you just have a pretty good idea about what it’s going to be about. Case in point, this week’s entry is Bon Sequors. I landed on Mr. Sequors through another character’s page. And as soon as I saw the name, I knew he was going to be some Lando Calrissian-esq dandy. And sure enough, I was right.

Bon Sequors was a dashing Human male who dressed in fine clothing and wore a blue cape. Sequors was sympathetic to the Alliance, but was not an official member. He had many friends who were, and as such tended to help them out as much as possible.

The name isn’t quite as on the nose as death-stick dealer Elan Sleazebaggano (who’s name was an Uncle George special) but still, they might as well have named the character “Fancy Pants” and just gotten it over with.

News From the HoloNet

Werner Herzog on joining The Mandalorian: “people have to see what this man looks like”

If you want to visit the only movie theater in America with a connection to the JFK assassination, you can also see Werner Herzog.

Disney Removes Violence From ‘Star Wars’ as ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ Made Child-Friendly

Honestly I wouldn’t give this article a click because the headline is 100% clickbait. Disney toned down some of the violence in The Mandalorian and Grogu trailer to show it before a kids movie. The headline wants to imply changes are going to be made to the movie so you’ll rage click. But, if you do click. Go read the comments. Because they’re so incredibly dumb that you can’t look away.

Lucasfilm Confirms New Name for Original ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy

The Original Trilogy is now the Center Trilogy. OK. I get why they are doing this. Actually I don’t. There’s no reason for this and all it’s doing is giving more ammunition to the shouty parts of the fanbase that are pre-disposed to hate anything Disney does. Complete unforced error, it’s just Sideshow Bob stepping on the rakes.

The new ‘Star Wars’ store in San Francisco is already a tourist destination

Road trip! Haven’t been to San Francisco in years. Always had a good time there, but I have to imagine it’s different now that the Tech Bros have completely taken over.

‘Just give us what we want, Disney’: the original Star Wars trilogy is coming to Blu-ray again — but not in the way fans want

I am certainly hoping we get a 4K Blu-ray release of the Original Trilogy or at least of A New Hope after it’s back in theaters. But we’re certainly not going to get one before February 2027.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

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Good evening, or maybe good morning depending on when you read this and welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. It’s a quick one this week. The complete last week’s 6,200 word monstrosity. This week it’s just a quick one. Andor show runner Tony Gilroy that’s less about the show and more about that no, he can’t actually see the future and didn’t really want to be right about how our failing state would mirror Andor. Plus, LEGOS!

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

As much as I truly hate Meta as a company, they’re pretty good at what they do. And I’m not just talking about the ads that Instagram serves up saying “Are you in your mid-40’s and facing career burnout?” Yes. Yes I am. Thank you for reminding me. But today, the Facebook algo served up a Simpsons/Star Wars shitposting group and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted in my life. My two great pop culture loves, together at last.

Decent chance you’re going to be subjected to dank Simpsons/Star Wars memes every week from here on out. You’ve been warned.

Tony Gilroy Can Finally Use the “F” Word

No, not the one you’re thinking of. Although according to Denise Gough, there was a take of Marva Andor’s funeral speech where she says “fuck the Empire!”

From the very start, a rebellious spirit was in the air. “Fiona’s voice was over all of us,” Gough says, recalling the finale’s fire-and-fury funeral monologue from Ferrix’s formidable matriarch. “Except, at the end, she didn’t say, ‘Fight the Empire!’ She said, ‘Fuck the Empire!’ Which we were all really excited about. But we weren’t allowed to keep it, obviously.”

Honestly, the whole interview is great because as I’ve mentioned before, Gough brings a chaotic energy to her interviews. Two choice lines and then I’ll actually get to the point.

“As I was walking home, I bumped into Ian McDiarmid,” the Irish actor tells Empire on Zoom, after Andor’s explosive finale hit Disney+. “I said, ‘Hello, boss!’ I thought, if anyone took a picture of this, it’s so brilliant – Dedra having an undercover meeting with the Emperor in Notting Hill.”

“My first day was Ferrix,” she said, recalling her arrival on the eight-acre town built at Pinewood Studios – a living, breathing, industrial planet. “I was given my two Death Troopers – one of whom had to be trained to run like a Death Trooper and not like a musical theatre star – and I couldn’t help myself, I just started doing the [hums the Imperial March]. Then, everyone started doing it.”

Instead I’m talking about the other “F” word of our time, fascism. One that Andor show runner Tony Gilroy wasn’t allowed to say when doing promotion for the show. The Hollywood Reporter has new interview with Gilroy out now, provocatively titled “Andor’ Creator Tony Gilroy Gives the Interview He Couldn’t During Its Release.”

A lot of people, myself included so I’m not acting it’s an original thought on my part, have noted that even though season 2 was filmed mostly during late 2022 and 2023, it has seemed more like a prediction of how 2025 and 2026 in America would go. Consider what we’ve seen the last 14 months: masked government agents murdering civilians, suppression of speech, people being disappeared without legal recourse or in violation of court orders, increasingly unhinged behavior from the executive branch as a distraction, and a propaganda network that as can only be described as completely detached from reality. Is that America in 2026 or season 2 of Andor? Or is there really any difference?

Gilroy doesn’t think of himself as a prophet, rather than someone who just took lessons from the past and applied them to the show.

So you get out your Fascism for Dummies book for the 15 things you do, and we tried to include as many of them as we could in the most artful way possible. How were we supposed to know that this clown car in Washington was going to basically use the same book that we used? So I don’t think it’s prescience so much as the sad familiarity of fascism and the karaoke menu of things that you go through to do it. You could list them from the show, or you could list them from the newspaper.

Yeah, it’s the same shit all the time. Get rid of truth, get rid of a free press, destroy communities, nationalize the businesses, find an arbitrary enemy that you can elevate and false flag them through propaganda. Flood the zone with as much gak and atrocity as you can so that nobody can pay attention to what just happened, and pray that you have an overwhelming majority of sheep that will follow you. It’s just tragically and sadly familiar. It’s on them; it’s not on us.

I think the current version being used is “Fascism By Dummies” but we’re splitting hairs here.

It’s not surprising that Disney didn’t want Gilroy to use the words “fascism” or “genocide” when doing promotion for the show. While it easy to write this off as yet another corporation behaving cowardly, and I’m quite certain that is part of it, there was a legitimate reason for not wanting Andor to get caught up in the all consuming and dreaded cultural war. As referenced in the question, James Gunn called Superman an immigrant and all hell broke loose. Disney absolutely did not want their prestige Emmy-bait show getting caught up Twitter flame wars and Reddit fights. I mean, Star Wars fans were already having flame wars and Reddit fights but it was kept in the family so to speak. No need to invite more people in.

Worth noting, when it first came out that Dave Filoni would be getting a promotion within Lucasfilm, one unnamed source claimed that Cowboy Dave was not a fan of Andor. It was pretty quickly denied by Lucasfilm, but of course that didn’t stop it from spreading. If Filoni hated Andor, that’s news to Gilroy.

We’ve only met a couple times, and we’ve only had a half-a-dozen conversations over the last ten years. Seriously. I saw Jon Favreau at a scoring session once. We’ve always gotten along with those guys, and we’ve never had anything but high praise for everything that they’ve done. We only have our show because of them, and we’ve always said that was true. There’s no Andor without The Mandalorian. It would not exist. So it has never been anything but cordial and pleasant, ever, ever, ever, ever. I don’t know anything that you don’t know. I really don’t.

Also worth noting that Brian Davids, the interviewer here, linked to a 2023 interview he did with Filoni where he expressed admiration for Andor.

It’s exciting, and Tony [Gilroy] did such a brilliant job with Andor. They’re just fantastic stories, and it’s great that it broadens the type of story that people can expect from Star Wars.

I’m glad there’s a Gilroy and Filoni long-distance bromance. The whole interview is worth the read.

Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising

I can’t remember if I’ve posted this before. I know I’ve seen the video but even that even Alta Vista is better than Substack’s search function, I have no idea if it’s something I actually posted. Or something I thought about posting. Either way, please enjoy a 500,000 piece LEGO Galactic Senate.

The people that come up with this sort of stuff are absolutely fascinating to me. My brain does not work in a way that where I’d come up with something like this.

This Day in Star Wars History

It’s February 27th in the galaxy far, far away.

• Novelist David Sherman was born in 1944. Sherman was primarily writer of military novels, based on his service in Vietnam and then he branched out into science-fiction. His one entry in the Star Wars universe was the Clone Wars-era move, Jedi Trial.

• I’ve mentioned I usually skip comics, but Splinter of the Mind’s Eye #2 was published in 1996. I’m not sure why it took 18 years to get the novel adapted into comic book form. I’ve said this before, but a deep dive into Splinter of the Mind’s Eye is something I want to go.

• The Darth Who contest wrapped up voted. I mentioned this a month ago. Fans out to vote on the name of the new Sith Lord for the Legacy of the Force series of novels. Unfortunately, I already used my Darth Icky and Darth Insanious joke.

• Novelist Aaron Allston passed away in 2014. Allston was pretty proflic in the Expanded Universe, writing 5 books in the X-Wing series, 2 from New Jedi Order, and 3 each in Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi.

• British actor Michael Culver passed away in 2024. Culver played the ill-fated Captain Needa in Empire Strikes Back. That scene also provides a good work-place lesson about how already need to have someone at the office to blame for your screwups.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

So this week as I was hitting the randomizer, I thought there was going to be a Wookieepedia entry for a very famous author. Instead it’s actually voice actress Jan Austin.

I really thought for just one second that Jane Austin somehow had a Wookieepedia entry. Maybe there was a book called “Pride and Prejudice and Porgs” out there that I wasn’t aware of. Also, nobody can use that book title, I thought of it first.

News From the HoloNet

Can New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro Weather AI, Revitalize ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel and Save the Magic Kingdom?

No pressure. But the main thing I wanted to takeaway:

There’s a sense that “Star Wars: Starfighter,” a spinoff from “Deadpool & Wolverine” director Shawn Levy, is more likely to satisfy fans when it hits theaters next spring, with sources who have seen footage praising Ryan Gosling’s performance and suggesting Levy has recaptured the franchise’s spirit of fun.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Timeline Soon Expands at Disneyland

Not new news, but a pretty compressive rundown on what Galaxy’s Edge is changing into.

Calling All Jedis: Here’s a Peek at the 16 New Star Wars LEGOs Coming This Spring

Like most of you, I always go to goodhousekeeping.com for my Star Wars LEGO news.

Katee Sackhoff Confirms Bo-Katan's Star Wars Future

Solid click bait. Because you won’t know Bo’s future unless you click. Per Katee answering a question if she thought Bo-Katan might come back, "Always! She's not dead. She ain't going anywhere."

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This week is what I’m pretty sure is the longest Death Star HR I’ve written. There’s a lot going on this week. The official trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu was released. Spoiler alert, it’s gonna be a good time. I ponder what could happen if Disney decided they wanted to sell Star Wars. And at least someone thinks The Hunt for Ben Solo is actually going to happen. All that plus all the usual Death Star HR nonsense.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

I’ll never say no to a Darth Plagueis meme.

Also, well done on the part of the meme-maker for calling it the EU. In this house we believe: it’s the Expanded Universe, not Legends.

This Is Where The Fun Begins, Pt 2

This is what’s called “topical humor.”

Honestly I feel bad comparing Denise Gough, who seems like a lovely person, to Pam Bondi, who does not.

And speaking of more topical humor.

Can we use the World Between Worlds to get out of this incredibly stupid timeline?

The Real Mandalorian and Grogu Trailer Has Landed

If everyone will remember back to September of last year, Disney found themselves in the crosshairs of everyone. ABC (owned by Disney) suspended Jimmy Kimmel more or less at the behest of the FCC chairman following Kimmel’s remarks in the aftermath of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s murder. Disney then walked back the suspension after a couple days because people were cancelling Disney+ en masse and causing the unsubscribe page to crash. Realizing the public relations fiasco on their hands, Disney did the only logical thing and released the first trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu. I even wrote a little fan fiction about it back in the fall.

Underling: Mr. CEO, sir. People are being mean to us on the internet.

Bob Iger: Hahaha [the laugh is an evil one]. It’s OK. The country is so polarized that as long as one side likes us, we’ll be fine.

Underling: But sir [pauses like he’s Captain Needa about to give Darth Vader bad news], both sides are mad at us.

Bob Iger: Both sides?? Oh no, we’ll never survive. There’s only one thing to do. [dramatic pause] RELEASE THE GROGU TRAILER!

[buttons are pressed. dials are turned. people hurry around Disney HQ. It’s a scene strangely like igniting the Death Star Superlaser. And then the trailer below is released on YouTube]

As Uncle George says, Star Wars rhymes. Once again, Disney has found itself dealing with a “controversy.” I’m putting that in quotes, because the matter at hand is some people were angry that their promised Super Bowl trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu was actually a throwback 90’s Budweiser ad. And I can’t even say for sure they’re actually mad or it’s all just for clicks.

I am a little more inclined to believe Disney’s plan was the Super Bowl spot and followed by the trailer shortly thereafter. I am a little surprised we’re getting the trailer this early. We’re still roughly 90 days out from The Mandalorian and Grogu. I went and check, the finale trailer for The Rise of Skywalker was released roughly 60 days before the premiere.

Disney’s new strategy seems to be release a teaser trailer a day before they release the full trailer. To whip us fans into a frenzy like a pack of salivating dogs. I know exactly what they’re doing, but I can’t help myself. So on Monday the 16th, we got this.

Love the opening shot with the orange sky and the X-Wings, just like from The Force Awakens. But even better is the real thing!

There are plenty of write-ups for videos on the ins and outs of what’s in the trailer. Marty Scorsese! Zeb! Embo! Baby Greedo! Sigourney Weaver! Grogu being cute! Mando being sentimental! It has pretty much everything you could hope for from a trailer for a movie about Mando and Grogu. It clearly seems to be getting a good reaction since as of the time I’m writing this, it has about 9.4 million views. By comparison the “controversial” Super Bowl spot has about 1/3 of that.

There’s even some hints at the plot. Mando is working for the New Republic tracking down former Imperials. How do the Hutt twins fit in? My guess is they have some kind of deal with the Imperials. The Hutts get rid of Mando and any other New Republic do-gooders and the Imps will turn a blind eye to the Hutts’ criminal activities once they gain power again.

I was less interested in the details or the plot from the trailer, I mean I’m obviously going to see it opening night, and more of just how did I feel about the over all vibe of the movie. Spoiler alert, I feel good about it. As friend of Death Star HR Matthew Freeman writes, The Mandalorian and Grogu is going to be fun.

Ahch-To Baby

The Mandalorian & Grogu Official Trailer Is Here!

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3 months ago · 8 likes · 3 comments · Matthew Freeman

Fun has maybe been a little hard to come by in the Star Wars galaxy lately. Andor season 2, which was a triumph in every sense is not a fun show. That’t not Tony Gilroy’s fault, it’s not intended to be a fun show. It’s warning about how a democratic society can fall into fascism and maybe there’s a lesson we should have learned there. Sure there are some funny moments in Andor, but I don’t think anyone would call it a fun show. And if you do call Andor fun, I want to talk to you and know what goes on in your head.

Along with the trailer, we also got a new poster.

The movie is called The Mandalorian and Grogu and that’s exactly what the poster delivers.

Come May 22, I plan on being at the first available showing for The Mandalorian and Grogu. And all I want is to come out of the movie theater after 2 hours or so and then come home and write up a post about what a great time I had seeing the movie. That’s it. And if the trailer is any indication, it’s going to deliver.

Is Star Wars Too Big To Fail?

Considering this as a thought experiment. It is January 1st, 2028. In the past 3 years, the following has happened.

1. Andor season 2 was released in April of 2025. It is considered a huge hit with both fans and critics. It’s currently at 97% with critics and 89% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans loved and it as validation, it won a whole bunch of awards. Maybe it didn’t get the respect it should have but A) Peak TV is over and B) no matter how serious the show was, there is a segment of the population that won’t take the show seriously or will write it off just because it’s Star Wars. As an added bonus, and arguably what Disney executives care more about, the streaming numbers are not just good, but great. In a year where there is very little new Star Wars, Andor is the only live action and the two animated series are more anthologies for the real Sickos than shows like Rebels or The Bad Batch which will at least get some Normies as viewers. This is very good for Disney. Bob Iger and the rest of the c-suite treat themselves to ivory back-scratchers.

   

2. January 2026, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announces that she is stepping down. The loud and shouty section of the fanbase hasn’t felt this empowered since The Acolyte was cancelled. Fortunately for Star Wars there’s a plan in place and Lucasfilm can avoid any power struggle. Cowboy Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennen are named co-Presidents of Lucasfilm. It seems that Filoni will handle the creative side while Brennen handles the business side of things. This is followed by CEO Bob Iger’s retirement. Thankfully Disney has a plan in pace, which avoids a struggle for succession that looks straight out of Succession.

3. Animated series Darth Maul: Shadow Lord comes out in April 2026. The fans love it, it’s well reviewed and critics note that Disney animation has come a long with since the O.G. Clone Wars. There is some consternation from fans about how Darth Maul has returned yet again while The Hunt for Ben Solo was killed off because the potential main character was already killed off. But it’s another Star Wars animated series. The fans watch it, but it doesn’t really move the needle in terms of Disney+ subscriptions.

4. The Mandalorian and Grogu is released in May 2026. The movie has a lot of buzz around it when it’s released - GROGU ON THE BIG SCREEN! - and there’s huge marketing push. Even a Super Bowl spot! It’s not to the levels that for The Phantom Menace but Disney is throwing around marketing money in a way we haven’t seen since in a long time. For the first two weeks it has good numbers at the box office but they drop off sharply after that. The fans and critics enjoy it, but most reviews compare it to season 3 of The Mandalorian rather than seasons 1 or 2. The movie does not lose money, even using Hollywood Math it’s profitable. But not to the levels that the Disney accountants were hoping for.

5. Season 2 of Ahsoka is released late fall/winter of 2026. The reviews are more middle of the road than the other two projects mentioned above. Critics note that the show is too reliant on flashbacks/cameos and the ending offers no resolution, just a set up for the Mandoverse movie. The fans like the show more than the critics and are excited to see Natalie Portman return as Padme in a flashback scene but otherwise generally agree that it’s just a setup for the movie. While the show’s streaming numbers are very good at the start, after a few weeks they slow down.

6. There is no new December 2026 Star Wars movie. Disney had a date saved for the galaxy far, far away but instead it is going to Ice Age 6: Let’s Get Icy1.

7. In lieu of a new movie for December 2026, Disney attempts to “capitalize” on the good feelings from Andor 18 months ago and re-releases Rogue One back into the theaters for a limited run. It’s only a seven day release and people flock back to the theaters, it’s a nice little boost to the end of the year bottom line.

8. It’s the 50th anniversary of Star Wars. A restored and remastered copy of A New Hope is released in the theaters in February 2027. It is an unqualified hit. Older fans get the nostalgia hit of seeing Han shoot first. Younger fans, and by that I mean anyone in their late 30’s or younger, get to see what all the fuss about the 1977 cut is all about. Critics rave over the remastering job done by Lucasfilm. 50th anniversary editions of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are promised for 2030 and 2033 respectively, along with a 4K Blu-Ray version you can buy. The movie theaters love it because it gets butts in the seats during a slow period. Disney loves it for the good press and easy money.

9. In a surprise move, Attack of the Clones returns to the theaters May the 4th weekend to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It has a good couple days but wasn’t as successful as Revenge of the Sith returning to the theaters back in 2025.

10. Star Wars: Starfighter is released May 2027. Directed by Shawn Levy and staring Ryan Gosling, it’s a brand new story and the first one we’ve seen taking place after Rise of Skywalker. And while the movie itself is good, everyone agrees it’s a unique and fun story, nobody can look past Ryan Gosling. To be fair, Gosling is a good actor but even though the nerds have won, there is a vocal segment of Star Wars fans that can’t look past one of the cool kids staring in “their” movie. Once again the movie is profitable, but it’s not the runaway blockbuster that Disney was hoping for. Any momentum Disney had going from everyone enjoying the re-release of Rogue One and A New Hope is dead, making the next movie even more important to the bottom line.

11. December of 2027, Disney can go one of two ways. Either of the two movies getting a December 2027 release date is very much a hypothetical at this point. The timeline of a Star Wars movie seems to be 18 - 24 months from filming to premiere and there’s no public intel to indicate that either of the above movies have started filming or even have a completed script. But I’ll give both:

12. The long awaited Rey New Jedi Order movie is released. At this point it has been 8 years since The Rise of Skywalker and despite Disney wanting Rey to be the face of the new generation of Star Wars, the character hasn’t been featured in many things and never really became a pop culture icon like say Darth Vader. The movie suffers the same fate as The Rise of Skywalker. The critics don’t like it, saying it clearly suffered from too many different writers and too many cooks in the kitchen. The fans are more favorable but Ridley’s performance but even Luke, Obi-Wan, and Yoda appearing as Force ghosts can’t save it. To make matters worse (from a certain - obnoxious - point of view), John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran2 are back, placing Star Wars squarely back into the middle of the dreaded culture war. The “TOO MANY GIRLZ IN STAR WARS” crowd was already feisty because of Ryan Gosling in the a Star Wars movie (even though he is a man) and this just sends them over the edge. Even more problematic for Disney, it’s considered a disappointment at the box office, along the lines of Solo.

13. The other option is the Mandoverse movie is the December 2027 release date. The film, written and directed by Dave Filoni brings together The Mandalorian and Ahsoka along with tying in spots from Book of Boba Fett and Skeleton Crew. While it is generally enjoyed by the fans, it’s not without its problems. Rumors were all over the internet that Dave Filoni wasn’t able to focus all this attention on the movie since he’s also now the Lucasfilm president. While he’s still getting director credit, it’s known there were a lot of other people doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes. The general audience feeling is while it was fine, the Mandoverse has been going on eight years and Grogu fatigue is a real thing. It’s controversial when Han, Leia, and Luke are recast for cameos. But fans generally say they prefer the recasting over CGI. Cara Dune even has a brief appearance has part of Gina Carano’s settlement with Disney. Unfortunately Carano did not have veto power of what was actually in the scene, so Cara Dune ended up like Poochie the Dog.

    

14. At this point, Disney has owned Star Wars for 15 years and while there have been some high points, there have been a lot of middle of the road and some poor reviews. And more importantly, the latest round of movies haven’t been the money makers Disney was hoping for. So on January 1st, 2028, the Mouse looks around and says “we’re done with Star Wars.”

Real talk, could this happen? And what would happen if Disney decided the Star Wars experiment had failed?

Could this happen? It’s certainly possible although I don’t think it’s probable3. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to think Disney could decide that they have over expanded, especially if they run into the same issues with Marvel. I’ve been kicking this idea around for a while, and writing the first draft of this piece the weekend that Captain America: Brave New World was released. It seems to be the movie will have a $100 million opening 4-day weekend but has been met with reviews that are so-so at best to really bad at worst. Taking a quick look at Rotten Tomatoes, even the positive reviews are saying things like “better than expected,” “It’s all pretty silly, of course, but it’s not punishingly overlong,” and “However, the story is chopped and end up just being a middling story.” And those are the people saying good things! On the flip side, Thunderbolts* has good reviews but is on track to be Marvel’s third lowest grossing movie.

It’s something that I’ve mentioned a few times and wanted to write about in more depth, but less can be more. That goes for Marvel and Star Wars. A new Star Wars movie was a huge event. But when you get one a year for five straight years, they can feel less special. But that’s not how capitalism works. You’re either bringing out new movies or you’re dying. Take your pick.

Anyway, let’s say Disney decides that the Star Wars brand is weighing the Mouse down like a Hutt. They decide they’re going to sell the entirely Star Wars brand at once. Movies, TV shows, books, comics, toys. The rights to all of them are on the auction block. Who’s buying and who can afford to buy?

Assuming that my Kickstarter to buy Star Wars fails, who is else there? Maybe Disney tries to sell everything back to George Lucas. Unfortunately for Bob Iger, Uncle George is too busy swimming in his Scrooge McDuck-style money pit to return any calls.

Just looking at the major broadcast networks, two of the four are likely out. ABC is owned by Disney so that’s not going to happen. Fox sold 20th/21st Century Fox to Disney a few years ago. Those two are are a no go. There are two more legacy media companies, for lack of a better term. NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast/Xfinity. A super-popular company that everybody loves and a name that definitely doesn’t cause people to fly into a rage when they merely hear it spoken and for sure didn’t change their name because “Comcast” was as popular as getting herpes4. NBC does offer distribution for streaming through Peacock and has Universal Pictures to distribute movies. It’s even got the theme parks in-case Disney was willing to sell off Galaxy’s Edge. It’s called vertical integration. I learned it from my business spirit animal, Jack Donaghy.

Paramount Global, the merger of CBS and Paramount Pictures is more or less the same thing as NBCUniversal5. You’ve got the TV arm and the movie arm along with a streaming service.

I’m sure that either company wouldn’t mind at a minimum getting the library of Star Wars movies/TV shows to add to either Peacock or Paramount+. But do they want to be in the business of making new Star Wars movies and TV shows? And that doesn’t even get into what to do with the rest of all the Star Wars things like books, comics, toys, etc.. I’m certainly not trying to say that NBC or Paramount don’t have enough people working that couldn’t figure what to do there, it’s do they want to? On the one hand, there’s a pretty easy solution. You just license it. That’s what Lucasfilm did. George wasn’t designing the toys or editing the novels or drawing sketches for the comic books. It wasn’t even Lucasfilm employees doing those jobs. It’s certainly easy enough for NBCUniversal to license Star Wars books or toys or whatever else they needed. But you still responsibility for the brand and making sure people are buying.

Let’s say for the sake of argument, the legacy media passes on buying Star Wars. What does that leave us with? I’d say three other options. Netflix, Amazon, and Apple.

It’s strange to remember, but there was a time where Netflix was just cranking out hit show after hit show. Maybe they still are and I just haven’t noticed. I guess there’s still Bridgerton to get people excited and it took nine years to get the finale of Stranger Things6. But for a while, shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black were the future of television. Netflix certainly has the reach to get Star Wars in front of people. The service ended 2024 with over 300 million subscribers worldwide, roughly double the number of Disney+. Netflix does have high profile directors and showrunners ready to go. Maybe revive Star Wars Underworld and give David Fincher a go at it? Of course as I’ve mentioned, Star Wars is more than just the movies. You’ve got books, comics, toys, LEGO, etc.. Netflix at least has somewhat of a handle on this. I’ve seen some Stranger Things spinoff books at the bookstore, and I just learned that Netflix does have a merch shop in case you need a Emily in Paris tumbler or Matzah Baller basketball jersey from Nobody Wants This. They certainly don’t have a licensing department the size of Disney, but for a company of Netflix’s size, that’s is a pretty easy problem to fix.

Option two, Apple. Quietly AppleTV+ has some pretty great exclusive shows. Slow Horses, Silo, Severance, and Shrinking7 are all great. The first two shows I listed are adaptions from books so Apple doesn’t have a problem making a show from an already available IP. The question is, would they want to take a swing on something as big as Star Wars? That’s a significant upgrade in cost from acquiring the rights to Slow Horses. Their streaming service has somewhere around 45 million subscribers, significantly less than Netflix or Disney+. It seems likely that if AppleTV was the only place to watch Star Wars, it would see a bump in subscriptions. And then there’s always the problem that as it stands now, AppleTV is a money loser.

Amazon is the wild card here. When I started this, Amazon had already purchased MGM several years ago. In February 2025, Jeff Bezos apparently decided that since so many people had been saying he had transformed into a Bond villain that he might as well go ahead and take creative control of the James Bond franchise. Right now we don’t know what the Bond movies and other media are going to look like. It’s been announced that Dune director Denis Villeneuve is slated to direct the next Bond movie. There’s going to be a new Bond, decent chance whoever it is will be thrust into the culture wars whether they want it or not. I have my preferred choice, but nobody asks me.

The thing I’m watching for with Bond is will Amazon expand, or exploit, the property. For such a storied franchise, there’s a decent argument to be made from a strictly money making perspective that it’s under-utilized. You’ve got the movies, books have been pretty consistently published even after Ian Fleming’s death in 1964. If you’re a mid-40’s dude like me, there’s a good chance more than anything your James Bond is Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64. My freshman year of college I pretty much met all my friends, guys that I still talk to on a daily basis, because of this video game8.

But even with movies, books, and video games, it never felt like Bond had the reach that Star Wars does. Is Amazon going to chance that? Maybe a Bond streaming series of Amazon. Lots of new Bond merch that one can easily be purchased and shipped to your house for free, just as long as you have a Prime subscription. Maybe new Bond books available exclusively through Kindle Unlimited. More than than Netflix or Apple, Amazon is positioned to take advantage of all the different revenue streams you can have with a property like James Bond. Whatever they end up doing with Bond is likely what Amazon would do if they acquired Star Wars.

The one advantage all three comapanies I just discussed have over traditional media is they’re much more valuable. Based on market cap, Apple, Amazon, and Netflix are the 3rd, 4th, and 18th most valuable companies respectively.

Would any of these be good for Star Wars? I suppose the answer is it depends on what you want out of Star Wars.

There’s also a wildcard and what I would consider a nightmare scenario. The wildcard would be Alphabet. Better known as Google. All Star Wars is now viewed exclusively on YouTube. This seems pretty unlikely but Google certainly has the money and YouTube is now the number 1 streaming platform on TVs. It is not out of the realm of possibility that Google says we’re going to take a shot at turning YouTube into something into more like Netflix. My bigger concern with Google, and to a lesser extent the other tech companies, is any new Star Wars shows could just be A.I. slop. I don’t think that would fly for movies, but it’s not unreasonable to think an A.I. generated series would be on the table. Feed all seven seasons of The Clone Wars plus three seasons of The Bad Batch into A.I., tell it to spit out 5-10 minute episodes, and call it season 8 of The Clone Wars. Maybe I’ll call that the first nightmare scenario. Or even worse, it’s bought by Meta. Zuckerberg is still determined to make the Metaverse happens. Now the only way to watch Empire Strikes Back is through a Metaverse VR headset or on the Meta Ray-Bans.

The true nightmare scenario would be the Star Wars brand get snatched up by private equity vultures. This isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. Boomer rock stars have selling off the rights to the catalogs for a while now. No one would ever say Uncle George or Disney had the artistic integrity in turning down the money like say, Bill Watterson, but if you thought Star Wars was overexposed now, just wait until Star Wars is in the hands of a company who’s only interest is profit and doesn’t even pretend to be interested in art. Imagine the fresh hell of commercial possibilities:

• Yoda shilling generic viagra (judge me by my size, do you?)

• The Han Solo repossessed cars auction app. (This 2017 Dodge Charger is the fastest hunk of junk in the tri-state area. Available for bid on the Bi-Towed app.)

• Terrabytes and terrabytes of A.I. slop in lieu of new movies or TV shows.

Yikes.

So could this happen? I honestly think it’s pretty unlikely, but it’s worth remembering nothing is forever. It’s pretty fair to say that a lot of thought in 2005 as we walked out of Revenge of the Sith that was it. That was going to be the last Star Wars movies in the theaters. Sure maybe there would be Episodes VII, VIII, and IX but those were just pipe dreams. There would be some new books and stuff, but it’s not unreasonable to think that Star Wars on the big screen, the way Star Wars was meant to be seen was over at this point.

And then Disney came along. Five movies in five years. Original streaming shows, more than we could have possibly imagined. Galaxy’s Edge, not just a Disney ride but a whole theme park. Or section of theme park. Sure the Galactic Starcruiser hotel only lasted a year because they overestimated the number of people who wanted to pay $5,000 to sleep in a windowless cube while LARP’ing, but it was a hell of an idea. The whole High Republic project. It’s more Star Wars than we could have imagined 20 years ago after Revenge of the Sith.

Regardless of how you feel about Disney’s stewardship of Star Wars - I personally feel they’ve definitely made more hits than misses - there’s no denying that the vibes feel a little off right now, and have felt that way for a while. There’s probably a good amount of blame that can be assigned the one-two punch of COVID and the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes. We’ve got from five movies in five years to no movies in six years9. I wrote about this before but I think this uncertainty is why The Hunt for Ben Solo captured the imagination of so many fans. did underestimate just how many Reylos are out there, but it’s more than just that. I think you have A) a lot of people who like both Kylo Ren and Rey as characters (even if they’re not Reylo people), B) there are plenty of people who feel The Rise of Skywalker didn’t stick the landing, and this is a chance to right some wrongs. And C) if there’s going to be a Rey movie, at some point, The Hunt for Ben Solo would make a great companion movie. But for the first two, if Star Wars feels uncertain, why not go back to the familiar?

Ultimately, and this is something I’ve been writing off and on for about year, I think the chances of Disney actually selling the Star Wars IP in 2028 is pretty low. I mean, never say never. Who would have thought that Lucas would sell in the first place? Just remember, if in three years, somehow Jeff Bezos owns Star Wars, you heard it here first.

This Week In The Hunt For Ben Solo News

It really is pretty amazing the staying power that The Hunt For Ben Solo among some Star Wars fans, especially considering the movie didn’t get made and the official line from Disney is that it won’t get made due to a character dying. But much like Palpatine, Darth Maul, Boba Fett, etc., the movie just refuses to die. First off, there was the prediction in The Boardwalk Times, which is a Disney Parks and other assorted Disney stuff page. The link is behind a paywall for Medium, but I saw this today.

On the one hand, this kinda seems like that I did above. Throw out a crazy prediction and if just happens to come true, you look pretty smart. On the other hand, it’s less crazy than you think. For starters, there’s a script. Which is more than the Rey New Jedi Order or Mandoverse movies have. Second of all, it has approval of Lucasfilm. It was reported that Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Carrie Beck were all fans of the script. While Kennedy has stepped down, Filoni has stepped up and Beck is still in her spot. And it’s not like Kennedy is going just retire to Tahiti. She’s stated she plans on remaining active in the business. Plus you have the shakeup at Disney. Bob Iger was basically the CEO of Disney from 2005 - 2026 with about two year break. Kennedy was the President of Lucasfilm from 2012 to a few weeks ago. What better way for new CEO Josh D'Amaro and new Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni to immediately make their mark on Star Wars than green-lighting The Hunt For Ben Solo.

Then on Wednesday, would be Hunt for Ben Solo director Steven Soderbergh weighed in on the movie in an interview with BK Mag. In response to a question on how he felt about Disney killing the movie, Soderbergh responded:

No, it was no surprise that she was frustrated. We were all frustrated. You know, that was two and a half years of free work for me and Adam and Rebecca Blunt. When Adam and I discussed him talking about it publicly, I said, “Look, do not editorialize or speculate about the why. Just say what happened, because all we know is what happened.” The stated reason was “We don’t think Ben Solo could be alive.” And that was all we were told. And so there’s nothing to do about it, you know, except move on.

And as I posted, I’d kind of made the movie in my head, and just felt bad that nobody else was going to get to see it. I thought the conversation was strictly going to be a practical one—where they go, what is this going to cost? And I had a really good answer for that. But it never even got to that point. It’s insane. We’re all very disappointed.

Emphasis added by me. I think (although am not positive) this was first comments from Soderbergh about the movie. It’s certainly no surprise that he’d be disappointed and frustrated by Disney’s response. I really do find it fascinating the hold this not-movie has. I can’t imagine that Disney wants to go into their first new movie in seven years to be coming out while the Star Wars superfans gazing longingly at Adam Driver. An April announcement that the hunt is back on would go a long way, at least among some fans, to get them to accept their Ben Solo movie is coming out and they can go back to focusing on Mando, and making sure the box office returns are good.

Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising

So I finally got all the Star Wars stuff I bought at Galaxy’s Edge. Had to ship it home. But that’s for another week. Instead, I’ve had this one on the agenda for a bit and finally getting around to it. A Christmas present I received my from in-laws combing my two loves, Star Wars and vinyl records.

The eagle-eyed among you might notice that the record is sides 2 and 3. The other disc on the Star Wars soundtrack is sides 1 and 4. Back in the day you had record players where you would stack the records, once one finished the next one would drop. Then you would flip the stack over. It was like an early CD changer, I guess. If there are any younger readers here, probably have to explain what a CD is as well.

This Day in Star Wars History

February 20th was a pretty slow day in the galaxy far, far away.

• On this day in 1981, Uncle George and Lawrence Kasdan finished the first draft of Episode VI, then titled Revenge of the Jedi. The original idea was to focus on Luke and Leia trying to save Han from Boba Fett. According to the documentary Empire of Dreams, Lucas did originally plan to call the movie Return of the Jedi until Kasdan convinced him “return” was too weak of a word, so he changed it to “revenge.” Then went back to “return” after deciding getting revenge isn’t very Jedi-like.

• British actor Bronson Webb was born in 1983. Webb played a Rebel MP in Rogue One. He’s also appeared in Harry Potter, Pirates of Caribbean, Game of Thrones, and The Dark Knight. Get Webb in a Marvel movie so he can get the nerd bingo card checked off.

• The abridged audiobook version of Heir to the Empire was digitally released in 2007. Wedge Antilles himself, Denis Lawson, did the narration.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

As we live through the age of A.I., which will likely end in one of two ways:

1. A.I. companies run out of money;

2. Or A.I. gains sentience and War Against The Machines starts.

The former seems mostly likely, but I can’t rule out the latter. I’ve always thought the relationship between droids and sentience species in Star Wars was a little interesting. Droids are almost always clearly subservient to people (of any species). But they are also treated as if they are equals with independent thoughts. You even have droids that have no programming to stop them from harming or even killing people, HK-47, IG-88, and Choppper, just to name a few. But other than Solo, a movie that certain featured a very questionable human/droid relationship, the droids haven’t really shown any interest overthrowing their sentient master and running the galaxy for themselves. At least I hadn’t thought so until I found the Second Great Droid Revolution.

The Second Great Droid Revolution, also known as the Second Droid Revolution, was a short-lived and unsuccessful droid revolt on Coruscant in 10 BBY. The cyborg Archa Sabis uploaded a virus into the droid population which caused several police cruisers and EVS Construction droids to rebel against their sentient masters. Following the suppression of the rising, the Galactic Empire was able to exploit anti-droid sentiment.

Back in our galaxy, I’m just saying that we shouldn’t trust the clankers.

News From the HoloNet

Star Wars couples, ranked from worst to best

Swap Dedra and Syril with Val and Cinta. Also, the list is invalid without Jar Jar Binks and Queen Julia.

Martin Scorsese Role in ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Revealed in Trailer

OK Marty, Star Wars needs a gangster movie and you’re just the man for the job. I’m thinking Casino but set it on Canto Bight.

Robert Duvall, Star of ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Great Santini,’ Dies at 95

Duvall starred in Uncle George’s first movie, THX 1138.

Jon Favreau Hints At Potential “Star Wars” Exit

It’s not surprising he’d think this is a good time to step away with the changes at Disney/Lucasfilm

Disney World Confirms Its ‘Star Wars’ Hotel Is NEVER Coming Back

Cue up “We are never getting back together.”

And last, I’m screenshotting this because I refuse to give such a click baity headline a click. But there’s a better chance the Star Wars hotel comes back than Jedi Sydney Sweeney.

Welcome back once again to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. I’m trying to get back on schedule. Here’s hoping it sticks. It’s a fun one this week. The Death Star HR Podcast returns to talk about Young Jedi Adventures. The Big Game featured a little green guy and people on the internet yelled about it. And there’s a Jar Jar Binks comic book that I had to purchase. All that plus the usual nonsense this week.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

Thankfully the snow and ice are out of North Texas. I’m typing this on the 10th, yesterday it was 80 degrees out. Texas weather, what can you do? At least some places still get snow where there should be snow. Like Hoth. Or in this case, Japan.

This was from the 76th Sapporo Snow Fest, held in Sapporo, Japan. Anyone know how to say “this is the way” in Japanese?

Yakkin’ About Young Jedi Adventures

Once again, friend of Death Star HR is back and we talk about the show that many people have never mentioned in the same breath as Andor, the only Disney+ Star Wars show that’s explicitly marketed towards the under 10 crowd. That’s right, I’m talking about Young Jedi Adventures.

You probably know Shane from his always entertaining newsletter, Feats N’ Faults, where he ranks various pop culture franchises and characters in a points-based battle royale. It’s like sabermetrics for Dr. Who and Star Wars characters.

So make sure you check out our conversation about the greatness of Nubs, and then make sure you read and subscribe to Feats N’ Faults.

Feats N' Faults

Feats N' Faults: Star Wars, Young Jedi Adventures

Welcome back to Feats N’ Faults, where our Tiered Point System ranks and records our favorite characters based on their achievements and deeds. Please check the About Page for a more in-depth look at how points are awarded. Our Tier System is below for quick reference…

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3 months ago · 6 likes · 3 comments · Shane Elliott

The Real Super Bowl MVP Were the Tauntauns

Going into Super Bowl Sunday I was feeling pretty meh about the game. As a Detroit Lions fan, there is never any reason for me to actually get excited about the game. However, this year there was at least going to be a trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu. Or so we thought.

Not exactly a trailer for a movie.

There was a decent amount of internet chatter with people not being too thrilled, that they felt like they got ripped off or something. That they were expecting an actual movie trailer and instead just got Mando and Grogu with some tauntauns.

I get the reaction, I do. Disney I guess never actually said we were getting a movie trailer, or at least I don’t think they did. But everyone heard “Super Bowl” and “Mando and Grogu” and I don’t think it was unreasonable to to think we were going to get a trailer. I wasn’t really paying attention to the game as I was still making dinner, one eye on the grill and the other on the TV. I caught the last half to the commercial (doesn’t seem right to call it a trailer) and had the same thought as a lot of the reactions. “That’s it?” No Mando and Grogu having an adventure. No shots of Zeb or Sigourney Weaver or maybe a new character. Nothing that even hints at what the plot might be? When expectations don’t meet reality, the online masses tend to get a little rowdy.

But was the spot really that bad? I don’t think so. After I got to sit down and watch the trailer on YouTube, I actually enjoyed it for what it is. Any youth of America reading this may not know that there was a time when Super Bowl commercials advertised actual products. Not celebrities shilling crypto. Not planet-destroying A.I. that nobody asked for. But things that real true red-blooded Americans wanted. Like beer and pickup trucks. Was there even a truck commercial this year? I honestly have no idea.

And with that in mind, that was absolutely the spirit that the Mando and Grogu spot was going for it. It wasn’t a trailer because we’re too far out of the movie to get a trailer. Those will probably come in April. It was just a little, “hey remember the green guy you love so much” type of ad, with the style and the spirit of a Budweiser commercial. I mean come on, the tauntauns are obviously supposed to be the clydesdales.

And don’t just take it from me. The Mouse is pretty clear that was the intent.

Lucasfilm’s marketing brand lead Ryan Stankevich said they wanted a Super Bowl spot that felt “instantly iconic, cinematic, and quintessentially ‘Star Wars.'”

“Our creative and marketing team landed on a unique concept that gave a nod to classic Big Game spots of years past,” Stankevich said. “It captured the warmth, humor, and emotional connection between these two beloved characters and was the perfect next step for our campaign as we lead up to their big screen debut this summer.”

So I’m not sure I’d call it “instantly iconic” but it absolutely gives nod to Super Bowl commercials of years past. And it features a voiceover from Sam Elliott which means the Big Lebowski is now canon in the Star Wars universe.

The Ben Quadinaros Revenge Tour Starts Now

Is saying the pod racing scene in Phantom Menace is the second best scene in the movie a controversial statement? I don’t think it is, but you never know. I still think back to the first time the Boonta Eve Classic kicked off on the big screen. It was a thrill. And now, Star Wars is back with a new pod racing game.

OK, looks fun. It’s not going to get me to go out and buy a PS5 like say, Knights of the Old Republic 3 would. It would still be a fun game to play. But most importantly, it features the people’s champion, Ben Quadinaros.

Ben Quadinaros, first featured in the pod race scene during The Phantom Menace, is kind of a Glup Shitto for a lot of people online. The background character that people latch onto and decide they love, either sincerely or ironically. Out of the top seven comments on the trailer, four of them were about Quadinaros, It’s a case where Lucasfilm knows what the internet fans are into, it’s like seeing Darth Jar Jar in the LEGO Star Wars Rebuild the Galaxy. The game looks fun, and for all the Ben Quadinaros stans out there, I’m glad your boy is back.

The Death Star Human Resources Department Book Club

I’ve mentioned two things about Star Wars comics in the past. First, it’s not really my thing. I’ve never really been a comic book guy. I tried, I’d read comics. I had friends that collected comics growing up. And as an adult I have friends who collect comics. Comic books are just something I’ve never been able to get into. But…in the last year or so I’ve occasionally picked some up if I’m at the used bookstore. The second thing about Star Wars comics are where the writers can really get weird with it. Jaxxon, the green bunny character, started in the comics. The first comic book review in Death Star HR featured a talking head in a box and religious sect called the Ancient Order of Pessimists.

All that to say, I’ve had my eye on this comic for a while, since it was announced at Comic Con last year. Ahem Best, Mr. Binks himself, was teaming up to write a Jar Jar focused comic book. I had to get it.

• Title: Jar Jar 1

• Series: One Shot. Which in comic book terms means a stand alone.

• Author: Ahmed Best and Marc Guggenheim.

• Illustrators: Laura Braga, Kieran McKeown, and Michael Atiyeh,

• Date published: February 11, 2026

• Pages: 32

• Status: Canon

• Summary in less than 20 words: The Jar Jar Binks redemption tour starts now with a little help from his friends.

There are some actors who will always be tied to a character. No matter how hard he tries to be an action hero, John Krasinski will always be Jim Halpert. Ron Livingston will always be Peter Gibbons. Most people probably think of him as his merlot-hating character, but to me, Paul Giamatti will always be Pig Vomit from Howard Stern’s Private Parts. Ahmed Best will always be tied to Jar Jar Binks, even though you don’t ever see Best’s face in any of the movies. It makes me happy that Best has been embraced by Star Wars fans and that he even wants to be part of the Star Wars universe. After all the abuse he took from “fans” after The Phantom Menace, you certainly couldn’t blame the guy if he never wanted anything to do with Star Wars again. But Best stuck it out, finishing out the Prequels even as his role shrunk. He came back to voice Jar Jar in The Clone Wars, LEGO Star Wars Rebuild the Galaxy, and various Star Wars video games. Then in 2019, he had a new role as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in the Jedi Temple Challenges kids show. Which again, if you’re my age it might remind you of Double Dare.

Most fans were probably introduced to the character when he showed up in season 3 of The Mandalorian.

All that to say, the comic is a quick read at 32 pages. Senator Jar Jar Binks teams up with Kelleran Beq to try to help the people of Urubai, a planet that the Palpatine’s Republic is mining for coxaium and other minerals. While Palpatine is still presenting his non-Sith persona to the public, the people of Urubai are being worked to death to help Palpatine build the Grand Army of the Republic, or maybe something worse. Jar Jar has to come to terms that he played a pretty big part in Palpatine seizing emergency powers. Even if Palpatine hasn’t revealed himself as a Sith Lord yet but he’s not exactly helping out your average galactic citizen. Eventually Jar Jar and Beq realize that Palpatine is up to something, they don’t know what, but maybe they should start getting organized for something.

The Good:

• It’s a quick read and a fun story. There’s an appearance by some other familiar characters as well. Ric Olie, Aurra Sing, and a young Mira Bridger all make appearances.

• As I said, I’m glad Best has had the opportunity to reclaim the character.

The Bad:

• While I said the comic is 32 pages, 6 of the pages were ads. Come on, I feel like I’m getting a little cheated here.

Wild Card:

• I posted about buying the comic on the official Death Star HR Instagram page. And Mr. Best himself liked by Story. We’re basically best friends now.

  

Always Check Your Seats at the Movie Theater

If you saw 3:45 PM IMAX 3D showing of The Force Awakens on December 30, 2015 at the Muvico Parisian 20 & IMAX in West Palm Beach, Florida; you may have sat next to Jeffrey Epstein.

He seems like the type of guy who would talk during the movie.

This Day in Star Wars History

We’ve got a quite a few birthdays today, along with a relevant video game.

• O.G. Mon Mothma, Caroline Blakiston was born in 1936. She played Mon in her first appearance, during Return of the Jedi. She had a fun quote about it, “Certainly people are always very envious of me. When I join a new theater company, the other actors look down the program, see my Return of the Jedi credit and say, ‘Oh, you were part of Star Wars.’ I smile and say, ‘Yes, but only for twenty-six and a half seconds.’“

• Tom Jung was born in 1942. Jung worked as an art director, graphic designer, and illustrator. He’s best known in Star Wars as the designer of the Style A poster for A New Hope.

• Swedish actress Pernilla August was born in 1958. August played Shimi Skywalker in The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, along voicing Shimi in one episode of The Clone Wars.

• Author John Whitman was born in 1967. Whitman was pretty active in writing young reader Star Wars books, most notably the “Galaxy of Fear” series. Nothing like children’s books with titles like Eaten Alive, City of the Dead, and The Nightmare Machine. Basically Goosebumps but Star Wars. No sleep for the kids. Whitman is also founded the Krav Maga Alliance.

• Videogame Star Wars: Racer Revenge was released for the PS2 in 2002. In an attempt to give a racing game a plot, it’s Sebulba trying to get his revenge on Anakin. Dugs can hold a grudge.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

When I saw the entry Anthem of Evil I just assumed somehow some heavy metal songs had accidentally creep into Wookieepedia. Turns out it was instead a track from Rise of Skywalker’s soundtrack. Composed by the GOAT John Williams, the track is written for the Sith Eternal. Rock out with the Dark Side.

News From the HoloNet

Star Wars Rise of Resistance Reopening Date Revealed

The Disneyland Rise of the Resistance reopens today! It’s still the same, the timeline refresh hasn’t come to Disneyland yet.

Star Wars and Life Of Brian actor, 87, left bulk of £720,000 fortune to sister, close friends and cats home

Admiral Piett was a fellow cat guy.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. I know I had said probably no newsletter on Friday, but I’m a creature of habit and if it’s best for me if I stick to a schedule. This was originally supposed to be a short newsletter and instead it’s now over 5,200 words. So that’s why it’s a day late but it’s still fun. I finally made the pilgrimage to Galaxy’s Edge. Yup, that’s right. I willingly went to Florida, basically handed Bob Iger all my money in large sack with dollar sign on it, and then was rudely escorted from Disney World for arguing with Kylo Ren. Plus there’s a Death Star HR Book Club entry that I just wasn’t able to get to last week.

This is a pretty picture heavy Death Star HR, if you’re reading this on Gmail in your browser, you’ll need to click the “read full message” link or something like that.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

Extremely accurate.

Extremely, extremely accurate. I couldn’t cry though, it was too cold.

Getting 86’d From Oga’s Cantina

Visiting Galaxy’s Edge1 has been a goal of mine since, well, the day it opened back in 2019. Specifically either May 31st, 2019 in Disneyland or August 29th, 2019 in Disney World. It didn’t happen. First there was COVID. Then there was just life getting in the way. Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan and I do a fair amount of traveling, but it’s still a production to spend a 4 days to a week in Anaheim or Orlando. Plus, the cost. Back in 2024, we were in San Diego for Thanksgiving and I kicked around the idea of a day trip to Disneyland and doing a solo day trip. It would have been a minimum of $600.00 or so factoring tickets, gas, merch, etc.. Although in the interest of fairness to the Mouse, parking was pretty reasonable at $30.00. I paid more than that a few weeks later to park at a Dallas Stars game. In the end, between the cost and the limited time I had, it just wasn’t worth the road trip to Anaheim. But finally, the wait is over. As a 46th birthday trip, we made the pilgrimage to Disney World and I got to spend a day at the Black Spire Outpost.

The question for me was how do I want to write this up? And how much time do I want to spend doing “content?” I don’t consider myself any kind of influencee or anything (even if there are the Death Star HR Instagram and YouTube pages that you should follow) and while the main goal of the trip was for me to experience Galaxy’s Edge, in the back of my mind there’s always “what am I going to say about this one Death Star HR?” So in the end, I took a bunch of pictures and a few short video clips, there’s a few photo dumps on the Instagram page, but doing that was secondary to just immersing myself in the world.

The plan was we get up early and get to Hollywood Studios at “Rope Drop.” This is what I guess the super fans do. It was 27 degrees when we left the hotel. IN FLORIDA. This was completely unacceptable but the sun was shining and the walk over helped warm me up a little bit. The Disney security person searched my backpack so thoroughly that I fully expected them to tell me the guard with the rubber glove was my first ride of the day. Our goal was to do the Rise of the Resistance ride first thing, since it tends to have the longest wait time. Unfortunately, like the New Republic government, the ride was down for repairs in the morning. So instead, we started at Smuggler’s Run.

Honestly, the highlight of Smugglers Run is walking up to and just seeing a full-size Millennium Falcon sitting there. That was my “welcome to Galaxy’s Edge” moment, where you really feel like you’ve stepped into the Star Wars universe. More than seeing Rey walk by as we were heading to the ride, more than seeing a random X-Wing or A-Wing near Rise of the Resistance. Being able to walk up to and around the Falcon in the docking bay, was something else. They even have the sound effects of it trying to start up, you know cause Lando’s people didn’t fix the hyperdrive motivator.

You get the same feeling after you make your way through the line and get onto the Falcon. It really does feel like you stepped onto the set. You see the exposed wiring and damage, because the Falcon is a hunk of junk. There’s the Dejarik board. In a box there’s the remote and the helmet with the blast shield. Since we’re in the Sequel Trilogy timeline, there’s even a Porg nest. Like you almost expect to walk around the a corridor and see Chewie trying to fix it. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised they don’t either have an animatronic Chewie or a cast member in costume on board. The main part of the ride puts you in the Falcon’s cockpit as part of a six-person crew where you’re assigned to either be the pilot, gunner, or engineer. The plot, as it were, is you’re flying the Falcon to help everyone’s favorite pirate, Hondo Ohnaka steal coaxium from a First Order transport. First time around I got gunner. Which basically just means hitting a button to fire the blasters over and over again. It’s interactive, to a point. Same with being engineer. You’re just hitting some buttons to fix any damage you take. Pilot is the best gig, and I finally got to do that on the last night we were there2. One pilot controls left and right, the other controls up and down. But the best spot is the right pilot. Because because you get to pull the lever that engages the hyperdrive. That right there, it just puts you in the Star Wars world. Pull the level back, watch the stars turn into lines, and then traveling through hyperspace, it’s just everything you could want as a Star Wars fan.

The second ride I did was the old school Star Tours. The last time I had been to Disney was 2002 at Disneyland. We did Star Tours then, I still have a Mos Eisley Cantina pilsner glass that I bought in the souvenir shop after the ride. Per Wikipedia, Star Tours was the first licensed non-Disney IP featured as a ride. In 2010, Disney redid Star Tours to give it an upgrade. They added more destinations that you “visit” and more introduction segments and random characters. All randomized so you could ride all day if you wanted and it would be extremely unlikely you’d get the same tour. We rode it twice, the second time was better one. There was 3-D Darth Vader to start, the first planet was Kashyyyk, the Wookiee planet, we got our second mission from Mando and Grogu, and that was going to help Ahsoka as she flies around the Puurgil. Clearly the timeline doesn’t matter. Since in the first ride, we had the Boonta Eve Classic from Phantom Menace and then the Battle of Corsucant from Revenge of the Sith. It is the least interactive ride, you just side there an the pod does the movement, but it’s still fun. Plus, I love that the exterior is still the Ewok village and the AT-AT. Never change that.

It took an extra day, but I finally made it to Rise of the Resistance. This was the ride that I was told I had to go on. Our second day, after Epcot, EP#1F decided she need a break, the Disney App said it was “only” 65 minutes. Better than the 3 hour wait advertised the day before. The wait turned out to be around 90ish minutes but still worth it. It’s less of a straight up ride and more of, I almost hate to use the word, experience. You’re put in the role of a Resistance recruit who gets captured by the First Order and you have to escape the First Order Star Destroyer. It’s two rides in one coupled with some cast member interaction. Once you finally snake your way through the line, you get BB-8 along with a hologram of Rey giving you your mission to get to the secret Resistance base on Pacara. It’s cool. But then you walk out to go to your transport shuttle and you see Black One with BB-8 in the droid slot and what’s supposed to be Poe in the cockpit. Once you’re in the shuttle, it’s a Star Tours style ride where it’s all video screens. It is cool because they have front and back screens, looking out the transport shuttle cockpit you can see the ship heading into space and the Star Destroyer. Watching the back video screen you can see the ship leaving the planet and your X-Wing escorts.

The intro there is cool, but the ride really starts when you get captured by the First Order. You and your fellow Resistance fighters are escorted off by a First Order officer. Immediately when you get off you see the army of Stormtroopers waiting. I was a little surprised these were static, given the level of detail on the ride, I would have expected at least ones in the first couple rows to have a little movement. But it makes for a really cool backdrop. This was one of two spots where the cast members really committed to the bit of staying in character. The First Order officers directed everyone where to go for the next part of the ride and were as smug and sarcastic you’d expect them to be. Everyone gets broken up into 16 person pods and placed in a detention cell so General Hux and Kylo Ren can interrogate you. Just when things look break, the Resistance spies “cut” though the door and rescue you. It’s a very cool setup, LED lights in the wall light up to make it look like the people on the other side are cutting through the door.

Once you’re rescued by the Resistance, the actual ride starts. They put everyone into two Prisoner Transport Unit cars and tell the reprogrammed droids manning the cars to get us to the escape pod bays. As the ride starts, you see a probe droid and Stormtrooper “shoot” at you. Then you get to what I thought was the coolest scene on the ride. Coming into a room with two life-sized AT-ATs. One car backs out of the room, the other car goes up an elevator until you’re face to face with the “head” of the walker, and then back down again. You get two Kylo Ren moments, one where he and Hux are on the bridge talking about the impending rescue attempt by the Resistance, and one towards the end where you either get an animatronic Kylo trying to stop your cars with the Force, or Ren in his TIE Fighter on the view screen. Eventually you make it to the escape pods and crash land back on Batuu, where you’re welcomed into the Resistance.

The ride is probably the closest any of us are going to get to being in a Star Wars movie. It really does feel like you’re trying to escape a Star Destroyer. Your rational mind knows that the lasers going over your red LEDs, but your lizard brain at least has your on heightened alert. When Kylo Ren stabs his lightsaber through the floor to try to stop you (one of the cooler effects) again you know it’s just an LED with a moving panel, but it really does look like something from the movies. Yes, the ride is a long wait. Yes, you can skip the line but you have to buy the super fancy Lightning Lane, the ride isn’t part of the normal Lightning Lane options. But more than Star Tours, more than Smuggler’s Run, it’s the ride that makes you feel like you’re in the Star Wars universe.

While I said above that I was treating the trip for me and not turning every moment into #CONTENT, there was one shot specifically I had to do. The Hunt for Ben Solo movement is alive and well, and they were doing the #BLUEMILKCHALLENGE. Basically just get a picture with Blue Milk and use a couple of hashtags. It’s fun, Blue Milk was pretty tasty really. And I got my Instagram content.

There was still plenty to do on our list. First on the list was Savi’s Workshop where you build your own lightsaber. I mean, who doesn’t want a lightsaber? It’s pretty straight forward, you chose your lightsaber theme. There’s Peace and Justice, Power and Control, Elemental Nature, and Protection and Defense. You tell them what color Kyber Crystal you want out of red, yellow, purple, green, and blue. Each of the themes has 10 pieces, you pick 2 sleeves, an emitter, a pommel cap, and an activation plate. So it’s of course possible for someone to have the same lightsaber as you, but there are a lot of combinations out there so it’s not that likely. This is another one where the cast members really do stay in character. They call themselves the Gatherers, and they seek out materials that can be used for lightsabers. When you’re out wandering around, you’re not supposed to refer to building lightsabers lest any First Order Stormtroopers hear you. The process itself is pretty straight forward. Put your Kyber Crystal in the main part, screw on the pieces, and you insert the hilt into a tube that attaches the blade. There’s a whole ceremonial aspect as well, as the main Gatherer guides you through building it and everyone gets to raise their lightsabers at the end. It’s pretty well done, all the cast members stay in character and the lightsabers seem pretty high quality. The parts are all metal, it’s got some heft to it. I guess the whole thing weighs 2-3 pounds. There is a build you own lightsaber spot at the merch store after Star Tours, but it’s all plastic pieces.

Keeping on with giving more money to the Mouse, we next did the droid build. If the cast members at Savi’s Workshop were committed to the bit, the ones at Droid Depot were, well, less so. It’s much more get you in, build the droid, and get you moving along. They certainly don’t mind if you stop and take it all, the detail at the droid shop like everything else, was top notch. But it wasn’t “in world.” I chatted with one of the workers who was helping people make sure they got the right parts about how Chopper was our favorite droid. It’s pretty straight forward, you can built an R series, BB series, or C series droid. There’s a conveyor belt with all the pieces, you gather up the ones you need and decide your color scheme. Then take it to a table and build. Most of the pieces snap together, you do have to use a power screwdriver on a couple pieces so you really feel like you’re putting something together. I build my very own Chopper while EP#1F made a BB unit for the sole purpose of chasing the cat around.

But the highlight was when we went to the build station, the cast member who was going to help us looked at my jacket and said “Go Green!3” Turns out he had just graduated from Michigan State University last year. I felt extremely old, as it has been many years since my graduation. Unfortunately I don’t recall his name, but we chatted for a few minutes about the great Mitten state. The kids, as we’re calling the droids, turned out pretty nice. The controls are simple to use and responsive. I didn’t get any of the personality chips they offer as add ons, but may try ordering them. My Chopper already sounds like Chopper.

The last scheduled stop at Galaxy’s Edge was Oga’s Cantina. This was another one where the level of detail was top notch. It really does feel like you’re in a random Outer Rim spaceport cantina. I know, you’re thinking it’s not a Star Wars cantina without some level of danger. And how dangerous can things really be if you’re at Disney World? Well, the people next to us at the bar were from New Jersey, so there was a higher than normal chance of violence. I kid, I kid. I love New Jersey. But it’s all Star Wars themed drinks, both with and without alcohol. Is there a special “Star Warsy” word for alcohol? I don’t actually know. You see references to what are clearly supposed to be alcoholic drinks in Star Wars, like Corellian brandy, but I’m not sure the word “alcohol” is ever used. Anyway, the bar is really cool looking. You’ve got IG droid heads on the towers. Lightsaber hilts for tap handles. The drinks are all pre-made and on tap, I get it. Makes things move a lot easier if the bartenders don’t actually have to spend their time mixing drinks.

Music is provided R-3X, the original Star Tours droid from back in the day. Fun fact, Paul Reubens does the voice. It’s the best possible way to experience a Star Wars cantina. All the atmosphere but only about a 1% chance Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba will try to start something.

I was a little surprised you didn’t see more characters walking around. You’ll see Kylo Ren and Stormtroopers, Stormtroopers on their own, Mando with Grogu, Rey, Chewbacca, and Vi Moardi who is definitely a character only the Sickos know. If the First Order Officer walks around, I didn’t see them. It does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity not to have a few more. Even if you just wanted to stick with the Sequel Trilogy, how hard would it have been to add Finn, Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, and General Hux. The timeline even works that General Leia Organa could have been walking around. Interacting with the characters is probably the perfect example of the challenge Galaxy’s Edge has and why at least at Disneyland it’s moving to a more generic “Star Wars World” type of feel. Most people likely just want to get their picture taken so they can say they got a picture with Chewie. But they characters want to interact with you “in world.” I’m 99% sure the people in the Mando and the Stormtrooper costumes aren’t actually speaking their lines because of the helmets. They have pre-programmed dialog that that either runs on a loop and they know the pattern so they know what comes next, or they have something where they can select what speech they want. Mando’s opening line to me was I looked nervous, maybe I had a bounty on my head. I don’t remember what I said in response, but his reply to me was clearly the next line of pre-set dialog and not an actual response.

Rey and Chewie were a bit different. There were another 3-4 cast members around Chewie who would translate Wookiee-speak4 for you. Chewie and I had a nice chat, through his handler, about if we had a good Life Day and that I shouldn’t let the First Order know that Chewie was at Black Spire Outpost. I mean honestly, if the First Order Stormtroopers couldn’t find the only Wookiee on Batuu, they probably deserve to be Force choked by Kylo Ren.

Rey was the most fun, because as the only human without a helmet on, she could actually talk to you. And I’m honestly a little proud of myself that I got her to break character for just a split second5.

Rey - Are you loyal to the Resistance?

Me - I am, and I need to get a message to Resistance Intelligence. My wife6 is a First Order sympathizer and I want to turn her in.

Rey - Oh no! Could she be convinced to switch sides? Finn was once a Stormtrooper and now he’s one of the great leaders of the Resistance.

Me - I don’t think she would. She’s pretty committed to the dark side. She’s even a big fan of Palpatine.

Rey - [in a mock horrified tone] Palpatine7???

Me - Well, they say opposites attract.

And at that moment, for just a split second she started to smile/laugh, and then went right back to her game face. And I got my picture and moved along, promising not to let the First Order know she was here.

I am glad I got to see Galaxy’s Edge before it changes. Disneyland is already in the process of turning Galaxy’s Edge from an experience happening in a certain time and place in the Star Wars universe, to a more generic “Star Wars Land” situation. It hasn’t been announced but certainly this will happen at Disney World as well. The timeline of the new version isn’t really a thing. You’ll have Sequel Trilogy characters mixed in with Original Trilogy ones. Safe to assume it’s only a matter of time before they mix the Prequels in. The music is changing from music written specifically for Black Spire Outpost to the classic Star Wars tunes we all know and love. I get Disney looks at the bottom line and thinks “if we can bring in the fans who want their picture taken with Luke but not Rey, it’s more money.” Galaxy’s Edge, along with it’s companion the Galactic Starcruiser Hotel were ambitious projects in both storytelling and trying to convince fans that the better way to see this park was to be part of the story instead of just passively wandering through. Maybe it will turn out that Galaxy’s Edge version 1.0 was ahead of it’s time and just too much for your average Disney visitor.

And finally, what might have been low-key my favorite moment all day. We were watching the entrance bit that the First Order does. An officer and two Stormtroopers do a speech about how the First Order is bringing, well, order to Batuu and then Kylo Ren shows up. They do a little crowd work interrogating park-goers if they’ve seen an Resistance fighters. As Kylo and the Stormtroopers leave to go walk around Black Spire Outpost, the crowd starts to scatter as well. A group of four teenage girls who were there for a cheerleader competition walk by us. One of them says to her friends, “I just don’t understand Star Wars.”

The Death Star Human Resources Department Book Club

Two Death Star HR book club entries in three weeks? I have felt that my commitment to reading really has fallen off the past few years. I’ve mentioned this before. Time that I spend working on Death Star HR is time that I’m not reading. So I do have a goal this year of reading more books. And even going to try to read books that aren’t Star Wars. What???? I know, blasphemy. But for now, we’re going to keep on doing Starship Troopers in the Star Wars world. We’ve at the middle book of the Dark Nest Trilogy.

• Title: The Unseen Queen

• Series: The Dark Nest Trilogy.

• Author: Troy Denning.

• Date published: September 27, 2005

• Pages: 333

• Status: Legends

• Summary in less than 20 words: The war against the Dark Side bugs comes a little more into focus.

We’re back in the second book of the Dark Nest Trilogy. Our heros learn that the Gorog (not Grogu) are still alive. These are the bad bugs who are under the influence of Lomi Plo, a Dark Jedi who survived the New Jedi Order events, only to get sucked into the Hive Mind. The Gorgo are secretly manipulating the rest of the Killiks into causing problems. Jacen Solo has both an out of wedlock child and an apocolyptic vision which I believe informs the plot of most of the remaining Legends Expanded Universe books. And the New New Republic doesn’t trust the Jedi. There’s a lot going down in The Unseen Queen.

When I wrote about the first book, The Joiner King, I said that I wasn’t a fan. There has to be some heavy lifting to set up a previously unknown species and enemy, you can’t just say oh the Sith are the bad guys here and everyone knows what’s going to happen. Here we got to focus more on the usual characters. It still feels a little convoluted in places, some side plots that don’t seem to really go anywhere, but it’s better than the first ones. I’m not going to rehash the plot, you can read it on Wookieepedia if you want. But instead say that while I’m still not sold on this Trilogy, it is at least getting better instead of getting worse.

The Good:

• The book narrowed it’s focus to the main characters: Luke, Han, Leia, and Mara; and the book is better for it. As I said last week, The Joiner King just felt like it was all over the place, this tightened it up and allowed the story to move at better pace.

The Bad:

• It’s not bad, per se. I just don’t really love the bugs. Like I said a week or two ago, it just felt like after the Yuuzhan Vong they couldn’t go back to Jedi vs Sith, so might as well try bugs.

• The idea of the Jedi getting sucked into a Hive Mind doesn’t really sit with me. I have a hard time seeing it happen.

Wildcard:

• Tarfang is back and he’s kicking ass! In this book, everyone’s favorite ill-tempered Ewok gets to use a lightsaber and just goes slashing through the bugs. Has there ever been an Ewok Jedi? Because if there was, Tarfang would probably be a Sith.

• Really not sure what’s going on with the cover here. I really think they maybe photoshopped Leia’s head onto a Luke body. It just doesn’t look quite right.

Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Edition

There was absolutely no way in the galaxy that we could visit Galaxy’s Edge and Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan not get snarky about it. After all, this was the woman who ordered a “Save The Empire” t-shirt to wear to the park.

While discussing what color Kyber crystal I’m going to get for my lightsaber:

Me: I’m afraid if I get a red light saber you will commandeer it.

Her: I don’t need to commandeer it, it will know me.

Folks, it’s not easy being married to a Sith Lord. Or I guess a Sith Lady.

While tapping her with my lightsaber.

Her: No effect. My skin must be made of…

Me: Beskar?

Her: …

Me: Did you know what it was called and just didn’t want to admit it?

Her: I’m not answering that question.

She knows. She won’t admit it. But she knows.

This Day in Star Wars History

I know, this is for Feb 6th. But I already typed it up hoping it would force me to be done by the 6th. It didn’t happen. But I’m not retyping.

Two births and a death from the galaxy far far away to mention on February 6th.

• Voice actor David Hayter was born in 1969. Hayter voices the playable Jedi Knight character in The Old Republic MMORPG and all its expansions. If you’re a gamer, he also voiced Solid Snake and Naked Snake/Big Boss in the Metal Gear Solid games.

• The Third Sister, Moses Ingram was born in 1994. Ingram played Insquisator Reva Sevander AKA The Third Sister in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. While filming, Ingram got some lightsaber training from Ewen McGregor, who she describes as “a graceful little butterfly.”

• English actor Harry Fielder passed away in 2021. Fielder played one of the Death Star Troopers who accompanies Darth Vader when Vader goes to interrogate Princess Leia. Fielder had a long character as an extra and character actor, and even wrote a book titled Extra Extra, Read All About It!: My Life as a Film and TV Extra.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

This week we’ve got one from the “are we really sure this should have a seperate entry” files, the Ghorman Carabinieri.

Ghorman Carabinieri were law enforcement individuals that worked on the planet Ghorman.

In 3 BBY Cassian Andor watched two carabinieri approach a group of protestors near the Monument to the Fallen in Palmo Plaza on Ghorman.

Interesting that they didn’t “Star Wars” up the name as “Carabinieri” are what the Italian gendarmerie are called here in our galaxy.

News From the HoloNet

Josh D’Amaro to succeed Bob Iger at Disney CEO

First I was passed over for President of Lucasfilm. Now I’m passed over as Disney CEO. Life isn’t fair.

The Super Bowl Just Became Star Wars’ Chance For Some Major Redemption

Clickbait headline, but if you look past that, you’ll see that we’re getting a trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu during the Super Bowl.

Steven Spielberg Achieves EGOT Status With Grammy Win for ‘Music by John Williams’

Worth noting that Tracy Jordan EGOT’d before Spielberg.

Rogue Squadron screenwriter reveals new details about the canceled Star Wars movie

Come on, Lucasfilm. Give us old fans the Rogue Squadron movie we want.

Thank you for reading The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. This post is public so feel free to share it. It is your destiny!

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Welcome back to an actual Friday edition of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. We’re clocking in at 3,600 words this week because it’s been Hoth-like here in Dallas, as I’m typing this on Wednesday, I haven’t actually left my house since last Thursday. Cabin fever is setting in which means might as well just write about Star Wars. This week there’s a long rundown on all known and rumored Star Wars movies/shows, big changes are coming to Disneyland, and we start by combing two of my favorite things.

Just as a programming note, there will probably not be a Death Star HR next week, or if there is, it will be a very short one. Plan on no Death Star HR and if I actually get one out and in your inbox, well consider it a nice surprise then.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

I’ve mentioned before that I went to Michigan State University. While most people probably known MSU for it’s basketball team or maybe the 10 year run of success from 2007 - 2017 in football1; when I was growing up it was a hockey school. And last Saturday, it was Star Wars night and Munn Ice Arena was part of the galaxy far, far away.

That’s the Great Lakes Garrison, the 501st Legion’s Michigan chapter. They were on hand to celebrate Star Wars night and make sure any Rebel scum aka Minnesota Golden Gophers fans didn’t get out of line.

It helps when one of your school colors and matches a standard lightsaber color. To celebrate Star Wars night, there was a lightsaber giveaway at the game and and Sparty skated around in a Jedi robe. To top it off, the MSU completed their sweep of Minnesota. The Force was with the Spartans.

Always In Motion Is The Future

As we’re mostly just trying to survive the hellscape that has been 2026 so far, it might be nice to have something to look forward to. I try to do this from time to time, take a look at what’s out there in the Star Wars universe and what’s on the horizon.

TV Shows. Currently we only have three confirmed Disney+ shows, all scheduled to be released this year.

• Maul: Shadow Lord. As I wrote about last week, the 10 episode animated series about the should-be-dead former Sith apprentice and rise to power as a crime lord gets released April 6th, 2026 on Disney+.

• Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi. A spinoff from Star Wars: Visions, this will continue the story from the short films The Ninth Jedi from Volume 1 and The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope from Volume 3. Release date is confirmed for this year but not date yet.

• Ahsoka season 2. The only confirmed live-action streaming show right now. Filming wrapped in October of last year. Again, no release date other than it’s coming out this year. I would expect we’ll see it the November/December release slot that Disney has used.

• Tales of the [SOMETHING]. Nothing is confirmed but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another Tales for May the 4th this year or next year.

• The Mandalorian season 4. Jon Favreau has said the script is written, but who knows. At least as of right now, it seems less likely to happen as Disney pivots back to movies. If The Mandalorian and Grogu is a blockbuster things might change.

• Book of Boba Fett season 2. Temuera Morrison really wants this to happen, but there’s no indication it will.

• Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2. Ewan McGregor really wants this to happen, but there’s no indication it will.

• Skeleton Crew season 2. The creators have indicated they’d like to do a season 2, but that’s all. There was some recent info that the Filoniverse movie would have involved at least some characters from Skeleton Crew.

• Rangers of the New Republic. Previously I would have said this was dead. But as we all know, nothing ever really dies in the Star Wars universe. After Disney settled the lawsuit with Gina Carano, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Cara Dune returns.

• Rogue Squadron. Another one of the old announcements that’s been stuck. Back in the fall, rumors surfaced that Rogue Squadron would go from a movie as originally announced to a TV series. And as I said back in the fall, this would be a mistake. Star Wars is meant to be seen on the big screen. Something focusing on space battles absolutely needs be seen on the big screen.

Movies. Right now Disney has three confirmed movie dates. May 22, 2026, May 28, 2027, and December 17, 2027. The first two are already spoken for. There had previously been a December 2026 slot reserved for a Star Wars movie, but that was given away to…I want to say a Pixar movie? Right now there are three confirmed releases that there are dates for, and then a whole lot of guesses.

• The Mandalorian and Grogu. The first new Star Wars movie since 2019, the story of the galaxy’s best dad and his little green son releases on May 22, 2026.

• Star Wars: Starfighter. The Shawn Levy directed movie stars Ryan Gosling, Flynn Gray, Mia Goth, Matt Smith, and Amy Adams. Details have been fairly scarce. It’s supposed to be a brand new story with brand new characters. In fact, writer Jonathan Topper said there’s no cameos. Tom Cruise directed a lightsaber duel and nothing makes sense anymore. Release date of May 28, 2027

• Star Wars (1977). What more do you have to say? A restored and remastered cut of A New Hope will be released for Star Wars 50th anniversary. Coming to a theater near you February 19, 2027.

• Rogue One - 10th Anniversary. I, and lots of other people, have noted that it would be really really cool to go to the theater and watch the last 3 episodes of Andor and have it lead directly into Rogue One. Disney did a limited re-release of Rogue One back in 2022 before Andor was released. No reason they couldn’t do it again. Last year at Star Wars Celebration, Tony Gilroy said there had been interest in an Andor/Rogue One big screen event. This made the rounds on Instagram last year, but I can’t find any actual confirmation.

• Attack of the Clones - 25th anniversary. The 25th anniversary of AOTC is in 2027. Given that The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith were in the theaters for their 25th and 20th anniversary in the last couple years, I think it’s pretty likely we’ll see AOTC on the big screen again. May the 4th weekend, 2027 would be perfect. After Celebration but before Starfighter.

• The Dave Filoni Mandoverse movie. As I noted in a link above, there are rumors the movie is on pause. There are also rumors it will get reworked into a streaming show. I’m pretty certain this movie will happen at least in some form, I just don’t know when. There’s no indication it’s started filming or even that there’s a script. And with Filoni getting more responsibility at Lucasfilm, who knows.

• Rey - New Jedi Order movie. Kathleen Kennedy’s exit interview that I mentioned last week had quite a few updates. I don’t know if it’s telling that the Rey movie wasn’t mentioned, or that there’s just so many ideas out there it’s easy to forget one. If Rey is supposed to be the face of the Sequel Trilogy as Disney would like, they really need to get that Rey movie done. Either way, the story of Rey rebuilding the Jedi Order is supposed to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Back in December, Daisy Ridley “remained positive that the film would get made, promising fans it would be ‘worth the wait’.”

• Dawn of the Jedi. The James Mangold movie is supposed to take place 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace and tell the story of, well, the dawn of the Jedi. Per Kennedy, Mangold and Beau Williamson have written the script, but it’s “on the back burner.”

• Simon Kinberg trilogy. It’s not known if this is going to be Episodes X - XII of the Skywalker Saga or not, reporting differs and it’s possible Disney itself doesn’t even know yet. Whatever the plot ends up being, it seems much more likely that’s going to happen than a lot of the ideas on the list here. As Kennedy said, “I know that Dave and Lynwen are very much on board with what Simon’s doing, and that would be a new trilogy. In the timeline of things, that takes you well into 2030 plus. So that’s really what’s up next.”

• Taika Waititi movie - Per Kennedy, a script has been turned in and that it’s “somewhat alive.” In a recent interview, Waititi said “I’m just trying to go back and harness a little bit more of the fun from the original films, which is what I remember [from] them.” No dates have been released.

• Donald Glover’s Lando movie. Lando started as a Justin Simien led TV series and has morphed into a Donald Glover led movie. Glover has turned in a script, per Kennedy. It’s also “somewhat alive.” No further information or dates are out there.

• A Droid Story. The lost cartoon. It was announced and there haven’t been any updates. As it was going to be animated there’s maybe an outside chance, just because it’s cheaper than a live action movie. But I wouldn’t hold my breath on this one. Retool the plot and make it Chopper’s story.

• Untitled Rian Johnson trilogy. Honestly I think The Hunt For Ben Solo happens before this does. Kennedy said she thought “And then I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity. I think Rian made one of the best Star Wars movies. He’s a brilliant filmmaker and he got spooked. This is the rough part.” Johnson, for his part disagreed.

• The Hunt For Ben Solo. Quoting Kennedy again, “Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.” TAKE THE RISK, DISNEY!

Books. Because I’m still stuck in the Expanded Universe and only sporadically read canon, I don’t really keep up with new book releases. I mean, I took to see what’s out there but it’s not at the top of my list for things to keep track of. Friend of Death Star HR, Chelsea Zukowski over at the Space Wizards Book Club has a good rundown of what’s coming out this year.

Chelsea Zukowski | Space Wizards Book Club

Star Wars books coming in 2026

As the year winds down and we look back at all the wonderful new Star Wars stories we read in 2025, it’s time to get hyped for the books, comics, and manga coming in 2026…

Read more

5 months ago · 11 likes · Chelsea Zukowski

Did I miss anything? I don’t think I did.

The World Between Worlds Comes For Galaxy’s Edge

OK it’s not, but the headline will make sense. I came up with the headline just as a joke but the World Between Worlds would make for a pretty cool ride as part of Galaxy’s Edge. The World Between Worlds, introduced in Rebels, is a portal that allows a person to travel between time and space. In the Disney context, you could have a ride that takes you through all the different eras of Star Wars. It’s a good idea, Disney CEO Bob Iger (who I’m sure is subscribed under a burner account) give me a call. I’ve got some thoughts on how it should go.

If you’ve been to Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland or Disney World, you’ve seen that it’s set in the Sequel Trilogy era. The characters are strictly either Disney creations or legacy characters that still exist in the ST timeline. First Order Stormtroopers wander around. Maybe you’ll see Kylo Ren or Rey out and about. The main ride is called Rise of the Resistance, not Rise of the Rebellion. Galactic Starcruiser, the ill-fated Star Wars hotel, also took place during the Sequel Trilogy timeline. A while back I speculated that while it wasn’t the only reason the Galactic Starcruiser ended up in the Karthon Chop Fields, I think it might have at least had a fighting chance if they set it during the Original Trilogy. I mean, I get it. Disney paid roughly $ 4 billion dollars to acquire Star Wars. They then spent however many billions on the new movies and streaming shows. They’re not going to just ignore those characters as part of their theme parks.

Until now at least. Disney recently announced that the timeline of Galaxy’s Edge is getting a little fuzzy.

Cast members performing as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo will join Chewbacca and R2-D2. And in pursuit will be Darth Vader and his Imperial Stormtroopers. New storylines will come to life at Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, spanning multiple eras of the planet’s rich history. These updates allow guests to experience the Galactic Civil War and the New Republic, as well as the Age of Resistance. Rey and other sequel trilogy characters will remain in the area near Rise of the Resistance which will remain unchanged. The marketplace will showcase New Republic era characters, such as Mando and Grogu, as well as Ahsoka Tano.

This isn’t exactly a surprise. Disney had already incorporated Luke into some of the events at Galaxy’s Edge, although it was supposed to be Luke from The Mandalorian even though Galaxy’s Edge was supposed to take place between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. There was something as well, where there was some imagry for Anakin and Padme. Maybe it was for Valentine’s Day? I know I wrote about it but the Substack search function is Bantha poodoo, even for searching my old posts. It’s not cheap to go to Disney these days. The people who have the money to go are the people who grew up with Star Wars, especially the Original Trilogy, and are more or less functioning adults. It is essentially Disney saying “fine, we give up. We know what makes us money.”

As an article in Gizmodo notes, this was probably inevitable.

When I first visited it in late 2019, I was struck by both how excellently Galaxy’s Edge felt like it had created something that was like stepping into a different world with its heady mix of sound design, architectural tricks, and commitment to the theme, and by how utterly unsustainable that commitment was going to be, given the expectations the average Disney parks visitor was going to have of a Star Wars theme park land. If anything, it’s a miracle that it’s taken Disney almost seven years to restrain itself from shoving Darth Vader in there, that it held on so long to the land’s original vision, even as that vision was slowly carved away and diminished in time.

It sounds like, and I say this as someone who has not been to Galaxy’s Edge yet, that you have two competing interests. I’ve discussed this before, you have the Normies and the Sickos. The Sickos are the people who truly would appreciate a completely immersive Star Wars theme park and geek out about all the little details, like having consequences for your choices:

During a panel at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando this weekend, it was revealed that the fully immersive theme park areas will allow visitors to develop a reputation. That’s right. If you ride the attraction that pits the First Order vs. the Resistance, the side you pick will have ramifications throughout the park. Fly the Millennium Falcon in another ride and, depending on how well you do, maybe a Bounty Hunter will start hunting you. You may be asked to do tasks for one side or the other in a bar and, whether you choose to do it or not, could affect your park experiences. The whole point is to immerse the viewer in Star Wars in a way they’ve never felt before.

Would I love to do something like this? Absolutely. It also sounds like it never was implemented. But there are less people like me and more Normies, people who are there on a Disney vacation and have Galaxy’s Edge as just one stop on the agenda. The people who know the main characters from the movies and maybe know Mando and Grogu from the memes. They just want to let their kid, or spouse, get their picture with Chewie or Darth Vader, and then move on to go get a drink or two at Epcot.

It’s unfortunate that such an ambitious, immersive product didn’t necessarily work out. Same could be said for the Galactic Starcruiser hotel. But I get why Disney is doing it.

This Day in Star Wars History

Two births and two books for this January 30 edition of This Day in Star Wars History.

• Musician Marty Balin was born in 1942. Balin was one of the founding members of Jefferson Airplane which then went on to become Jefferson Starship. Balin also was the lead singer for the holographic band in The Star Wars Holiday Special. They play the song “Light The Sky On Fire” which was an actual Jefferson Starship song and included on the band’s Greatest Hits album.

• Irish actress Valene Kane was born in 1987 in Northern Ireland. As far as I can tell, Kane has primarily appeared in United Kingdom shows, although you make recognize her from The Fall, staring long-time Death Star HR favorite Gillian Anderson. Kane played Lyra Erso in Rogue One.

• Expanded Universe novel Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter was published in 2001. Written by Michael Reaves, the book is takes place before The Phantom Menace, where Darth Sidious tasks his young apprentice with tracking down a MacGuffin Sith Holocron that contains all of Palpatine’s evil plans.

• Another Expanded Universe novel, Allegiance by Timothy Zahn was published in 2007. I recently wondered if there were any Star Wars books or anything from the perspective of Stormtroopers. Well, I had forgotten about this one. So there’s at least one book out there where the Stormtroopers get to tell their story.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

Sometimes the Force works in mysterious ways. On Wednesday, as I was writing and hitting the Wookieepedia randomizer, I hit on Jadru’s crystal ball. I saved the link but didn’t actually do the write-up. Then yesterday, the 29th was Ahsoka Tano Day. To celebrate I watched a few episodes of Ahsoka. Which got me thinking, was Jadru maybe just slightly an inspiration for the Nightsisters?

Jadru’s crystal ball was a magical artifact possessed by the Dark Enchantress Jadru on the forest moon of Endor. The object seemed to be created from flame conjured by Jadru herself and allowed her to execute several fantastic powers. The ball was used as a portal of sorts, allowing Jadru to witness events all over the forest moon and to communicate with people far away from her isolated lair.

Certainly sounds like she could have been a Nightsister.

News From the HoloNet

Rian Johnson Shares His Preferred Vision for the Future of ‘Star Wars’

Sadly, it’s not a Darth Jar Jar movie.

What Daisy Ridley says about her ‘Star Wars’ future, Lucasfilm shake-up

As mentioned above, it sounds like the Rey movie is still a go.

George Lucas’ Canceled Star Wars Series Could Have Completely Changed The Franchise

I think you’re going to see some of the ideas for Star Wars: Underworld show up in Maul: Shadow Lord.

Taika Waititi Says His STAR WARS Movie Will Be Fun With High Stakes

I am on the record as saying Star Wars should be fun, not everything needs to be Andor.

An Animation Legend Turned Down The Chance To Lead Lucasfilm Before Dave Filoni

It would have been very, very interesting to see what Star Wars animation would have looked like if Genndy Tartakovsky took the job. H/T to for this one.

‘Star Wars’ Represented in WGA and Saturn Awards

Glad to see Denise Gough and Genevieve O’Reilly) nominated.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

Good afternoon and welcome back to this week’s edition of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. I know that last week I said the new one would be out on Friday. It is Sunday, a day that is obviously not Friday. Things happen, like spending the end of last week getting ready for a winter death storm. But hey, better Sunday than Tuesday I suppose. The goal is to get back schedule for Friday drops. So I guarantee1 that the next Death Star HR will be on the 30th. This week, the new Maul: Shadow Lord trailer is out. I pull some quotes from Kathleen Kennedy’s exit interview, and it’s the first 2026 entry of the Death Star Human Resources Bookclub.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

Bo-Katan and Buc-ees. I’m here for it.

For those of you who have never been to a Buc-ees, Emily Swallow’s description of a gas station meets amusement park is pretty spot on.

This Is Where The “Fun” Begins

Once again randomly thinking about Andor and the Ghorman Massacre.

No reason whatsoever. Just happened to pop into my mind again. Can’t think of any reason to compare the murder of innocent protestors on Ghorman by masked agents of the state to anything that’s happening in, I don’t know, a US state with a Hoth-like climate.

New Darth Maul Show Will Give Life Meaning Again

Disney knows how to create a buzz, I’ll give them that. On Wednesday the 21st, they released a teaser trailer, teasing us that the real trailer will be released on the 22nd. First up, the teaser.

OK, you have my attention. There’s no actual real footage but the black and red is striking, you have Maul’s laugh there. And then ending with this? I’m in.

I’m not saying I was waiting until midnight for the real trailer to drop. But maybe when I got up the following day, the first thing I did after checking to see if Dave Filoni had responded to my emails RE: Darth Jar Jar series, was check YouTube to see if the full trailer was up. And what a trailer it is.

OK, so what do we actually know about the show? From the Mothership itself:

Beginning with a two-episode premiere on Disney+ April 6, 2026, and two episodes each week leading to a finale on Star Wars Day, May the 4th, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord picks up after the events of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, for a pulpy adventure that finds Maul plotting to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire. There, he crosses paths with a disillusioned young Jedi Padawan who may just be the apprentice he is seeking to aid him in his relentless pursuit for revenge.

Setting the stage for the next chapter in Maul’s relentless pursuit of revenge and quest for power among the underworld crime syndicates, the series takes place in the gritty cityscape of Janix. “It’s one part Gotham, one part Metropolis and a hundred percent Star Wars with all these different levels and layers,” says Michnovetz. “It’s a city essentially built into a crater on this planet that is untouched by the Empire. It’s got a functioning democracy and law enforcement doing a good job of policing their own community. It’s a rich environment for crime and gangsters, but so far there’s been a very peaceful accord between all of them in the interest of business.”

Janix is a new planet created for the series, it obviously gives off Coruscant vibes there. We’ve got the local security forces dealing with a new problem and are probably in over their head. We see the early model of Stormtroopers there as well, maybe taking over the planet from the locals. We can add for sure one, maybe two more Jedi who survived Order 66. There’s two Inquisitors we’ve previously seen. Marrok, first seen in Ahsoka and the Eleventh Brother, previously seen in Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire. It has all the marks of current Star Wars, familiar yet new.

Besides Maul himself, most of the internet chatter seems to be about Devon Izara, the young Twi'lek Padawan. People immediately clocked her as a young version of Darth Talon. As she is a character from the 2006 Legacy and 2010 Legacy - War comic series, I wasn’t really aware of her other than occasionally seeing some artwork of her on Star Wars Instagram accounts and stuff like that.

There’s of course no proof that Devon will become Darth Talon, but there’s enough to get the fans chattering. Darth Talon is a Twi’lek. She has the red and black Darth Maul like look. The Force knows that Dave Filoni is an Expanded Universe guy and that Disney Star Wars, maybe especially the animation side of things, are pretty happy to mine the Expanded Universe like it’s Deep Substrate Foliated Kalkite to pick and choose the parts they want to bring back into canon.

And finally, we get a little insight from Darth Maul himself.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I think for a lot of younger Star Wars fans, Sam Witwer is their Darth Maul. If you were a little too young to see The Phantom Menace but were old enough to get into Star Wars when The Clone Wars rolled around, that’s how you think of as Darth Maul. When I went to Rebel Scum Con last year, he had the second longest autograph line behind Katee Sackhoff.

Did we NEED a Darth Maul animated series? No, but in a sense we really don’t need any of this. Star Wars isn’t anywhere to be seen on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs2. But the animation looks cool, the little bit of the story we know looks fun. There’s bound to be a lot of fun lightsaber duels. The first two episodes drop on April 6th, then it’s two episodes a week with the finale on May the 4th.

Kathleen Kennedy Speaks!

I mean, this is a little more predictable than the dead speaking. I wanted to get to this last week but just ran out of time. In conjunction with her announced retirement, former, or at least soon to be former Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy gave her exit interview with Deadline. I’m not sure I’d call it an especially in-depth interview, but it is interesting nonetheless as in we get some updates on projects where there’s been very little information lately. Some choice quotes.

On whether Starfighter will be turned into a larger project:

DEADLINE: You’ve just wrapped the sixth film in the Star Wars universe. Is Starfighter meant to be an ongoing theatrical series?

KENNEDY: It was envisioned as a single film. Shawn Levy just made the experience so pleasant for everybody, and we found this 14-year-old kid out of Ireland who had virtually no experience. That’s always risky, hanging a story so much on a child actor. You’re not exactly sure how comfortable they’re going to be. Flynn Gray turned out to be such a special kid.

I think this is the right idea and something I wouldn’t mind seeing more of, individual Star Wars films unconnected to the Skywalker Saga. Yes, The Mandalorian and Grogu is obviously not part of the Skywalkers, but it’s still part of the Filoniverse.

On potential big Hollywood names being involved in the Star Wars universe:

I’ve had early conversations with David Fincher. With Vince Gilligan for TV. I have sat down with Alex Garland, and others where the minute you say their name, you go, “Oh, that might be an interesting Star Wars.”

I’ve always been a fan of David Fincher, I’m here for that.

On the status of some of the previously announced projects:

DEADLINE: Let’s get to what the fans are eager to know. The progress on films and series by filmmakers who’ve committed to putting in that three to five years. Rian Johnson, James Mangold, Simon Kimberg, Taika Waititi. Where are all their projects at?

KENNEDY: I’ve got to tread a bit carefully here. Jim Mangold and Beau Willimon wrote an incredible script, but it is definitely breaking the mold and it’s on hold. Taika has turned in a script that I think is hilarious and great. It’s not just my decision, especially when I’ve got a foot out the door. Donald Glover has turned in a script.

I haven’t done it in a while, so I think in the next week or two I’ll do a rundown of known Star Wars projects and what the status of them is. I like hearing that Taika’s script is done.

On just what’s up with The Hunt for Ben Solo:

And as you have read, Steve Soderbergh and Adam Driver turned in a script written by Scott Burns. It was just great. Anything’s a possibility if somebody’s willing to take a risk.

Come on, Disney. Take the risk! It’s worth remembering that Kennedy, along with Dave Filoni and Carrie Beck all loved the script and approved it, before the Disney C-Suite killed it.

And finally, how dealing with the haters:

DEADLINE: You’ve developed a thicker skin no doubt. You can’t have been used to all the criticism when you were producing all these movies with Frank Marshall for Steven Spielberg. What do you say to ease the apprehension of these newcomers to the Star Wars universe? Every time you release another movie or series, it’s like, fire in the hole!

KENNEDY: I’m honest, especially with the women that come into this space because they unfairly get targeted. I don’t try to sugarcoat it. And I emphasize that it’s a very small group of people, with loud megaphones. I truly do not believe that it’s the majority of the fans. And I think we’re also in this weird world of where bots can affect things. You have to develop a tough skin. That is exactly right. That’s what you have to do. You can’t make it go away.

All we can do is put our heads down and do the work and believe that we’re doing the best we can, telling the best story we can. And if somebody gets really nervous about it and doesn’t want to do it, I say, then don’t do it because I can’t tell you this won’t happen.

I really do not hang out in the spots where the more toxic elements of the Star Wars fanbase reside. They would of course tell you they’re the true fans that everything Kennedy has touched is WOKE and makes them mad because girls are gross. Of course, if you ask them if they like Andor, they’re likely to get pretty quiet. I’ll say it again, Tony Gilroy himself has said that Andor doesn’t get to be Andor without Kennedy.

Maybe You Shouldn’t Post

Another topic where I debated whether or not to post anything. Death Star HR isn’t TMZ. But given it’s proximate to Star Wars and an event I’m attending, it’s newsworthy. The Instagram page for Rebel Scum Con posted these, back to back.

The first one I thought was a nice thing to post. I thought the timing was a little strange since RSC isn’t until August, but a positive message. Then the second picture was annoucement was posted and I figured “oh, maybe he signed to a movie and the schedules don’t work” or something along those lines.

Turns out the latter lead to the former. Numerous people posted that they saw Ray Park post revenge porn of his wife on his Instagram feed. That’s a yikes, to put it mildly. I’ve seen at least two other cons cancel Park’s appearance. Not sure what Park’s deal is but good on Rebel Scum Con for saying this isn’t acceptable.

The Death Star Human Resources Department Book Club

It’s been a while since there’s been a Death Star HR book club entry. Last May I finally finished up the New Jedi Order books. After that I read a few Star Wars books here and there but didn’t commit to a series. During my winter sabbatical from Death Star HR I even read five, count ‘em five, books3 that didn’t involve space wizards with laser swords.

Mostly I had been deciding what I was going to read next, and there were basically three options. The first was to finally tackle The High Republic. I’ve been waiting for the series to wrap before diving in. Second option was not to do a series, but just pick standalone books. I just picked up a couple canon books I’ve been looking forward to, Master of Evil by Adam Christopher and The Living Force by John Jackson Miller. Or I can always just keep doing what I’ve been doing and reading Legends Expanded Universe books. I mean, I have what I’m pretty sure is nearly a complete collection of Expanded Universe paperbacks. Might as well read them.

The New Jedi Order books were towards the end of the Expanded Universe. There are about 25 more books before Disney takes over. There’s two big series, although not as big as New Jedi Order. The Legacy of the Jedi series with nine books and the Fate of the Jedi series with nine books as well. But before I get those books, I need to through The Dark Nest Trilogy first.

• Title: The Joiner King

• Series: The Dark Nest Trilogy.

• Author: Troy Denning, who’s last Star Wars book was the top tier Star By Star from NJO.

• Date published: July 26, 2005

• Pages: 4434

• Status: Legends

• Summary in less than 20 words: Indiana Jones might have hated snakes but Han Solo really hates bugs.

It’s been six years since the Yuuzhan Vong war and the galaxy is at peace, or at last as much peace as we can ever have in the galaxy far far away. Everyone is trying to rebuild after a galaxy-spanning war. It’s going…well…about as things usually go in the Star Wars universe. Just when maybe things could get close to some normalcy, a bunch of Jedi decide to abscond out the Unknown Regions. And these aren’t just your generic Jedi. They’re some of the heroes of the New Jedi Order, Jania Solo, Lowbacca, Tesar Sebatyne, Tahiri Veila, Tekli, and wayward Jedi Jacen Solo. It turns out the Jedi are helping a previously unknown species of intelligent insects called the Killik along the Joiners, people who are influenced to join the Killik hive mind.

The Killik and the Chiss are beefing so naturally, all important Star Wars characters have to go. Han, Leia, Luke, Mara. I guess only Lando and Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost get left out. It doesn’t seem like good governance to let some of the most important people end up all out in the Unknown Regions with a somewhat hostile quasi-enemy in the Chiss and a wild card in the Killik. Intrigue and machinations happen. Turns out the head of the Killik is Raynar Thul, former Jedi presumed to be dead after the events of New Jedi Order. Not to mention there’s the Dark Nest, lead by two former Dark Jedi also presumed dead. Eventually the good guys solve the Killik-Chiss conflict. But since this is a trilogy, a larger threat looms in the next book.

Is that the best review I’ve ever done? No, not even close. But it’s also not the best book I’ve ever read. Try as I might, I just couldn’t get into this one. A couple times I thought about not even finishing, but I never quit a book once I start it. I know it’s OK to but I just can’t. This was a disappointment since I really liked Star By Star. The plot felt overly convoluted, it was tough to keep track of the various insects and different factions competing with each other. And overall it just felt bogged down. I’m going to finish the other two books since I want to know what happens next. But I’m not sure I’m going to like it.

The Good:

• I liked the idea of the Killik. I’m sure after the NJO books, Star Wars decided we can’t just go right back to Jedi vs Sith or the New New Republic aka the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances vs a bunch of leftover Imperials. The bugs and the hivemind was a cool idea, especially with former Jedi and Dark Jedi in the mix.

The Bad:

• Like I said, this book just didn’t click and it felt too convoluted. And that’s fine. Not all the Expanded Universe books can be winners. I have a feeling that when I’m done with all three books, my comment is going to be that it could have been either one long book or two books.

Wild Card:

• One character that needs a shoutout. Tarfang. I think Tarfang is going to be my Glup Shitto5. An Ewok smuggler who “was considered particularly vicious for an Ewok; he exhibited a short, volatile temper, and flailed his arms about in an exaggerated fashion when angry.” I love the idea of an Ewok escaping the forest moon of Endor, becoming a smuggler, and instead of being a cute lil’ guy, he’s a real asshole.

Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars Meets Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising

I don’t actually own a ton of Star Wars merch. I mean, I probably have more than a normal, mostly-functioning adult should have, but for a guy who writes a weekly Star Wars newsletter there’s no as much as you would think. Every algorithm from every platform I might engage with though thinks I need every piece of Star Wars merch ever created. So the other day, the Instagram algo served up a shirt that I really think I need.

Me: Found a new shirt I’m going to get.

Her: Hmmm.

Me: Want to see it?

Her: Nope

Me: Here, check it out.

Her: …

Me: Come on, this is great. Do you get it?

Her: [sigh] It’s Queen Amidala.

Me: Yes but… [gearing up for an explanation about the Sex Pistols and how the band was a big influence on teenage me]

Her: Nope! Not listening, I didn’t ask. I have exactly zero questions about that shirt.

In case anyone is wondering, her lack of interest has not stopped me from placing an order. One of these days I want to do a deep dive on, let’s call it “unauthorized” Star Wars merch. And if you don’t get the reference on the shirt:

This Day in Star Wars History

Note - this edition of Death Star HR was supposed to come out on January 23rd. Today is obviously not January 23rd. But I’m leaving it in.

Twins are important in the Star Wars galaxy, just ask the Yuuzhan Vong. I think January 23rd is the first time we’ve featured twins in This Day in Star Wars History.

• Twin brothers Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, known in the biz as Brothers Hildebrandt, were born in 1939 in the Paris of the Midwest: Detroit, Michigan. The brothers studied at the Meinzinger Art School, in the Cass Corrider section of Detroit. The Hil-Bros are best known in the Star Wars galaxy for their poster for A New Hope. Known as the Style B poster, it was displayed at movie theaters in the UK for a couple months. Interestingly, the Hil-Bros didn’t have any reference photos for the cast, so I assume they were just working off character descriptions provided by Lucasfilm.

  

• Actress Ann Sachs was born in 1948. Sachs is listed as “an actress, writer, business owner, and theatre specialist.” For our purposes, she voiced Princess Leia in all three NPR radio adaptions of the Original Trilogy.

• Julia Jones was born in 1981. The actress is best known for playing Leah Clearwater in the Twilight movies and appeared in one episode of The Mandalorian. The one where Mando and Cara Dune are protecting a bunch of farmers from raiders. Jones plays Omera, the widow who was suspiciously proficient with a blaster rifle and kinda thirsty for Din Djarin. She must have known it was Pedro Pascal under the helmet, so can you really blame her?

• For fans of the written word, the novelizations of the Original Trilogy were republished on this day in 1993. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but I still find it fascinating that the novelization for A New Hope was released roughly seven months before the movie was. That would never happen today.

• The five finalists of the “Darth Who Contest” were revealed in 2007. A contest was held to name a new Sith character for the fifth book in the Expanded Universe Legacy of the Force series. Roughly 8,500 entries were received. The five finalists were: Darth Acheron, Darth Caedus, Darth Judicar, Darth Paxis, and Darth Taral. Rumor has it the names Darth Icky and Darth Insanius were submitted by someone named “Luke Georgeus.”

• Australian actress and singer Trisha Noble passed away in 2021. She played Jobal Naberrie, mother of Padme Amidala, in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Her scenes in Attack of the Clones didn’t make it in the final cut but she is in the funeral scene at the end of Revenge of the Sith.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

Given that we’re in for a winter death storm here in Dallas and across most of Texas and the rest of the country, this one seems appropriate. That’s right, I’m talking about the Destruction of Khepi.

The destruction of the Wild Space planet Khepi occurred during the High Republic Era when an asteroid impacted the planet causing it to break apart. The Khepi people successfully calculated the destruction ten years prior to the event, however instead of evacuating their society to a different planet they accepted their fate and constructed a Great Tomb on a separate asteroid hidden in the nearby Sayma Nebula where their people were laid to rest for their Final Ritual.

I kinda get it. Right now it’s like Hoth out in my backyard. Who knows if we’re going to make it6. But I’ve accepted my fate and am riding out the bad weather with plenty of blankets and a some books.

News From the HoloNet

BSO celebrates John Williams’ film scores and concert music at Symphony Hall

Wonder if Miggs Mayfield, aka Bill Burr was in attendance.

Star Wars Actor’s Career Was Destroyed By A Bizarre Lie

David Prowse and Uncle George didn’t have a great relationship.

Case Study: Does Watching ‘Star Wars’ in Chronological Order Diminish the Original Trilogy?

At this point, there’s so much Star Wars to watch I think my only advice would be don’t start with the Sequel Trilogy.

The Clock Starts for Star Wars: Episode X

It does seem pretty like we get episode X eventually.

Krewe of Chewbacchus parade is on: ‘Rain won’t stop our rebellion’

If I lived anywhere near New Orleans, I’d join the Krewe of Chewbacchus. Rebellions are built on hope, and beignets.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

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It’s the second newsletter of 2026 and it’s going out on a Tuesday. Clearly, 2026 is off to a stellar start in both the real world and here at the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. There’s big, big news in the Star Wars universe though and we’ll get to it. That’s about it for this week, and I’ll be most likely back on Friday with a fresh newsletter.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

Anakin and Boba Fett are BFF. Who knew.

That’s Daniel Logan, aka Baby Boba Fett in Attack of the Clones along with Jake Lloyd aka young Anakin Skywalker. Logan has talked before about befriending Lloyd and trying to do what he can support him as Lloyd struggled with mental health issues and schizophrenia. As Logan told fans at GalaxyCon Richmond:

“He ended up being diagnosed with schizophrenia, and that’s when he withdrew from the convention circuit. I have very close contact with his mom, and I keep saying, ‘I’ll protect him. Maybe we can just do send-ins or something, so that we can help finance his programs, his mental therapies and stuff. She replied to me the other day and said, ‘Jake thinks he doesn’t deserve for the fans to have his autograph and stuff.’”

Logan told Lloyd’s mother that things are different now. Children who grew up watching the prequels are now adults, and they’re attending these conventions, spreading love and positivity for the films and the actors. Logan hopes that one day his friend can experience that love.

Being shitty to actors and actresses because you don’t like the character they play or the way they portray a character is bad. Full stop. Time heals a lot of wounds and the Prequel Kiddies have meme’d the Prequels back into respectability. So like Logan, I hope one day Lloyd can experience the love people have for the Prequels now.

Got a Real ‘Rule of Two’ Situation Here

In a move that we all knew was coming, or at least we were all pretty sure was coming, it was announced on Thursday the 15th that long time Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down from her roll, which she has held for 14 years. Stepping into the leadership rolls at Lucasfilm are Dave Filoni, who will be President and Chief Creative Officer and Lynwen Brennan, who will be Co-President. I know the title’s seem a bit strange, why does Filoni get President while Brennan gets Co-President? I don’t know, but I’m taking this straight from StarWars.com itself.

Dave Filoni, who worked closely with creator George Lucas to build the Lucasfilm animation department on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and helped launch Star Wars live-action series alongside Jon Favreau on The Mandalorian, will take on creative leadership of the company as President and Chief Creative Officer and Lynwen Brennan will serve as Co-President.

Currently, well as of a couple days ago but their pages on Lucasfim’s website haven’t been updated, Cowboy Dave serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer while Brennan is the President and General Manager of Lucasfilm Business. I admire Dave rockin’ the cowboy hat for this headshot on Lucasfilm’s website. Even if he is from the decidedly non-cowboy Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

So how did we get here? Brennan has been with Lucasfilm since 1999, starting with ILM and then taking over as president of ILM in 1999. Since 2015 she’s been in her current position, which essentially is handling the business side of things for Lucasfilm. Her Lucasfilm page specifically states she “looks after” the Lucasfilm legal department. So, Lynwen; call me maybe? It certainly sounds like she’ll continue in her current roll, with the added responsibility of whatever business things Kennedy previously handled.

Filoni has been with Lucasfilm since 2005 when he helped set up the Lucasfilm animation studio which gave us The Clone Wars and Rebels, among other projects. He also created Ahsoka Tano, helped create The Mandalorian with Jon Favreau, is the showrunner for Ahsoka, and in 2005, dressed up as Plo Koon and passed out candy to kids waiting in line to see Revenge of the Sith.

One thing worth addressing, there has been some internet chatter that Filoni did not like Andor. As far as I can tell, this allegation is based on a single anonymous source from an article in The Wrap, titled “Kathleen Kennedy’s Lucasfilm Legacy: A Galaxy in Disarray.” The article is a little more even-handed than the titled would indicate, but we’ll get into the reactions and what I think is an incredibly misguided (putting it nicely) view of Kennedy is a bit.

The series, a stark spy thriller about how tyranny takes root, is unquestionably the greatest creative triumph of the Kennedy era. It was also, according to an individual who worked inside Lucasfilm, a series that Filoni disliked. A Lucasfilm spokesperson denied this as inaccurate.

Lucasfilm denied the report as opposed to ignoring it or a no comment. I can’t find the comment, but per The Movie Blog, Cowboy Dave actually doesn’t dislike Andor.

In a recent podcast, Filoni praised Andor. He said the show is well done and that the creators did a phenomenal job. He added that there is an audience for this type of story. This earlier statement shows that Filoni has spoken positively about the series before.

Or this comment here from Celebration:

I would find it very, very hard to believe that Dave Filoni did not like Andor. I also think it’s fair to say that Andor is not a show that Filoni would have written, even taking into account that The Clone Wars shares more DNA with Andor than you would think.

As Maggie Lovitt notes below, fanbases need a boogie man. If you’re a sports fan, there’s always one player on the team that the fan base collectively decides is the reason the season is going poorly. It doesn’t matter that this person is say the 8th inning arm out of the bullpen. The fanbase has decided all the team’s struggle’s are the fault of that player. It doesn’t matter what’s going on behind the scenes. The player could be injured, or going through some personal stuff. Or they could have just had a couple bad games because everyone has a couple bad games. And really, that player is just one person on the roster. Ever since Uncle George cashed out and sold Lucasfilm to the Mouse, Kathleen Kennedy has been the boogie man, or boogie woman in her case. Even after the first round of “Kennedy is retiring” rumors there was some chatter among certain maybe more vocal sections of the fanbase that Filoni couldn’t be the guy because he was just a “I love laser swords” guy, not a gritty and serious guy like Tony Gilroy. So it’s no surprise we’re seeing some internet whispers about Cowboy Dave already.

At the same time, Filoni’s wheelhouse is the mythology. The Jedi and the Sith. The Force and the Mortis Gods. The Mandalorians. It’s taking the sandbox that Uncle George created and expanding those characters. In The Clone Wars, we got to see more of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the actual personality of the Clone Troopers. Filoni is a Star Wars fan for the same reason the rest of us did. The action and adventure. The mystical powers of the Force. The moments when a farmboy blows up the Death Star or Vader declares he is the father or The Child first shows his cute little Yoda face. Filoni is one of us.

Andor was the least Star Warsy show imaginable, it has more in common with Tinker Tailor Solider Spy than the Skywalker Saga. There’s no Jedi, the closest we get to the Sith are passing references to the Emperor. There’s at most one scene with the Force and it’s more of a suggestion of a Force healer than say, Cassian crossing paths with one of the numerous Jedi that survived Order 66. Andor is a gritty show about how fascism corrupts and takes over a previously democratic society. Season 1 was a grim warning we chose to ignore. Watching Andor is a lot more fun than living it. It’s also not a show Filoni would have written. And that’s OK. We’re never going to get another Andor. Well, never say never. But given the scope of the show and the cost, we’re not going to get one for a while.

What will Star Wars look like under the Filoni/Brennan regime? Well, for starters it’s almost a chance at a fresh start. As I’ve mentioned before, there’s very little in the pipeline. The Mandalorian and Grogu, the Maul animated show, Ahsoka season 2, and Star Wars: Visions Presents are slated for this year with Starfighter next year. That’s not a whole lot and it gives the Filoni/Brennan Force Dyad a chance to put their mark on Star Wars as a whole. I don’t want to discount Brennan but it certainly seems like she is more on the business side of things and we’re talking what to expect in movies/shows.

If I had to guess, based on nothing more than Filoni’s past work, is we’re going to see another connected universe but set in a post-Sequel Trilogy environment. Starfighter can be the first entry to kick off what’s happening. Who are the new bad guys, what’s the New New Republic up to, how’s Rey’s Jedi Order working, and where is Ben Solo? You can have interconnected characters here while allowing for the stories to go down different paths. Not quite to the extent of the MCU, just because Star Wars moves at a slower pace. But I think we’ll see movies/streaming shows/animated shows sharing a timeline.

Also, I know there was a big Kathleen Kennedy interview with a lot of new information. I’m not neglecting it, I’ll discuss it on Friday. Along with a look-back on her time at Lucasfilm.

Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising

I went back and forth about posting this one. Ultimately, it’s funny and while there are probably some who could be offended by it. It’s not really risque. It’s PG-13 which is how I try to keep Death Star HR. A woman across the pond in Great Britain is selling on eBay an (unused thankfully) Star Wars thong signed by David Prowse.

As the seller writes in the description, she had purchased said thong before going to a UK Comic Con in 2015, and when she saw David Prowse, she wanted to get something signed that wasn’t one of 8x10’s that are available at the table. At the time of publication, bidding is at £341.00, or $461.00 for those of us in the colonies. If you are a Star Wars collector who’s into rare items, this probably is one of a kind.

If Death Star HR were ever in a position to interview actors and actresses who were in Star Wars, my closing question for everyone would be “what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever been asked to sign?”

Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars

It’s not a specific exchange this time. I’ve been binge watching Young Jedi Adventures for…reasons that will be explained later. Look, Young Jedi Adventures is the first Disney+ Star Wars show explicitly aimed at that younglings. Yes yes, I know that George has always said that Wu-Tang, Star Wars is for the children. But let’s be honest, the target audience is actually people like myself with disposable income to spend. Hmmm, that doesn’t resemble anyone I know.

Anyway, as we’ve been watching the show, she’ll make snarky remarks about how . they’re not very good at being Jedi, or how the Jedi are a cult, or questioning how one can be visiting her moms if the Jedi take children from their parents. Spoiler alert, she was talking about Nash who is not a Jedi. And she thinks she’s trolling me. But really, she’s actually been showing how much she’s been paying attention. Warms my heart, I tell ya.

This Day in Star Wars History

Bunch of births today, January 20th, in the galaxy far, far away.

• Apple Brook, born Anita Burman, was born today in 1931. She was a British actress and occasional comedian. Her role as “Neighbor” in the 4th episode of Andor season 1 was her last on-screen credit before her passing.

• Best known as The Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker was born in 1934. Baker voiced Bendu in Rebels season 3. Bendu was a cool character, it was almost like he was an embodiment of the Force itself.

• Dave Fennoy, who voiced Jedi Master Pong Krell in The Clone Wars, was born in 1952. Fennoy also provided some random voices in random Star wars videogames and in Rebels. Fennoy’s voice would be well known to people my age, having appeared in Darkwing Duck, Captain Planet, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Along with doing voicework for videogames such as Kings Quest IV, The Curse of Monkey Island (a LucasArts joint), Mass Effect 2, and Batman: Arkham Knight.

• Author R.A. Salvatore was born in 1959. Salvatore wrote the novelization of Attack of the Clones and Vector Prime, the first book in the New Jedi Order series. Per Wookieepedia, those are the only two Star Wars books he wrote, I guess I had just assumed he did more. He also made a lot of people mad when he killed off Chewbacca.

  

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

Haven’t done one of these in a while, when the randomizer turns up a Wookieepedia entry that really shouldn’t be a standalone entry, because there’s no real information. This week, we’ve got Janeth.

Yup. That’s all we got. For all you Jeneth-stans, sorry there isn’t more. Take it up with Wookieepedia, not me.

News From the HoloNet

The Force was with the Broncos: Star Wars creator George Lucas attends playoff game

I had been trying to figure our why California boy Uncle George was at the Broncos. His wife, Mellody Hobson, is part of the Broncos ownership group. Mystery solved.

January 29 is going to be a major day for Star Wars fans

Happy Ahsoka Tano Day, to all those who celebrate!

Dave Filoni’s STAR WARS Movie Hits Pause, but Would’ve United SKELETON CREW With the Mando-Verse

I think, although am not positive, this is first confirmation that the Skeleton Crew kids were going to be part of the Filoni-verse movie. Neel forever.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

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Hey everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed whatever winter holiday they might celebrate. Here at Death Star HR HQ, we survived. Which is really the only achievable goal these days. And even then, it’s certainly not a sure thing. But, I have returned from my self-imposed holiday exile on Exegol and the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter is back and ready to take on whatever fresh hell this sure to be dumb year is going to throw at us. Because while I have no idea what’s going to happen out the real world, I can always guarantee it’s going to be extra-stupid.

In the galaxy far, far away there’s a decent amount to look forward to this year. Unfortunately we have to start with addressing the 1,138th iteration of the “Kathleen Kennedy is retiring” rumors. There’s a new picture released from The Mandalorian and Grogu. And I’ll do a rundown on what I didn’t talk about for the last 6 weeks.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The “Fun” Begins

Been thinking a lot about Andor the last couple days for absolutely no reason.

Yup. Absolutely no reason at all to be thinking about Andor. Just really pretty random on my part. Absolutely zero parallels with the show and our failing state. None whatsoever.

Rumor’s of Kathleen Kennedy’s Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated

Sigh, we’re doing this again. The article is dated January 6th, but I swear it was earlier in the week. No matter. Puck Magazine, the online magazine that kicked off last year’s “Kennedy is stepping down” speculate got the rumor mill fired up again. In their 2026 Hollywood predictions article,1 writer Matthew Belloni writes:

In the next week or two, Disney will finally confirm what we’ve all known for months: Kathleen Kennedy is indeed stepping down as Lucasfilm president, and Dave Filoni, currently the chief creative officer of the Star Wars unit, will be elevated into the top job. (Simon Halls, Kennedy’s personal publicist, has already set up her cushy exit interview… I’m sure the Pulitzer committee is standing by for that piece of journalism.) Filoni has never really been a traditional executive, so they’re giving him a partner in Lynwen Brennan, currently president and general manager of Lucasfilm Business, but he’ll be the decider on the creative direction of the franchise in film, television, and any other platforms in the galaxy.

It is also worth repeating that somehow Puck is an entertainment website, not a hockey website. I have no idea how some enterprising hockey blogger didn’t snatch up puck.com in the very early days of the internet, but I digress.

During the last round of rumor-mongering which was almost a year ago and was also kicked off by Belloni, the thought was that cowboy hat aficionado Dave Filoni along with current Lucasfilm executive vice-president Carrie Beck would take over as co-president. Filoni would handle the nerd wrangling and the more creative side while Beck would handle the business side of things. It appears Beck’s roll has been swapped out for Lynwen Brennan, president and general manager of Lucasfilm Business. That covers Lucasfilm, along with ILM and Skywalker Sound. And I’m sure there are some other divisions as well.

This is all conjecture and hearsay. And while it’s not evidence, those are kinds of evidence2.

There is really a reason that the Kennedy rumors have persisted for a while not. She’s 72 years old, turning 73 this summer. Her husband is 79. She’s had a long and storied career in Hollywood. Even if you take away her Star Wars movies, her resume is top notch. She has a producer credit on, just to pick a few, E.T., Jurassic Park, The Sixth Sense, and Arachnophobia. The last one being a movie that terrified my Sith-ster when we were kids. Along with executive producer credits on Gremlins, The Goonies, Schindler’s List, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And that’s just picking a few. There are plenty of other hits with her name on them. Even if you only had one quarter of her movies, it’s still a stellar career. You have to assume at some point she’s going want to retire and enjoy life.

Kennedy ending her Lucasfilm career sometime during or at the end of 2026 would make sense. As I’ve talked about before, Star Wars feels like it’s at a crossroads. Disney has gone from movies to streaming and back to movies. The Mandalorian and Grogu along with season 2 of Ahsoka seem like the end of what I’ll call Phase 2 of Disney Star Wars. Yes, I know there’s the long-rumored Filoniverse movie out there, but there’s no date for it. Or even an announced script. It would make sense to for Kennedy to say she’s seen Star Wars through the sale to Disney, the first round of movies, and the streaming era. Time to relax on the beach with a mai tai or something like that.

So far, Kennedy and Lucasfilm has maintained radio silence. Despite it being framed as official news by all the media outlets that picked it up, there hasn’t been any confirmation from Disney, Lucasfilm, or Kennedy. The last time around, Kennedy found a friendly journalist to pitch her some softball questions. She also gave what I as a lawyer thought was a masterful response where you say something and say nothing.

The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring. I will never retire from movies. I will die making movies. That is the first thing that’s important to say. I am not retiring. What’s happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with both Bob and Alan about what eventual succession might look like.

I’m not retiring from movies. But I will eventual step down at Lucasfilm. Both those statements can be true at the same time. The other little tidbit I had forgotten until I went back and read what I wrote back in March of last year is that she’s also signed on as a producer for Starfighter, the Shawn Levy directed movie coming out in 2027. So she’s sticking around a little longer in at least some capacity.

The reaction from certain corners of the internet has been predictable, just like it was last year. Some sample headlines.

I am not going to rehash or re-litigate Kathleen Kennedy’s tenure at Lucasfilm. That’s a topic for another day, maybe when she actually does step down. But there is a line of thinking among extremely online Star Wars fans that Kennedy has destroyed everything they love about Star Wars. Except for that they likely love Andor as well. But hey, the argument goes. That was all Gilroy. Except for Tony Gilroy has publicly said Andor got to be ANDOR because of Kennedy.

She [Kennedy] has protected the show and protected me and wrangled a team together. When we started challenging Kathy, Kathy just kept saying yes. “Oh, I’m going to put the first scene in a brothel.” “Okay.” “I’m going to have them kill two cops.” “Okay.” “We want the production designer from Chernobyl.” “Okay, good idea.” She backed our play and got everything that we were doing. We’ve been through everything, she and I, on this—all the good and all the bad. There’s no show without her. For all the shit that she takes online, it’s just insane. This show exists because she forced it to happen. What a tough job she has, man.

It’s worth repeating, “[t]his show exists because she forced it to happen.” I don’t think you can get a much better endorsement than that.

A New Photograph From The Mandalorian And Grogu

It is Mando and Grogu in an AT-AT.

The picture provides absolutely no new information, other than I guess this is the first time we’ve seen Mando (potentially) pilot an AT-AT. It’s odd that The USA Today got the photo, but hey, I’ll take it.

News From the HoloNet - Expanded Edition

Normally this is the last section of Death Star HR every week, but since there’s been 5 - 6 weeks worth of news since I last rapped at ya, I thought it might be a good idea to catch up.

His Job Is to Resuscitate ‘Star Wars.’ No Pressure

I usually don’t get into headlines like this, too clickbait. But, when Star Wars makes the New York Times, it’s worth noting.

Tom Cruise Helped Shoot a Lightsaber Duel for ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’

Steven Spielberg, or possible Señor Spielbergo, was on set that day as well. Cruise is kinda a weirdo, but he famously does his own stunts so I guess having him help shoot a lightsaber duel makes sense. Also, we’re getting a lightsaber duel in Starfighter!

Report: ‘Star Wars’ Cancels ‘Mandalorian’ Universe as Disney Heads in New Direction

Rumor mill says Mando season 4 isn’t happening. Honestly, The Mandalorian and Grogu along with the (hopeful) Filoni-verse movie would be a nice way to send off Mando and Grogu. Let their adventures continue in the books.

Disney+ Reveals “Star Wars: Ahsoka” Season 2 Release Window

Disney+ confirms it’s getting released this year. Given that there’s no December movie on the calendar, I’d expect this sometime at the end of the year. Thanksgiving or later.

Comics Star Wars Officially Retcons The Force Awakens & It Doesn’t Make Any Sense

My advice is never think of the comics as canon. Does Star Wars still do the “tiers” of canon? I know back in the pre-Disney days, comics didn’t count.

This Forgotten Star Wars Series Is Returning to Shelves in 2026

Speaking of comics, there used to be a Star Wars comic strip in the “news-papers". Something that also used to be a thing. My first job was a paperboy. Time has passed me by.

Star Wars: A New Hope In Concert

Got this one from my father-in-law, Bob-A Fett. If you’re in the Chattanooga area, the symphony is doing Star Wars at the end of the month.

LEGO Teams With Star Wars For AI-Powered Smart Brick Tech

Oh sure, AI-powered LEGO sounds like a good idea now. Just wanted until your AI-powered LEGO HK-47 gains sentience and starts slaughtering meatbags.

Star Wars’ Most Divisive Character Gets His Redemption in New Comic First Look (Exclusive)

Justice for (Darth) Jar Jar! I’ve mentioned before I’m not a comic book guy, but I think I am going to get this one.

Star Wars: Starfighter Wraps: Goes Into Post-Production

This Day in Star Wars History

Two births and the O.G. Disney ride happening today, January 9th.

• Actress Ann Firbank was born in 1933, in what was then called British India. Firbank’s one role in the Star Wars universe was playing the elderly woman at the end of Rise of Skywalker who asks Rey Palpatine Skywalker why on earth she’s wandering around Tatooine.

• Voice actor Philip Tanzini was born in 1967. Tanzini voiced Jedi Apprentice Jaden Korr in the videogame Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. The character of Korr is kind of interesting, in that he started out in a videogame but made the jump to Expanded Universe books, showing up in Legacy of the Force and the Fate of the Jedi series, along with a few standalone books. All of these are at the end of the Expanded Universe timeframe.

• Disney’s original Star Wars ride, Star Tours, opened at Disneyland in 1987. The ride replaced the Adventure Thru Inner Space ride, which was sponsored by Monsanto. And that just feels like a joke from The Simpsons. Paul Ruebens, AKA Pee Wee Herman voiced RX-24, the pilot droid. The original Star Tours closed in 2010, but the internet is forever.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

Two food entries, two weeks in a row? I’ll take it. This week we’ve got Skycorn. Which is corn, but in space.

Skycorn was an edible crop and a type of corn. The Erso family farmed skycorn at their homestead on the planet Lah’mu before Galen Erso was captured by the Galactic Empire

In corn exists in the Star Wars universe, does this also mean that elotes exists? I’d like to think that it does.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

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I know, I know. I said I was on winter break until January 9th. But with it being New Years Eve and all, I thought I’d throw together a quick little 2025 recap. It’s not so much what happened this year in the world of Star Wars, or even the world of Death Star HR. But it’s seven things I really liked from Star Wars this year, along with a link to where I already wrote about them.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

Top Seven Star Wars Moments of 2025

These are less the top 7 most important Star Wars moments, but rather the top 7 for me personally.

7 - I Finally Finished All 19 New Jedi Order Books

It took about a year and a half, but I completed the Expanded Universe New Jedi Order books. All 19 of them. I thought I could do it in a year, but as Luke Skywalker told Palpatine, “your overconfidence is your weakness.” The NJO was an incredibly ambitious project for Star Wars. Up until then, almost all Expanded Universe books were standalone. At most you’d have a trilogy. It is Star Wars, we like trilogies. Yes, there was the X-Wing series, but even then that was only 8 books. There were a few times I thought maybe 19 books was too many. But it was one of the few times that you really felt like (almost) anyone could be killed and there was much more of a sense of danger.

6 - The O.G. Star Wars Returns to the Theater

I have to put this one at number 5 simply because it hasn’t happened yet. We finally got confirmation earlier this month, right as I was about to start my Death Star HR winter hibernation, that the original 1977 cut of Star Wars will be back in the theaters in February 2027. Disney announced back in August that as part of the 50th anniversary of Star Wars, A New Hope would be back in theaters in 2027. But they were coy as to what version. The original with Greedo shooting first? Or the 1997 Special Edition with the CGI Jabba. Turns out, we’re getting a completely restored and remastered version of the 1977 version. As I was negative 3 years old when Star Wars was first released, I’ve never seen this version on the big screen. I am very, very excited for February 2027.

5 - Death Star HR Has a (Very Infrequent) Podcast

I know, I know. Just what the world needs. Another man with a podcast. I’ve thought for a while about starting a podcast to go with the written version of Death Star HR. But, I am a law talker by trade which means I am in love with the sound of my own voice. There’s only a few things up on the Death Star HR YouTube channel, but I’m looking to add more next year. This year I talked to Star Wars themed metal band Galactic Empire, fellow Substacker and all-around interesting dude , and cosplayer/Ben Solo protestor Reychel of Jakku. It was a lot of fun talking to people about their relationships with Star Wars, and there will be more to come next year.

4 - Rebel Scum Con Happens and I Was There

Up until August, I had never been to any kind of convention. Or at least not as an adult. I went to some baseball card shows as a kid and a few Magic: The Gathering tournaments when I was in high school but nothing as an adult. No Star Wars Celebration. No Comic Con. Not even the Dallas Fan Expo or any of the smaller cons that pop up randomly in the DFW suburbs. This year I finally made it to Rebel Scum Con, and dragged along my friend, the Obi-Wan Kenobi of Tarrant County. It was, quite simply, a blast. Everyone was cool. I liked seeing all different cosplays people came up with. Year 3 of RSC is happening in August and I’ll be there.

3 - Revenge of the Sith Returns for it’s 20th Anniversary

I don’t like to make sweeping statements, but I think it’s fair to say most Star Wars fans consider Revenge of the Sith to be the best of the Prequels. Taste is subjective and all that, so your version of the “best” may vary. But Episode III was back in the theaters for it’s 20th Anniversary and once again I made the Obi-Wan Kenobi of Fort Worth leave the house. Star Wars is meant to be seen on the big screen. That’s also a fun Death Star HR since it has me and friend of Death Star HR yakkin’ about The Acolyte.

2 - The Hunt for Ben Solo Consumes Us All

Easily the most unexpected bit of Star Wars news this year was The Hunt for Ben Solo. It turns out that Adam Driver wanted to play Kylo Ren again. He roped Steven Soderberg into the project. They pitched it to the Lucasfilm braintrust who at least liked it enough to keep the project going. A script was written. Only to reach the end of the line when Disney CEO Bob Iger said he wasn’t sure how this could happen since Ben Solo died.

The internet reacted as the internet tends to do. With over the top craziness. Planes with banners, billboards, missing posters, cosplay outside of Disney HQ. The Hunt for Ben Solo captured the imaginations of Star Wars fans in a way I haven’t seen since Baby Yoda first hit the small screen.

1 - Andor Season 2

Not sure how you could pick anything else. If you had told me back in 2021 or whenever Andor was first announced that a Star Wars show staring a secondary character from Rogue One and wouldn’t feature the Force or Jedi or any known characters outside of Cassian, Mon Mothma, and Saw Gerrera AND would still be one of the best things you’ll watch all year, I would have said I think you’ve been sniffing too much rhydonium. Instead we got a series that was beautiful, tragic, funny, and all too real.

That’s it. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and I’ll see you all again on the 9th.

That’s it for this week. If you like what I’m doing, please subscribe. I’ll catch you next week, and may the Force be with you.

What hasn’t been known is which version of A New Hope we were going to get. Would it be the Special Editions from 1997? Or would it be an OG version without CGI Jabba and where Han still shoots first? There was a lot of thoughts, prayers, and hope that it would be the 1977 cut. Earlier this summer an original cut was shown for two screenings at the British Film Institute’s festival, which lead a lot of people to think that if our friends across the pond got to see the original, than surely we Americans should get to it see.

Well, we found out today that it’s going to be the original 1977 cut, fully restored and in your local movie theater.

Straight from the mouth of StarWars.com itself:

On February 19, 2027, we’ll celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Wars with a re-release of the 1977 original back for a limited time, in theaters everywhere.

Part of Lucasfilm’s yearlong 50th anniversary celebration, a newly restored version of the classic Star Wars(1977) theatrical release — later renamed Star Wars: A New Hope — will play in theaters for a limited time.

I’m not the only one who thought this, obviously. But back in October when I last wrote about the possibility of an original cut release, my thoughts were “that almost certainly means we’re going to see the 1977 cut in 2027.”

It is an interesting release date. Probably selected because February is generally a dead zone for new movie releases, so there was some calendar space available. It was originally reported the movie would be released April 30th, 2027, leading into May the 4th weekend. Star Wars Celebration 2027 takes place at the beginning of April and then the Shawn Levy directed Starwars: Starfighter comes out May 28th. Pushing the A New Hope release back to February gives a little breathing room, I guess. It also opens up May the 4th week for something else if Star Wars wants to. 2027 just happens to be the 25th anniversary of Attack of the Clones and now May the 4th is free. I’m just saying…

Back in December 2023, I wrote about getting Special Edition Pilled. I had picked up the Return of the Jedi soundtrack and listening to “Lapti Nek” and “Yub Nub” for the first time in years got me thinking about when was the last time I’ve seen the Original Trilogy in non-Special Edition form.

Which then got me thinking, when is the last time I saw the Original Trilogy in its original, non-Special Edition, format? I honestly cannot say. The Special Editions hit the theaters in 1997. I purchased, and still have, the Special Editions on VHS. Then two years later The Phantom Menace came out and a year after that, DVD’s became a thing. The non-Special Editions were lost to time and changing media formats. It’s entirely possible that I haven’t see A New Hope where Han drops Greedo in roughly 25 years. I’ve just accepted the Special Editions because Lucas and Disney and VHS players going away have forced my hand.

So I’ll throw this out to the audience. When’s the last time you’ve seen the Original Trilogy in it’s pre-Special Edition form?

Good morning and welcome back to the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. It’s a quick one this week, I’m starting my winter hibernation a little early. More on that below.

As always, thanks for reading Death Star HR. If you’re reading this and you’re not a subscriber, I’d love it if you entered your email below and smashed that subscribe button. There’s also an official Death Star HR Instagram and an official Death Star HR YouTube page as well and I’d love it if you subscribed there as well.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

I’m not sure who to credit it to since I’ve seen it floating around the internet the last few weeks.

That’s 100% accurate at least for Star Wars. I know that friend of Death Star HR is a big Dr. Who guy, so I’ll need him to vouch for the accuracy of the last alien.

From the Desk of the Editor

Just a heads up, this is going to be the last Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter of the year. I will be back on January 9th, 2026, refreshed and ready to take on the happenings in the galaxy far, far away. Obviously, if there is any kind of breaking news, there may be an emergency newsletter. But let’s hope for calm. Unless that breaking news is Knights of the Old Republic 3 [insert prayer hands emoji here].

I was already planning on taking the last couple weeks off anyway, but it hit me on Wednesday that I just need a break. The last 3 months of the year are always crazy at Death Star HR HQ as it is, and it’s felt like this fall was especially busy. There’s travel, there’s the holidays, there’s fantasy football playoffs. And really this time of year always kicks my ass, the getting dark at 5:30 is not great. If you’ve ever noticed how Death Star HR is usually shorter or a little more sporadic in the fall (you probably haven’t) it’s because I also write the weekly newsletter for my fantasy league. I can be a Star Wars nerd and a fantasy sports nerd at the same time. It doesn’t take up as much time as Death Star HR, but it generally does take an evening to write and it’s time that I would have otherwise been writing here.

I always say that writing Death Star HR is a labor of love and I do have to be careful to make sure Death Star HR doesn’t start to feel like a chore or an obligation. So, a little break is in order. This week will just be an expanded News From The Holonet section to give you some extra reading material. The Death Star HR Instagram and Death Star HR YouTube will both be active while the newsletter is on a short pause, so if you haven’t subscribed there, it would awesome if you did. I’ll probably send out the repost from when I watched The Star Wars Holiday Special back in 2023, that will get sent out either Christmas Eve or Christmas. I really do appreciate everyone who reads and subscribes and comments and banters about Star Wars. I hope you enjoy whatever your winter holiday of choice is, have a happy new year, and I’ll see you back here in 2026.

News From the HoloNet

Leslye Headland Is Forging Ahead With Diverse Stories Amid Industry’s Rollback — and What Really Happened With ‘The Acolyte’

The content that is being put out by the streamers or the studios is being snatched up by these other creators, and so commentaries, synopses, live videos, all of the ways that these creators make money — through viewer-based ad revenues and their Patreons — there’s a lot of money to be made. And by the way, have at it. Get your coin 100%. But it revealed to me that there is a misunderstanding between the studios and that engagement. They think of it as fandom, and in ways it is, but studios use it almost like a focus group. It made me start to think, rather than these fans are toxic, or this thing is being mean to me, it made me think more that the content being made about “Star Wars” will ultimately be more culturally impactful than actual “Star Wars.”

I’ve said this since The Acolyte came out. There is legitimate criticism of the show regarding some of their choices, no show is above that. Not even Andor. But unfortunately with The Acolyte, any actual discussion about the show is going to get drowned out by a flood of negativity. Some of it people who truly feel how they feel, but a lot of it (IMO) is bad faith and solely for clicks. The whole interview is worth reading.

‘Star Wars’ and Columbia Travel to Endor for New Collection

Disappointed the Ewok getup isn’t available in adult sizes.

Also cool to see Billie Lourd in a Leia ROTJ look.

Legal battle over Star Wars actor ‘resurrected’ in Rogue One moves to next stage

The company asserts that it entered into a “letter agreement” with Cushing in 1993, which, it claims, prohibited the reproduction of his appearance via special effects without Tyburn’s explicit permission.

Lunak and Lucasfilm contest this claim, having previously informed the High Court that they believed no such permission was required under the terms of Cushing’s original contract for A New Hope.

As the original cast ages and becomes one with the Force, I think we’re going to see more of these. Well, between old age and AI.

A Star Wars Actor Won’t Be Back For Ahsoka Season 2 For A Good Reason

In a late November interview with Bleeding Cool, Black revealed that she wasn’t returning for “Ahsoka” season 2, saying that Disney “could not pay me what I needed to be paid as a single mother to keep all my responsibilities going at home in Los Angeles, because they were filming in London.” But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Without knowing the numbers, it is too bad Black wasn’t able to participate and that she was put in the position of joining the filming or being able to keep up her home.

Rumored Star Wars Game Reveal Has Fans Hoping for Jedi 3 or KOTOR Remake

However, there is apparently a new announcement coming soon. According to insider Kurakasis, a new Star Wars game announcement is imminent. The insider stated it is not Star Wars Eclipse or Star Wars: Zero Company, the turn-based tactics game from EA. It’s unclear what this would be, but a lot of people are holding out hope for the semi-confirmed Star Wars Jedi 3 or the re-emergence of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake.

The KOTOR remake has never actually be cancelled. So…maybe?

Spaceballs 2 Gets the Update Fans Have Been Waiting On (With A Brand New Cast Photo to Prove It)

Princess Vespa herself, Daphne Zuniga confirmed that filming for Spaceballs 2 has wrapped. Seems likely we’ll see it in 2027.

New Star Wars Movie Plot Summary Teases Secrets of the Ancient Sith

This is not confirmed but why not traffic in rumors. A German Blu-Rey site had an alleged plot summary of The Mandalorian and Grogu.

“The Empire has been defeated and the remnants of its force scattered to the far corners of the galaxy. Yet some of the former commanders of this dark era cling to their power and have become dangerous warlords. Din Djarin together with his apprentice Grogu track down and neutralize these cells. Several clues lead them to Khar’Zuun where they not only manage to infiltrate an almost forgotten imperial facility but Grogu also discovers an ancient artifact that functions as an amplifier of his abilities.”

OK, I’m here for Grogu with some extra-strong Force powers.

Star Wars Is Officially Retconning The Sequel Trilogy

In The Mandalorian season 3, however, this was revealed to have been in the works decades earlier. The show highlighted a meeting of Imperial remnants, with Project Necromancer being mentioned. Project Necromancer was then referenced in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, set even before the original trilogy, making Palpatine’s resurrection something that has been planned, rather than a rushed plot point.

I do like the idea of using the TV shows along with books to fill in the gaps of what happened between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

This Day in Star Wars History

December 5th was a little bit of slow day in the galaxy far, far away.

• British actress Lydia Leonard was born in 1981, in Paris. She voiced Sith Lord Lana Beniko, along with a few other random voices, in “Star Wars: The Old Republic”. As I never played “The Old Republic,” I’m not sure if she has a French or a British accent.

• Comic book “Tag & Bink Are Dead 2” was published in 1999. I generally skip over comic books in TDISWH unless it’s something very interesting or unique, or maybe the 1st issue in a series. I just don’t know enough about comics to comment. But this one, the title caught my eye. And it was written by Kevin Rubio, writer and director of TROOPS.

• In 2019, the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride opened at Walt Disney World in Florida. I have never experienced the ride (yet) but I have watched YouTube videos and it looks like a lot of fun.

This Is Where The Fun Begins, Pt 2

One more meme to end the year.

That’s it for this year. Have a great December, and may the Force be with you.