The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: April 21, 2025

When your newsletter has a case of the Mondays

Apr 21, 2025

Hello there

What? Death Star HR on a Monday? I know, I know. I’ve mentioned before that I really try to stick with the Friday schedule because I know myself well enough to know that if I don’t have a deadline, it’s very easy for me to say “eh, I’ll do it later” and then never actually do said thing. I’m sure you’ve noticed1 that this year, the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter has occasionally be dropping on Friday afternoon or Saturday instead of the scheduled 6:00 am central time on Fridays that I aim for. But, there was a lot going on the real world last week, so the galaxy far, far away unfortunately had to take a back seat.

But, I set a goal for myself that I was not going to skip any weeks unless planned in advance, and it was Star Wars Celebration last week, the Super Bowl2 of Star Wars so I can’t let it pass. So, this is going to be a fairly pics/videos/links heavy edition of Death Star HR and a full one with lots of words will drop on Friday.

This Is Where The Fun Begins

Seen at Star Wars Celebration.

10/10 no notes. Just perfection.

Andor Is A Day Away

Are you at DEFCON 13 for Andor yet? If not you should be. Last week we had the the first clip released.

It’s not exactly a new clip, they’ve used some of this footage in the various trailers and teasers already. But the Range Trooper with the rocket launcher was fun.

As Disney is pulling out all the stops, Diego Luna stopped by Jimmy Kimmel to talk Gulf of America4, the Star Wars dress code, and taking a blaster through airport security. Luna and Kimmel did not bring up the Star Wars costuming choice that friend of Death Star HR Eric Pierce noted the other day, was Wim’s dad in Skeleton Crew the first person in the Star Wars universe to wear glasses?

I also rewatched Andor season one. It is still the best Disney+ Star Wars show that’s been made and one of the best things Star Wars has ever done across any medium. It’s also a little too real these days. Eric Pierce (the same one from above) has a great piece at All The Fanfare about watching Andor in 2025. It’s paywalled but you should subscribe to Eric anyway because he’s awesome.

All the Fanfare

Watching 'Andor' in 2025 Is Terrifying

I enjoyed Andor a lot more when fascism was a distant concept. It hits differently with news of, well, everything, going on in America today…

10 months ago · 11 likes · 2 comments · Eric Pierce

Friend of Death Star HR Matthew Freeman over at Ahch-Tu Baby has a good piece about what he’s looking forward to in season 2. It’s also paywalled but you should be subscribing to Matthew as well because he’s awesome. It’s worth the money.

Ahch-To Baby

Something about Cassian

Andor is easily the most critically acclaimed show released under the Star Wars banner since the streaming era began in 2019, and in one week, it returns! I want to write whoo-hoo! but because it’s Andor, I should probably glower knowingly and whisper something dubiously moral before I walk away into the shadows to change my wig…

10 months ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Matthew Freeman

Season 2 of Andor drops tomorrow at 8 pm Central time (the only time zone that I acknowledge).

There Was a lot to Celebrate at Star Wars Celebration

Here at the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter, we celebrate spoilers. So if you’re someone who avoids spoilers at all costs, skip ahead.

Lots of quick hits here: There’s plenty of good coverage around Substack and the various interwebz.

The Mandalorian and Grogu. Pedro Pascal and David Filoni had a nice chat.
Look, I’m not going to comment on Pedro’s outfit because I am not a fashionable guy. But the whole time I was having a Seinfeld flashback.
It’s like a pirate decided to go to Oktoberfest. Fans were also treated to some footage of Sigourney Weaver in action along with Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt. Those are some very strange words to type in that order. Also, Rotta the Hutt is a gymbro
“What if we had a Hutt but he loved creatine instead of frogs?” Source.
One final piece of news from the movie. Fresh off his cameo in Season 3 of The Mandalorian, Zeb Orrelios is slated to appear. No idea how big of a role he’ll have, but presumably it will be more than just sitting in a cantina.
Star Wars: Starfighter. The previously untitled Shawn Levy Star Wars film has a name and a release date. It’s called Starfighter (one word, not two) and you can see it in theaters on May 28, 2027. Ryan Gosling stars. Mikey Madison will not be in it. Details are limited but it A) takes place 5 years after Rise of Skywalker and B) it will be a standalone movie. Disney had previously reserved three dates for Star Wars movies, two of which have been taken. There’s still the December 2027 release date unaccounted for.
Celebration attends got to see a trailer for season 2 of Ahsoka. Per IGN it was just images, no footage yet as filming should be starting very very soon. It leaked online but the few links I checked here dead. Seems like the Disney copyright lawyers are on top of things. If you search Ahsoka season 2 trailer on YouTube, there are plenty of results but they’re the fan made ones. Which I get it, anything for clicks. But, Dave Filoni did give us some news. Everyone who survived season 1 is going to be back. Plus, we’re going to be treated to the space battle we never knew we wanted but immediately realized we needed, Admiral Akbar and Grand Admiral Thrawn are going to face off. Also, there are going to be Loth-Kittens. But more importantly, Chopper is going to be committing war crimes again.
And I looked, and behold a C1 Astromech and his name that sat on him was Chopper, and Hell followed with him.
I knew there was some news about The Acolyte but when I searched in Google News, this is the first thing that came up.
I can’t be the only one who now immediate wants “The Acolyte: The Musical” to happen, right? No news about season 2, I’m not holding my breath on that one. But there are three new books coming out. There’s The Crystal Crown, a novel along with an The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte and The Acolyte Visual Guide. Space Wizards Book Club has a good roundup of all the books announced at Celebration.
And finally, because I can’t cover everything, long time readers of Death Star HR know that I am a Darth Jar Jar truther. Some people believe there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll. Some people believe the moon landing was faked. I believe that Jar Jar Binks is a Sith Lord. But the one and only Gungan Sith Lord is coming back in Fortnite, okeyday?
Meesa havin’ UNLIMTED POWERS!
I’m not a Fortnite guy since A) I would absolutely get slaughter by a bunch of 9 year olds if I tried and B) I’m an Apple guy and last I knew, Fortnite and Apple were still fighting. But it still looks fun.

I could keep going on about Celebration, there’s a lot more to be covered. Ahch-Tu Baby has some excellent roundups from Day 1 and from Day 2 & 3 for more coverage. Plus the Star Wars YouTube channel has a playlist to get yourself caught up.

There’s no Star Wars Celebration for 2026, but 2027 will be the 50th anniversary of A New Hope and Celebration will be held in Los Angeles.

Wonder how many subscribers I need to get a media credential? Either way, I’ve already put it on the calendar.

Great Moments in Star Wars Merchandising

There’s a story below in News From the Holonet, but Heritage Auctions is having a huge auction of Star Wars merchandise and memorabilia for May 4th. And as Heritage Auctions is headquartered in Dallas, I may fire up the landspeeder and head on over to see the items in person. It’s pretty unlikely I’d be able to afford anything, but if there’s one thing out of the 300 items available that I’d spend my hard earned Republic Credits on, it’s the C-3PO tape dispenser.

Star Wars Hand Painted Ceramic C-3PO Tape Dispenser (Sigma, 1981).... — The 1980’s were a strange time. Source.

Just look at that beauty. On the one hand, I was surprised to see it was a licensed product by Lucasfilm. On the other hand, Uncle George has certainly been accused of slapping the Star Wars name on anything that could make him a buck. The description from auction site says that it’s “part of Sigma's early 1980s Star Wars ceramics line” which makes me wonder if there’s a whole line of Star Wars ceramic office supplies.

Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars

Star Wars Celebration edition. Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan is not understanding.

Me: I should be in Japan right now.
EP1F: uh huh
Me: Do you even know why I should be?
EP1F: [resigned tone of voice] It’s Star Wars celebration.
Me: awwww…you do pay attention
EP1F: No, it’s just that you won’t shut up about it.

The Dark Side is strong with her.

This Day in Star Wars History

A lot of times I will do This Day in Star Wars History first. Now, I tend to save it for last since I don’t want to waste the work if Death Star HR is going to be a day (or three) late.

Ken Nightingall was born in 1921. He was a sound engineer on A New Hope, and was part of the team that won an Oscar for Best Sound in 1978. He was also known as “Pink Shorts Boom Guy.”

Ken Nightingall, holding boom mike and wearing pink shorts on the set of Star Wars — You’re know it when you see it. Source.

Jeff Anderson was born in 1970. Best known as playing Randal in all of the Kevin Smith movies, Anderson voiced Trandoshan bounty hunter Smug in the season three finale of The Clone Wars.
In 1976, the interior shots for the Cantina scene in A New Hope wrapped up at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, England.
Original Emperor Palpatine Marjorie Eaton passed away in 1986. Eaton protrayed Palpatine in the original version of Empire Strikes Back only to Uncle George give her the Special Edition treatment for the 2004 DVD release. I am a little surprised she survived the 1997 Special Edition. Eaton’s Wikipedia page sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. Eaton was one of two women who shot the scene as Ol’ Palpy, the other being Elaine Baker, wife of Rick Baker who was a makeup artist for Empire. And at least for a while there was confusion as to who was in the final shot. Neither Eaton or Baker were credited. But as far as I can tell, it’s been settled and it was Eaton.
In 2005, Celebration III kicked off in Indianapolis, Indiana. George himself made an appearance to promote the upcoming live-action TV show, Star Wars: Underworld. Oops.

From the Depths of Wookieepedia

More Star Wars sports! This week it’s Blitzball, from the canon novel Brotherhood by Mike Chen. What is Blitzball?

"There's a reference to a sport called Blitzball played in a local lake. Blitzball is basically underwater hockey played as a minigame in Final Fantasy X. As a former NHL writer, I freaking loved Blitzball and spent hours winning leagues."

As always, one of my favorite things is Star Wars is when they take something we’re used to here on Earth and just slightly tweak it for the Star Wars universe.