Star Wars 7x7: A Daily Bite-Sized Dose of Star Wars Joy

From a certain point of view, Dave Filoni has a number of advantages that George Lucas didn't have at their respective stages of their careers. For example, Filoni isn't having to invent the Star Wars galaxy from scratch. He doesn't have to run multiple companies. He doesn't have to push filmmaking technology further than it's ever been pushed. But there's one specific advantage he has, that's bee...

Naturally, the career paths of George Lucas and Dave Filoni have been very different. That said, it looks as though Lucasfilm is working to close the gap in their skill sets... Building off of our conversation from Monday (Episode 2,194), I'm going to take a high-level look at George Lucas' skill sets, and use that as a jumping-off point to talk about Dave Filoni's work experience over the years,...

Nearly 2200 numbered episodes, five movies, the first live-action series, two animated series and a revival for a third, multiple video games and AR/VR experiences, dozens of books, hundreds of comics, and so much more. It's been an amazing six years so far. I'm pausing to give thanks and reflect for a moment today, sharing the subjects of the top 10 episodes from the last year, and considering wh...

One of the things the Disney Gallery series about The Mandalorian is doing - perhaps unintentionally, perhaps not - is introducing a new group of Star Wars fans to Dave Filoni. In most of the episodes, Filoni has been given space to talk about a variety of Star Wars subjects at length, and the round table audiences have all been so deeply attentive to what he's shared. It was no less the case in t...

On a Sunday Conversation episode, I'm thrilled to welcome Alexander Freed to the show. Freed is the author of four Star Wars novels, including last month's Shadow Fall, second in the Alphabet Squadron trilogy. The topics of conversation I proposed included his writing process; the uniqueness of the physical setting of the novel; the construction of battle sequences and how his experience with vide...

The seventh episode of the Disney Gallery Series for The Mandalorian, "Score," starts off with one of the most unlikely stories you'll ever about the creation of a Star Wars soundtrack - and only gets more fascinating from there. On today's episode of the show, we'll talk about why that is, and I'll play a musical instrument for the first time ever on the show. Not nearly as well as Ludwig Göranss...

Admiral Ackbar said it himself - at close range, Mon Calamari Star Cruisers can't hold up against Imperial Star Destroyers. On today's episode of the show, you'll hear him and Lando talking about it during the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi. As it turns out, the Rebellion was secretly working on a ship that could go toe-to-toe with a Star Destroyer - and win. And the development of the prot...

Star Wars Squadrons revealed more about its story and inspirations, thanks to an interview on Polygon with EA's creative director Ian Frazier. Here's what he revealed, and what could be read between the lines. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.*** 

We ended June with an update on The Mandalorian Season 2, and we start July with news of a surprising kind - an expansion of the world of The Mandalorian, with new forthcoming stories. Lucasfilm just announced a Mandalorian-themed publishing program, which they say will begin in the fall of 2020 and continue into the winter and spring of 2021. So far, only two dates have been announced - both of w...

It's been a while since we talked about The Mandalorian Season 2, so let's get up to speed with a couple of announcements that might have slipped under your radar.  There's a great story on Collider that I promised to link to during the show, so here's the Collider link about the hiring of Sam Hargrave as a second unit director for The Mandalorian Season 2. I'm diving into that in detail, and I'm...

First came Episode 327. Then came Episode 1138. Now, we come to the last of the magic Star Wars numbers in Episode 2187. And its uses are not as prevalent as the other two. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.*** 

Today, a conversation with Cole Horton, author of the just-released Star Wars Book of Lists. Which is an enormous book, and we'll talk about everything that went into the making of this comprehensive yet irreverent tome. Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.*** 

The shortest and the most technical of the Disney Gallery episodes thus far, "Process" goes behind the scenes of The Mandalorian to reveal how they refined the story through animatics and pre-visualization before filming the real thing. On today's episode, I'll boil it down for you as best I can, though I think it's definitely worth checking out the "Process" episode so you can see the animatics a...

Alphabet Squadron's audiobook was narrated by Saskia Maarleveld, and I was a fan of her work on that first book in Alexander Freed's trilogy. So in all honesty, I was a bit disappointed when I heard that she wouldn't be narrating Shadow Fall. That's no knock on the person who does narrate it, Carol Monda. As I listened to the audiobook version of Shadow Fall, I kept thinking to myself, "Where have...

No Star Wars story takes place in isolation, and Alexander Freed's Shadow Fall is no exception. Yesterday, we talked specifically about its connections to the upcoming video game, Star Wars: Squadrons. Today, we tease out some of its connections to other movies, TV, and novels. That may be as a result of stories the characters tell each other; surprise appearances (or the lack thereof); and of a w...

The more we learn about the people and places of Star Wars: Squadrons, the more we learn that those details are elaborated upon in Alexander Freed's Shadow Fall. On today's episode of the show, I'm going to dig into some of the details we learn about the mission in Star Wars: Squadrons as revealed in Shadow Fall, including what Caern Adan (of New Republic Intelligence) thinks about the leader of V...

Thanks to Becker&mayer! for sending me a digital review copy to check out! I have to say, when I first heard about Star Wars: Book of Lists, I thought it was going to be a fun read, and good trivia fodder, but also exactly what its title promised - a book of lists. When I actually got to check it out, though, I realized how mistaken I was. Cole Horton, who's written and co-written a dozen or so en...

Shadow Fall is the sequel to last year's Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed, and the second in a trilogy of novels about a group of sole survivors banding together to create a fighting force for the New Republic. If Alphabet Squadron is the A New Hope of this trilogy, then Shadow Fall is its Empire Strikes Back - a thrilling novel that improves upon its already strong predecessor with daring act...

For a franchise, a saga if you will, that turns largely on one father-son relationship, there's not a lot of fatherly representation in Star Wars. In fact, Star Wars is probably more notable for its *lack* of fatherly examples - or lack of screen time for them, to be sure. On today's episode, we'll talk about types of fathers you may encounter, albeit briefly, in the Star Wars movies. Punch it! **...

A fairly large portion of "Practical" - the fifth episode of the Disney Gallery series about The Mandalorian - is dedicated to Baby Yoda. And why wouldn't it be? Certainly the fortunes of the show have turned, to a large degree, around the success of that character's introduction. But on this episode of the mini-documentary series, you also find out about the intersection of performer, prosthetics...

Before we get into spoiler territory regarding the VR experience Vader Immortal: Episode II, I think it's worth spending a moment on the philosophy around spoilers here at Star Wars 7x7. I've been thinking about this as compared with console video games, and also with book review spoilers - which we did last week with Queen's Peril, and which we have coming soon with a few other books. With VR, as...

Episode I of the groundbreaking Vader Immortal VR game from ILMxLAB set up the story. Now, Episode II sends you on the Bright Star quest - after being trained to use the Force. On today's episode of the show, we'll get into a non-spoiler review of Vader Immortal: Episode II, which includes a comparison of the installment not only to the Episode I predecessor, but also to the LEGO Star Wars games (...

The inevitable has become the official: Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2020 has been canceled. So, what happens next? That's what we're talking about today... Punch it! ***I'm listener supported! Join the community at http://Patreon.com/sw7x7 to get access to bonus episodes and other insider rewards.*** 

The video game code-named "Maverick" has been revealed as "Star Wars: Squadrons"! On Monday, a reveal trailer debuted, as well as some promotional images and additional story details. Yes, I said "story"! There's a single-player story narrative to the game, which will see you playing as both a New Republic pilot and as an Imperial pilot. One article I read said that the price point of the game - $...

When the coronavirus pandemic struck, production on live action movies and television shut down. Thankfully, season 2 of The Mandalorian had already finished principal photography, so it could proceed on schedule for its October 2020 debut. In the meantime, we've heard that Star Wars animation is also moving full steam ahead, even though we don't know many details about that (yet). And there's ano...