The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: April 10, 2026

Taking legal advice from Devon Izara

Hello there

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.

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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.

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Darth Maul: Shadow Lord is a Dudes Rock Movie

It’s been a while since there’s been a new show or movie, so it’s worth reiterating the official spoiler policy of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. And that is, spoilers are going to get posted. It’s too tough to discuss my thoughts on a book or a movie or a TV show without talking about what actually happened in said book/movie/TV show. If you’re avoiding spoilers, proceed at your own risk. Kinda like being a gangster on Janix. Risky.

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.

The screen grab everyone is using.

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.

“Get me my space lawyer, Lawson.”

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?

“What do you want Lawson…err…Shepard?” Source.

• 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.

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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.

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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.

The face of lots of judgment. Source.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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 Paul Riddell 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.

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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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1. Are we at the point where there are more Jedi survived Order 66 than Jedi who were killed it in? Many people are saying.