The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: July 11, 2025
The Return of the Link-O-Rama
Hello there
Good morning and welcome to an Ewok-sized edition of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. It’s just a link-o-rama this week as I’m off visiting Mom Mothma and Darth Dad. I’ll be back next week with a fully armed and operational newsletter.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
No meme or joke that I usually feature here this week. Instead your fun is listening to me talk about a movie that you’ve probably never seen. Friend of Death Star HR
had me back on The Oscar Project for a chat. This week, or well more like last week, we talked about the 1929 gangster film Alibi. Give us a listen and check out The Oscar Project.
The Latest in the Link-O-Rama
Star Wars: Dan Stevens To Play Fallen Jedi in Disney+ Show
Stevens is joining the cast of LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy – Pieces of the Past, where he’ll play the role of Solitus, a fallen Jedi “who’s looking for access to the Forcehold, “who sought out access to Forcehold – a secret realm full of discarded pieces of the past.”
Was hoping for some Ahsoka casting news, but hey, I’ll take it.
‘Ahsoka’ Season 2: Four Directors Revealed, Dave Filoni and Bryce Dallas Howard Confirmed to Return
Filoni, Howard, Jennifer Getzinger, and Anders Engström will be four of the directors of the new season. Filoni and Getzinger have already contributed to the series in a directing capacity, as Filoni directed both “Part One – Master and Apprentice” and “Part Five – Shadow Warrior”, while Getzinger directed “Part Six – Far, Far Away”.
Alright, I’m OK with this.
One fan said, "base it off the Legends Kenobi novel. It's a self-contained Tatooine story," referring to the 2013 story by John Jackson, which followed Kenobi's first weeks of self-exile on the desert planet and is a straight-up western involving Jawas and Jabba the Hutt. Another fan agreed, saying, "This is 100% the answer. It would have been perfect for a TV miniseries. Self-contained. No 'galactic' stakes. No real risk of running afoul of existing characters."
I would absolutely be on board with turning the Kenobi Expanded Universe Legends novel into a series. It’s been a while since I’ve read the book, I’m pretty sure I’ve reviewed it for the Death Star HR Book Club but Substack’s search function is such hot garbage it makes me wish for 1998’s Infoseek to make a return. It’s a good, self-contained adventure that doesn’t contradict (as far as I can remember) any current canon. Make it happen, Kathleen!
The Mandalorian & Grogu could become a movie trilogy...if the first one makes money
In fact, according to Hollywood newshound Daniel Richtman, Disney may make a trilogy of movies about The Mandalorian & Grogu, but only if the first one pulls in a lot of money.
Newsflash. Water is in fact wet. News at 11.
Mark Hamill Reveals How He Really Feels About Controversial Star Wars Film The Last Jedi
“I thought, ‘What could make someone give up a devotion to what is basically a religious entity, to give up being a Jedi?’ Well, the love of a woman,” Mark explained, before revealing this backstory involved Mark falling in love and having a child, who died as a toddler in an accident involving an unattended lightsaber.
Guys, we could have had Mara Jade in Sequel Trilogy. Just throwing that out there.
Solo: A Star Wars Story isn’t as bad as you remember
Another thing that sets Solo apart is its genre. This isn’t a Force-driven, prophecy-heavy epic like the sequels that surrounded it. It’s a scrappy space western, a heist movie. It’s a tale of double-crosses, desert deals, and a ragtag band just trying to stay one step ahead of their past.
Solo is pretty good. I think a the article gets a lot of things right, it was a troubled production and it came on the heels of The Last Jedi. It’s a perfectly cromulent movie, at worst. It’s probably been a while since you’ve seen it. You should watch it again.
LEGO Is Going Nuts on Prime Day, All Star Wars Sets Smash All-Time Low Prices on Day 3
First up is the LEGO Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer building set: This set lets you create the iconic Imperial Star Destroyer which is a symbol of the Empire’s strength in the galaxy. With an age range of 10 and above, it’s an excellent build for children and adults who are Star Wars fans. There are six minifigures and Darth Vader packed with the set, so it’s perfect for free play or as a solo display item in any Star Wars collection.
If you need my address so you can send the Star Destroyer down to Texas, just let me know.
The Star Wars prequels are way better than they get credit for
Star Wars is about many things, but the nearly unbreakable bonds between found families, and sometimes real families, are essential to its authenticity. The prequels focus on many of these relationships, making them stand out because of how much the idea of love always transcends hate in a way that honors the original films that came before these movies.
A theme that the Filoni-verse has used (maybe overly relied on). It’s been my long held belief that the Prequels would have been better if Uncle George handed his outline to someone that could A) write dialog and B) viewed actors as part of the movie instead of impediments to his all digital dreams.
Speaking at a fan event marking the 20th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (via the BBC), Lucas confirmed this is "one of my favorite movies." He then added, "of course Jar Jar is my favorite character."
Lucas singled out Ahmed Best, who played the character, for particular praise. "Ahmed, you did a fantastic job," Lucas continued, remembering a vocal backlash against the Gungan at the time of the movies' release. "It was very, very hard."
I have been glad to see that Ahmed Best is back in the Star Wars family, so to speak. He did not deserve the hatred that he got. I don’t think of myself as the most fully formed human being, I do write a newsletter about Star Wars so perhaps there’s still some refusal to grow up. But I can’t imagine sending an email to an actor telling him that I hate him simply because of a character he played.
How ‘Star Wars’ helped spark a Philly-area fencer’s rise to Pan American gold
One of Szapary’s grandmothers was responsible for introducing him to Star Wars, the franchise that sparked his love for fencing. Szapary continues to fence regularly, balancing the sport with his burgeoning neuroscience career, and plans to embrace whatever opportunities come next, whether it be on the piste at the Olympics or in the lab.
I wonder if he listens to “The Imperial March” or “Duel of the Fates” as his warm up music.
A STAR WARS Sequel Trilogy Character Might Be Getting Their Own Spin-Off Film
The scoop comes from entertainment insider Daniel Richtman, who claims Lucasfilm is currently “discussing a spinoff film to the sequel trilogy.”
While Richtman didn’t name who the film would focus on, he added, “Unclear for which character.” So no, we don’t know who it is, but Rey is already getting her film, so it will be someone other than her.
So we actually know nothing other than Disney is talking about a film for a character who isn’t Rey. Never change, clickbait. Never change.
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.
Solo is great!
I really enjoy Solo. I own it and have seen it about 5 or 6 times. The same is true for Rogue One, which I consider to be companion pieces. They're definitely not on par with the Skywalker Saga films, but they're still very good. The scene of Han and Chewbacca meeting is great, as well as the moment when Han first sees the Millennium Falcon (among others).
Years ago, I recommended Solo to a couple of co-workers but they both dragged their feet about seeing it because of the negative press. When they finally did see it, each of them had the same reaction: "Wow, that was a lot better than I thought it would be." I think Solo is the only Disney Star Wars movie that has filmmakers that George Lucas himself probably would have hired if he was still in charge (Ron Howard, Jon and Lawrence Kasdan).