Holonet Blast #32

Monday* has arrived again. However, dear friends, this needn’t be a day of sorrow alone, for we have returned once more with your weekly dose of fun pop culture news!

This week I have but one link** to share with you all but a what a link it is! This past Tuesday, USA Today published an interview with Rian Johnson a well as an exclusive new behind-the-scenes video for The Last Jedi. The video does include both “Han and Leia’s Theme” and a few words from Carrie Fisher, so brace for emotions before hitting play.

Enjoy the video and have a good week!

*unless you are in a timezone in which Monday has already occurred. In this case, happy Tuesday!

**[INSERT LEGEND OF ZELDA JOKE HERE]

Holonet Blast #28

After last time’s flood of news, we get a little bit of a break in this Holonet Blast. Of course, there may be few items, but they are very relevant to our interests.

To start with, in response to a fan’s question, Rian Johnson declared The Last Jedi to be complete.

While we still have a few months to wait before seeing TLJ, we have less than a month before the premier Rebels‘ final season on October 16. The season 4 viewing schedule up until the holiday break is live and why must this show end????

*ahem*

Speaking of premiers, the new series ‘Science and Star Wars’ debuted this past Tuesday. The 10-episode series “will explore just how close we’ve come to realizing that technology, and take a look at the relationship between real-world science and Star Wars technology.” The first episode took on lightsabers and new episodes will air Tuesdays at 12:00 p.m. PT (3:00 p.m. ET). Star Wars is good. Science is good. Combining the two is good.

That’s it for this blast, except, of course, for me yelling about how by the time you read this a new Star Trek series will have aired its first episode holy Waru this is amazing! (Editor’s Note: We’ll allow the reference to that other Star Thing just this once.)

Holonet Blast #23

Hello, friends, and brace yourselves; we got quite a bit of stuff to cover this week.

First: the bad news. Via the Hollywood Reporter, Disney is pulling its movies from Netflix and starting its own streaming service, which will go live in 2019. What does this have to do with Star Wars, you ask? It’s not yet guaranteed that Star Wars and Marvel movies will be exclusive to this service, but I’m not getting my hopes up. it looks like Disney-branded films and Pixar movies are going to be exclusive to the service and it wouldn’t be surprising if that list of exclusive properties grew.

On to happier, Star Warsier things! EW has delivered unto us a heck-load of TLJ content this past week, including some exclusive images from the film. The images are paired with tantalizing details in the commentary. They also have a lot (as in eight, because of course) of pieces about different elements of The Last Jedi. I’m going to post links with their titles in bullet points, but you can also find all of them here.

On the literary front, Del Rey has revealed the retailer exclusive posters for Phasma! Continue reading

Holonet Blast #18

Hello again, friends! By the time you are reading this I will be playing a new video game. This has nothing to do with anything, I’m just really excited to start Zero Horizon Dawn. Ready to feel emotions now? On to the news!

This week we had a few confirmations regarding Operation: Blue Milk stories. On Wednesday, author Cavan Scott announced in his newsletter that his story in A Certain Point of View is from the point of view of Obi-Wan Kenobi. More specifically, it is called “Time of Death” and focus on Obi-Wan’s….time of death. “You know how they say your life flashes in front of your eyes when you die? Well, now imagine what would be like for a Jedi.” Yikes, my emotions.

It was also confirmed that Nnedi Okorafor’s story is about the Dianoga (why is this story not in my eyeballs right this moment, it will be so fantastic, Okorafor writing the Dianoga is everything I’ve ever needed in life) and Meg Cabot’s story will focus on Aunt Beru and oh, look, my emotions hurt again.

Speaking of emotions hurting, Dave Filoni. Oh, Dave Filoni. On Thursday he tweeted a piece of art and a snippet of dialogue of Ahsoka meeting the Bendu before the season 2 finale of Rebels. In the words of Darth Bria the Wise regarding this, “Not news news: Dave Filoni hates your emotions.”

And finally, in some clarification news, the Forces of Destiny episodes (which finished premiering this morning) will be a TV special in the fall. Lucasfilm’s Tracy Cannobbio also clarified earlier that the episodes will be airing on the Disney Channel two at a time starting yesterday through July 30th. So if you want to see them on TV, watch the Disney Channel during prime time on Sunday night.

Holonet Blast #14

Welcome back, gentle readers, to your weekly blast of Star Wars news!

On Wednesday, Michael Siglain of Lucasfilm Publishing announced via Twitter that September will see the release of Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy Stories. Siglain elaborated that it is indeed a companion to The Original Trilogy Stories. Brian Rood, S.T. Bende, and Ivan Cohen are some of the creators involved with the project.

September is still a ways off, however, so here’s something to look forward to in the more immediate future: June 10 will see the first gameplay livestream of Battlefront II with the Assault on Theed. Check out the link for more details as well as for information on the sweepstakes for a trip to join in the assault.

Holonet Blast #9

Things have slowed down on the news-front since Celebration, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some news for you! (And in case you missed the madness… we got a The Last Jedi trailerRebels is ending after Season 4,  there was a bunch of publishing news, and holy crap Battlefront II!)

EPISODE IX HAS A RELEASE DATE! It will be coming to our eyeballs not December 2019 but instead May 24, 2019, and if you think people haven’t already spent a lot of energy trying to figure out what prompted the switch back to May releases you would be extremely wrong.

Oh, and according to the same release, the fifth Indiana Jones films will be coming out on July 10, 2020, with both Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg returning once more. But now that they’ve brought aliens into the picture, where else is there for Indy to go? We shall learn together.

Holonet Blast #3

Welcome back to Holonet Blast! Less news this week than last but it is news indeed! Let’s get right to it!

First off, the principle photography on the as-yet untitled Han Solo began February 20! The film, set to be released May 25, 2018, follows the pre-A New Hope adventures of Han and Chewie. Presumably, wacky space hi-jinks ensue. A cast picture was released with the announcement, and I’m sure it’s not the last. Thandie Newton and Phoebe Waller-Bridge were also both confirmed as cast members. And aaaahhhhhh, in every photo Donald Glover looks more and more like a young Lando!

via StarWars.com

Speaking of Star Wars stand alone films, we now have information on the Rogue One home releases! The film is coming to Digital HD on March 21, with Blu-Ray, DVD, and On-Demand following on April 4. That’s right, in just a few weeks you’ll be able to cry over [SPOILER], [SPOILER], and [SPOILERING SPOILER] in the comfort of your own home! You can also check out the box art for the physical releases now through the link. You can also see a list of some of the special features for the film, including one discussing Chirrut and Baze’s relationship and one exploring the various Easter Eggs of the film. But wait, there’s more! The Force Awakens had retailer exclusive content in its home releases and it was apparently not an anomaly. The Target, Best Buy, and Walmart versions of Rogue One, all of which are now available for pre-order, are detailed in the announcement post as well. Head over there now to pick which version(s) you’re going to pick up.

Finally, Star Wars Celebration Orlando will start off with a special 40th anniversary panel. The panel will be hosted by the esteemed Warwick Davis and “will feature Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and discussions with some of the saga’s brightest stars, highlighting the impact of the galaxy far, far, away and the fandom that has propelled it for the last four decades.” I am very excited for this. Very, very excited.

Interview: Jon Klassen

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This Is Not My HatThis past April I attended the first Alaska Robotics Mini-Con and had the opportunity to interview award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Jon Klassen, creator of I Want My Hat Back and This is Not My Hat and illustrator of Lemony Snickett’s The Dark, among many others. Listen to us talk about his time working in animation, visual storytelling, turtles, hats, and Star Wars as a series of moments!

Jon Klassen’s art can be seen at his website here and he can be found on twitter as @burstofbeaden. You can e-mail him at info@jonklassen.com. His upcoming book, We Found A Hat, in which two turtles in a desert find one hat, will be available this October and his other books are available now, wherever fine books are sold.

Interview: Raina Telgemeier

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SmileI got the chance to record a quick interview with Raina Telgemeier, Eisner award-winning creator of the all-ages graphic novels Smile, Sisters, and Drama, as well as the the Babysitters Club graphic novel adaptations, at the Alaska Robotics Mini-Con in Juneau this April. Listen to us discuss webcomics, birds, and the wonderfulness of Rey.

You can find Raina Telgemeier at her website here and on twitter as @goraina. Her next graphic novel, Ghosts, will be available for purchase September 13 wherever fine books are sold.

Interview: Pat Race


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comic-bearWhen I was at the Alaska Robotics Mini-Con this past April I got the chance to sit down and interview Pat Race, the organizer of the con and one of the people behind Alaska Robotics (note: there are no robots are involved in Alaska Robotics. OR ARE THERE???). Listen to us discuss Alaska, conventions, robots, Alaskan conventions as robots, the feeling of neglect that comes with not being from the Core Worl–er, the largest community in the area, the Alaska Robotics artist camp, Kowakian monkey-lizards, and more!

You can find Pat Race at the Alaska Robotics website or on twitter as @alaskarobotics.