The Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter: October 18, 2024
Lando might be fun, Disney needs a leader, and I talk about chairs
Hello there
Good morning or whenever you read this and welcome to this week’s edition of the Death Star Human Resources Department Newsletter. After last week’s Link-O-Rama, we’re back this week with real news. Or something resembling news. I’ve mentioned it’s a bit of a slow period in the Star Wars universe. I keep expecting the media push for Skeleton Crew to ramp up, we’re only about 6 weeks out from the show. Maybe it will start after Halloween. This week we’ve got a little bit of info about the Lando movie. It’s not much, but it’s something. I question who’s in charge over at Lucasfilm, and I went on a podcast that’s mostly about college football but there was a little talk. Plus all the usual nonsense you’ve got to expect each week here at Death Star HR.
This Is Where The Fun Begins
Give the Disney employee in the Chewbacca costume a raise, he’s got some range. Because even in a full Chewie get up, his disdain is obvious.
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Can Star Wars Be Fun?
The alternative headline was “Make Star Wars Fun Again” but I realize that using “Make [Noun][Adjective] Again” is a bit of a loaded phrase right now. One thing I have always tried to do here at Death Star HR is to bring some fun to Star Wars. It’s way too easy to get bogged down in either the super-serious and kinda bleak or depressing plots of Andor or The Acolyte. There are some moments of humor in The Mandalorian, but it’s almost one note, just Grogu causing trouble. If there’s a “humor” switch at Lucasfilm HQ, right now it’s stuck on “too serious.”
But, that may be coming to a change. I say that “may” for two reasons. First, we have no idea what Donald Glover and his brother Stephen has planned. And second, like every other Star Wars show, until you actually see the show on your TV, you never know whether or not it’s actually going to get made.
As a quick refresher. Donald Glover played Lando Calrissian in Solo. After Solo was classified as box office bomb, any possible sequels were put on hiatus. A streaming series was announced in 2020 at D23, with Justin Simien as the show runner. Then there was years of radio silence until last year when we learned Simien was out, and the Glover brothers were in, and oh yeah it’s going to be a movie instead of a series. Got it?
OK, now you’re caught up. If the Lando movie happens, and I’m hoping it will since Lando was the best part of Solo, it may be a little lighter than say, Andor. As Variety noted:
“I just want it to be fun,” he recently told The Wall Street Journal during a video interview. “As a ‘Star Wars’ fan myself, I think it’s important that there needs to be fun being had.”
“It’s very hard to have fun right now,” Donald Glover continued. “It’s tough because there are very serious things happening and those are the only things that connect us, weirdly. So I get why things are serious, but part of the human experience, I believe, is we have a responsibility to have enjoyment. And I just feel like we’re lacking in that department.”
Glover isn’t wrong, in any of his observations. Star Wars needs an element of humor to it. And in an increasingly fractured society, where we have the ability to only interact with people who think or feel or look like us, it can be the only thing we all share is the world is burning, sometimes literally. Maybe we should all share some laughter.
Donald Glover said that while he obviously loves the “Star Wars” franchise it “can be super serious. Sometimes it’s way too serious. Everything that has to do with the Skywalkers is like so serious. [With] Lando, I think the best part about him is he’s a scoundrel. And I feel like people can relate to that, and he’s probably like ‘man, this war is whack. I need money,’ which I feel everyone can relate to. I want to bring fun to ‘Star Wars.’ I just want it to be fun.”
“This war is whack, I need money” might just make Lando the most relatable Star Wars character out there.
As much as I am absolutely looking forward to season 2 of Andor next year, Andor is a slog. Not because it’s bad, but because as I often say, it’s portrait of creeping fascism that feels all too real these days. Full interview with Glover below if you want to watch the whole thing.
Too Many Cooks in the Disney Kitchen
Something I’ve been thinking about for a while. In the September 27th Death Star HR, two fellow Substack writers left comments along the same lines. Check out both of their sites. First fellow writer of nerd shit Eric Piece over at All The Fanfare.
I'm not one to reflexively bemoan Disney's stewardship of Star Wars because a) I remember the Prequels for what they actually were; and b) Disney's batting average is still rather good. Rogue One, Andor, 2/3 of The Mandalorian, and 2/3 of the Sequel Trilogy are all amazing.
However, the vibes are just not good. I've never gotten the sense Disney/Lucasfilm/Kathleen really has any plan or even a clue what they're doing. So many projects announced and quietly quit, the unplanned and piecemeal sequels, the fickle faith in The Acolyte... just does not inspire confidence.
Second was Peter David Balis who writes about moves and television at Somewhere Else.
For a while, whenever I walked into an Apple Store, everyone was always crowded around the BB-8 toy. I kept seeing kids, pretending to have lightsaber battles when I walked down the street.
It was a mistake to make Last Jedi so stylistically different from what came before. I don't think Disney realized what it had with Force Awakens and especially Rogue One.
Maybe Kennedy wanted to put her own stamp on things, or the Disney stamp. Colin Trevorrow's episode nine would have salvaged things. But alas.
I like a lot of what Disney has put out, but they don't have a plan, or a visionary at the helm.
And they are alienating writers and directors who were dreaming about making Star Wars movies since their childhoods...who probably went into filmmaking because of George Lucas.
I think if you’ve read Death Star HR long enough, you would take away that I am not someone someone who is automatically anti-Disney. There is a certain section of the fanbase, likely what they lack in numbers they make up for in volume, that starts yelling incoherently and foaming at mouth at the mere mention of Kathleen Kennedy’s name. That’s not the part of Star Wars fandom I hang out with.
But…there is certainly a vibe out there that under Disney, Star Wars feels unfocused. Maybe unsettled. Projects are announced and then cancelled. Movies become TV shows or vice versa. How does the number of announced Star Wars shows that have gotten the axe compare to the number of MCU ones? It feels like Disney knows it has a valuable property with Star Wars, but they’re still, 14 years in, trying to figure out what exactly they should do with it.
To me, there’s either a failure in leadership or a lack of leadership. There’s either too many people in charge or maybe that there’s no one in charge. Maybe both. Who actually in charge of Star Wars? Kathleen Kennedy is the President of Lucasfilm. Dave Filoni is the Chief Creative Officer. But unless you’re Emperor Palpatine, you always have to answer to someone. And while Kennedy’s name is at the of the Lucasfilm org chart, but then you get into the Disney corporation as a whole. How much influence does say, Bob Iger or Alan Bergman have over Lucasfilm?
By way of a story, I’ve mentioned before that I used to be very big into craftbeer and homebrewing. I was president of my homebrewing club. Now, running the Star Wars division of a multi-billion dollar corporation is just slightly different than trying to find a place for 20-30 beer nerds to have a monthly meeting, but there are some similar principles. The main one being democracy doesn’t work.
OK, maybe that was a bit of hyperbole and an excuse to post a clip from The Simpsons. But the first the first few months of my presidency, trying to schedule a meeting would be something like:
Me: How about we have our meeting at Blue Milk Brewing on the 13th?
2nd Person: No, I can’t do the 13th. I’ve got something going on.
Me: OK, Blue Milk Brewing on the 20th.
3rd Person: I hate Blue Milk Brewing, their IPA is garbage.
Me: Fine. Bantha Beerworks on the 20th. Their IPA is good.
4th Person: No, I can’t go back to Bantha Beerworks. I puked last time and didn’t tell anyone.
Me: …I hate everyone.
You get the point. Eventually I realized the only option is I would schedule the meeting and that would be it. You were either able to make the meeting and great we’re happy to see you, or you couldn’t make it and that sucks but we’ll see you next time. I realize I’m creeping dangerously close to Anakin Skywalker’s fascist leanings, but I get the appeal.
All this to say, Lucasfilm is no longer a company where Star Wars happens the way George Lucas wants it to happen. Sure, there were obviously plenty of other people involved in the decision making process prior to the sale to Disney. Kathleen Kennedy was the chairperson for Lucasfilm before Disney. But Star Wars was George’s baby, if he didn’t it to happen, it wasn’t going to happen. He was a more benevolent Emperor Palpatine.
Which goes back to the original point. Who does the proverbial Republic Credit stop with? Kennedy, Filoni, Iger, the Disney board of directors? I’m not sure what the answer is, and it’s possible there’s not even a tangible problem. Maybe I’m just imagining problems where their aren’t any. The only real solution though, is for someone to take charge. It’s time for Kathleen Kennedy to enter her final form, Darth Icky1, and fully take charge of Lucasfilm. Or better yet, give me a call. I’ve got IDEAS.
Catch Me On The Holonet
As you the reader probably gather from the October 11th Death Star HR Link-O-Rama, it was a bit of a disaster last week. And in the mess, I completely forgot to mention I was on a podcast.
If you’ve been around Death Star HR for a while, you’ll remember that for May the 4th I went on the Brian Lennon Show and talked Star Wars with Brian and Gary. As the self-appointed Bombad General of the Darth Jar Jar truther movement, it was my pleasure to introduce them to the Darth Jar Jar theory. Last week, I popped in on Tailgater’s Setup, their college football podcast and talked to Brian, Gary, and John about my trip to Oregon and we had some fun deciding which Star Wars character would various college football coaches and players be. So if you’re in the venn diagram of college football and Star Wars, check it out.
Things My Wife Has Said About Star Wars
In this case, it wasn’t Star Wars specifically. More about Death Star HR. While tailgating for the game in Oregon, I met Jeff Lerg, the goalie for MSU’s 2007 national championship hockey team. I had to let Emperor Palpatine’s #1 Fan know this.
For the record, I did not ask my new bestie Jeff Lerg how he felt about The Acolyte getting cancelled or anything like that. I can (occasionally) act normal in public.
This Day in Star Wars History
Two births and a death on October 18th in the Star Wars galaxy.
David Tomblin was born in 1930. Tomblin was the first assistant director on both Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He was also the writer, producer, and director for the short film Return of the Ewok, which from it’s Wookieepedia page sounds wild and if it’s on YouTube, I’ll have a review of it next week.
Shawna Trpcic was born in 1966. If her name sounds familiar, she was mentioned here on This Day In Star Wars History a couple weeks ago, as she passed away on October 4th, 2023. Trpcic was an Emmy Award winning costume designer who worked on The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka.
Finally, John Hollis passed away in 2005. Hollis was best known for his role in Empire Strikes Back as Lando’s bald sidekick, Lobot. He also played Blofeld in an uncredited role in For Your Eyes Only and also had parts in Superman II and Superman IV.
From the Depths of Wookieepedia
As I was hitting the randomizer button on Wookieepedia, I almost skipped over this one. Glad I stopped. This week we’ve got the Office of the Inquisitorius. The Inquisitorius were fallen Jedi or Force-sensitive sentients who worked for Darth Vader and the Emperor hunting down Jedi who survived Order 66. So when I saw the entery, I thought it was referring to the Inquisitorius organization. Interesting, but not what we’re going for on FTDOW. But I was wrong, it’s literally about the office where the Inquisitorius meet.
The Office of the Inquisitorius was an office with chairs, with the head seat being reserved for The Grand Inquisitor. It was a large room with a window that could see out underwater. It also had a large strategy table in the middle of the room and was guarded by two stormtroopers.
Very interesting. An office…with chairs? Wild. Perchance are there any decorations in the room?
Along the walls are dozens of Jedi lightsabers and a few helmets that are traditionally worn by Jedi younglings.
Well there you go. At this point I’m surprised the chairs in the Office of the Inquisitorius don’t have their own Wookieepedia entries.
News From the HoloNet
How the Mama of ‘Star Wars’ revolutionized science fiction and fantasy books
I knew the early Star Wars books were published by Dey Ray, but had no idea the backstory. It’s genuinely fascinating.
Fight Club is Still as Comically Misunderstood as the Day It Hit Theaters
It is still wild to me that the teaser for Fight Club was shown before The Phantom Menace.
'Could be worse': Hackers replace Illinois history content with hot takes on 'Star Wars'
I have an alibi and will not be taking any further questions.
Star Wars Finally Gave Mace Windu the Adventure He Deserves
The people demand more Mace Windu!
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.
This is not me calling Kennedy “icky.” Darth Icky was an actual name proposed by George for the Force Unleashed video game.
“This war is whack, I need money” is the best elevator pitch for a Lando project! lolol
I didn't realize it'd been 14 YEARS since Disney bought Star Wars. That's craziness.
It's fashionable to dunk on Kennedy which always feels gross because misogyny, but I honestly think she's in over her head. Her legendary track record as a producer was largely due to collaborations with creative geniuses like Spielberg. There's a vacuum at Lucasfilm when it comes to creative leadership and unfortunately Filoni is being propped up as the solution. He's better than nothing, but he's also not good.
Kennedy initially tried to bring in great directors/showrunners and let them do their thing, which is absolutely the right approach imo given her own strengths. The flaw was that everyone had to play in the same tiny sandbox. But having any kind of plan, like at all, should've been the first step.
Yes yes yes for a return to FUN