Star Wars Bits: 30 Years Of Thrawn, Inside Galaxy's Edge, Knights Of The Old Republic, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, And More!
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In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
Timothy Zahn Talks 30 Years of Thrawn
In Star Wars Insider #202, author Timothy Zahn talks to Brandon Wainerdi about the phone call that spawned Heir to the Empire and introduced the world to Grand Admiral Thrawn.
"It was a chance to jumpstart my career in a way that I'd never thought possible, but it was also a chance for me to fall flat on my face in front of millions of Star Wars fans (laughs). On top of that, I had never written a trilogy before: a single story told in three volumes, in 300,000 words. But by the next morning, I had enough of a germ of an idea that I thought it could be possible. The big question was whether I could capture the atmosphere of Star Wars, but I knew I needed to at least try. I went ahead and said yes, and it seems to be working out so far."
Check out StarWars.com's exclusive excerpt of the interview and pick up a copy of the magazine in stores (or digital) now!
Kristin Baver talks Skywalker: A Family at War
365 Star Wars includes articles about the women of Star Wars, analysis articles, and reference posts about Star Wars characters, droids, planets, and creatures. Created by Amy Richau, the site highlights the incredible efforts of women in the franchise. Head on over to Amy's site for an interview with Associate Editor of StarWars.com and author Kristin Baver, whose book, Skywalker: A Family at War, is now available wherever books are sold. The biography "examines the events that unfolded in the Skywalker saga on screen as well as through books, comics, and other canonical storytelling." Read an excerpt at StarWars.com.Check out the interview here. While you're at it, be sure to read Amy's other interviews with 'Star Wars Women' like Jamie Leung, Associate Director of Marketing at Del Rey, and ILMxLAB Production Manager Sarah Barrick.
Inside The Art of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
Continuing the theme of Star Wars books that are now available in stores, fans have a new reference book to obsess over with The Art of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Written by Amy Ratcliffe, Managing Editor at Nerdist Industries and Lucasfilm contributor, the book provides an inside look at the magic behind the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge-themed lands at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, documenting the art and innovations that led to the creation of Galaxy's Edge.
Featuring hundreds of full-color concept artworks, sketches, blueprints, and photographs, the book reveals Walt Disney Imagineering's creative process and offers a sneak peek at the upcoming Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience, a first-of-its-kind immersive two-night adventure. StarWars.com has an exclusive preview of the gorgeous art you'll find inside the book.
Knights of the Old Republic Gets a Remake?
According to recent reports, a remake of the beloved 2003 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is actively in development. Originally developed by BioWare, the remake will be handled by Aspyr, a studio primarily known for porting older games to modern platforms, including Star Wars: Republic Commando and Star Wars Episode I: Racer. Check out IGN's video below for more information:
According to the rumors, the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake will be doing away with the real-time/turn-based combat system of the original game to be more of an action RPG. Additionally, tweaks will be made to the story to fit within the current Star Wars canon, as the 2003 game's story was retconned after the established canon was reset in 2014.
Star Wars: Visions & Ronin
Coming to Disney+ later this year, Star Wars: Visions is "a series of animated short films celebrating the Star Wars galaxy through the lens of the world's best anime creators." The anthology collection will bring 10 fantastic visions from several leading Japanese anime studios, offering "a fresh and diverse cultural perspective to Star Wars."
Inspired by the series, Emma Mieko Candon's upcoming canonical novel Ronin will be published by Del Rey on October 12, 2021. Details are scarce, but the title suggests the novel will follow a wandering warrior who has no lord or master. Is the mysterious ronin a Jedi, a Sith, or a member of some other religious sect?
Rumors abound that we could see a trailer for Star Wars: Visions on May the 4th, so hopefully, we learn more about this fascinating series and its first spin-off novel soon.
Into a Larger World: Star Wars Art & Zines
"Into a Larger World" is a Star Wars fanzine made by Kara DJ (@intoalargerworldbykara), a collage artist from New Jersey. Each issue combines different mediums in a classic fanzine style, examining and celebrating a different part of the Star Wars universe and fandom.
Fanzines have been an integral and often female-driven part of the fan community for over 40 years, and Kara is dedicated to continuing the tradition, often including art and writings from other members of the fandom as well as her own colorful layouts. For more info, visit Kara's Instagram or subscribe to her zine here.
Star Wars Podcast & YouTube Round-Up
In addition to their "Indy Year" series, a year-long monthly tribute to the 40th anniversary of Indiana Jones, Blast Points Podcast has a new episode all about Holo-Chess with special guest Tom Spina of Regal Robot.
The scene has lived in the hearts and imagination of fans for years but we need to know what it's all about, how it happened, and who each monster is. There's only one person who could join us on this quest and that's our friend from Regal Robot's Tom Spin. Join us as Tom explains it all and tells us all about Regal Robot's new and amazing replicas of the original monsters. This is an episode that will tell you absolutely EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about the amazing Dejarik monsters and so much more. Who is Hunk and what about the mysterious duo of Scrimp and Bulbous!? Listen and find out! Listen here.
Talking Bay 94 has an interview with Star Wars author Alexander Freed.
Prolific Star Wars author, Alexander Freed has done so much, recently completing his Alphabet Squadron trilogy of novels. I really loved this conversation, tracing his journey from Bioware to Dark Horse Comics to Star Wars Insider short stories to full-length Star Wars novels. Listen here.
Skytalkers has an excellent episode on the Ewok Adventure movies with special guests Jason and Gabe from Blast Points!
Caitlin and Charlotte continue to dive into the Star Wars Vintage Collection and watch the two Ewok Adventure films, Caravan of Courage and The Battle for Endor! They're joined by two Ewok film experts, Jason and Gabe from the incredible podcast, Blast Points. Caitlin and Charlotte present Jason and Gabe with questions they were left with after watching, including: What was George Lucas' mindset when creating the story for these films? How shocked were you by the first 10 minutes of The Battle for Endor? Where are these incredible matte paintings today? How did these films eventually influence the slate of Star Wars stories we are receiving today? All this and more on this episode of Skytalkers. Listen here.
Skytalkers also has a great episode detailing Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars micro-series:
Caitlin and Charlotte discuss the history of the series, how it compares to The Clone Wars now that both series are complete, and reminisce on watching this for the first time in middle school. They discuss each volume and analyze characterization, the metaphor of the cave, and much more. Listen here.
Pink Milk is a Star Wars podcast where hosts (and husbands) Bryan and Tom talk Star Wars, queerly!
Bryan is a Star Wars super-fan and Tom is "Forced" to listen to Bryan however, he's an out and proud casual fan. Bryan and Tom bring their fun and funny relationship to the mics as they discuss Star Wars from two very different perspectives but always from a LGBTQ+ perspective. Listen here.
The Resistance Broadcast is the official Star Wars podcast of StarWarsNewsNet.com. In their latest episode, the gang discusses what's in store in the third season of The Mandalorian.
On this episode we speculate on the type of role Maya Erskine will play in Obi-Wan Kenobi, give our takes on the rumor about Wookiees showing up in The Mandalorian, and talk about Stellan Skarsgård's recent comments about joining the Andor series. We also touch on the new Thrawn book, and unused ideas from The Rise of Skywalker. Listen here.
Sistas with Sabers is a podcast made for and by black female fans of Star Wars. Listen to their latest episode, "What is CODED?" here.
Sistas with Sabers a safe space for us to connect, support each other and share our experience with the world. If you have a question or want to join the tribe email us at sistaswithsabers@gmail.com.
On The Imperial Senate Podcast, Charlie, Nicky, and Clare interview Jamie Stangroom about his new YouTube show "Lightspeed Tonight with Wameres Watt." Listen here.
On Bespin's Other Bits (BOB The Podcast), Star Wars scooper Bespin Bulletin discusses whatever he feels like with co-host Isaac Pevy. Topics include Star Wars, video games, and pop culture in general.
BOB Reviews returns! Join Bespin as he reviews the 'Mortal Kombat' reboot, 'Nobody' the latest flick from the John Wick creator starring Bob Odenkirk and the much delayed 'Chaos Walking' starring Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland! Joining Bespin on this episode is host of the Moving Picture Madness podcast and streamer, AntShotFirst! Listen here.
Star Wars YouTube Round-Up
You can always count on Alex & Mollie Damon at Star Wars Explained to keep you up to date on all the latest news from that galaxy far, far away. Check out their recent video for a review of the new Star Wars book, Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good by Timothy Zahn.
Regal Robot founder Tom Spina has a zoom chat about their Holochess Prop Replicas and the history of this iconic stop-motion scene with FX legends Dennis Muren, Jon Berg, and Phil Tippett.
On Around the Galaxy, host Pete Feltzer puts together an all-star team of Star Wars personalities with Ash Crossan, Hal Hickel, Clayton Sandell, and Krystina Arielle.
Over at Kessel Run Transmissions, Noah Outlaw, Corey Van Dyke, and Claire Stribling discuss the possibility of Maya Erskine playing Dr. Aphra in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series and much, much more!
On Holochronicles, Andy and Josh are joined by John Hoey from the Resistance Broadcast to talk favorite Star Wars soundtracks!
On Beyond the Blast Doors Live! David, Scotty, and Marie talk The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Black Series Figures, and what's happening in the world of Star Wars comics!
On This Week! in Star Wars, "the LEGO Group turns R2-D2 into an adorable new construction set, Hasbro celebrates Lucasfilm's 50th anniversary with some new Black Series action figures, and Dok-Ondar warms a space stool at Seezelslak's Cantina in ILMxLAB's Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge."
On Star Wars Xtra: Weekly Edition, Star Wars author and documentarian David Whiteley discusses all the latest news from that galaxy far, far away.
And finally, in preparation for the upcoming May 4th premiere of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, let's watch that amazing trailer one more time:
And that's it for this edition of Star Wars Bits! If you have something cool from the Star Wars Universe that should be included in this column, reach out on Twitter!