Hyperspace Theories: SKELETON CREW Ahoy!
Hyperspace Theories
Ahoy, mateys! Pirates, pirate ships, and a search for lost treasure have returned to Star Wars – and so has the familiar story structure, complete with a boring home planet (A New Hope) and ten-year-old (The Phantom Menace) protagonists flung into a very unexpected adventure in the wider galaxy. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester examine the first four episodes of Skeleton Crew to unpack the story structure, character arcs, and themes unfolding in the first half of the new Disney+ streaming series. Although the story structure of Skeleton...
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WICKED Rises to the Moment
Hyperspace Theories
Continuing our recent witchy trend on Hyperspace Theories alongside our discussion of Agatha All Along, this episode discusses the movie Wicked: Part I, which broke box office records in its first week of release. Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester begin with a common focus of the podcast: the storytelling structure of the movie, and how it compares and contrasts with the Broadway musical that the films adapts. Director Jon M. Chu maximizes the opportunity of the movie medium to broaden the visual storytelling for the characters, themes, and world-building beyond what is possible on a Broadway...
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Agatha All Along: Mother to Mentor
Hyperspace Theories
In this podcast episode, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester consider the recently released MCU Disney+ series Agatha All Along from the perspective of long-running themes at FANgirl Blog and Hyperspace Theories: the influence of myth and heroic journeys on contemporary storytelling and how contemporary storytelling is evolving those ideas, especially in stories told by women and other creators from diverse and marginalized backgrounds. The story structure of Agatha All Along itself is built around the idea of an evolving myth, the “Ballad of the Witches’ Road” song, which...
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Hyperspace Theories at 10: The State of Star Wars
Hyperspace Theories
It’s been ten years since FANgirl Blog launched the Hyperspace Theories podcast. On the latest episode, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester look back on the podcast’s evolution from its origin in discussing how to speculate wisely on upcoming Star Wars stories to a broader consideration of storytelling, character arcs and the Hero’s Journey, and franchise management. We reminisce about our favorite episodes of the podcast over the years. After looking back, we turn to the present and future of the franchise through the lens of two recent articles in major Hollywood trade publications. James...
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The Heroine's Journeys of the MCU's Echo and What If? Series
Hyperspace Theories
The Marvel Cinematic Universe accomplished an unprecedented track record of box office earnings, followed by an uneven phase that included a few box office miscues and a mixed reactions to its span of Disney+ streaming series. In this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss two MCU series that had lower profiles in fan attention and viewership, but much to consider in what they got right in their storytelling: the binge-dropped live-action series Echo and the animated series What If? released weekly in its second season. Most significantly,...
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THE ACOLYTE and Brand Management
Hyperspace Theories
On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester examine the Disney+ live-action series Star Wars: The Acolyte through the lens of recent Lucasfilm’s brand management struggles, especially with the Star Wars franchise. We begin with the strengths of The Acolyte that we want to praise, including the fight choreography, the performances of the cast, and the diversity, inclusion, and representation the series demonstrates both in front of and behind the camera. When it comes to The Acolyte‘s weaknesses, the problem of brand management is the...
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Metamorphosis and Sacrifice in The Bad Batch Season Two
Hyperspace Theories
Before turning to the currently releasing third season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Hyperspace Theories podcast returns to the concluding episodes of Season Two. Having previously analyzed the first ten episodes, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss episodes 11 through 16, starting with “Metamorphosis” and “The Outpost” and ending with Tech’s (apparent) self-sacrifice by implementing the tragic “Plan 99” during the squad’s fateful mission to Tarkin’s base on Eriadu. On the theme of metamorphosis and transformation, we consider the introduction of Doctor Hemlock as the...
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The Future of Star Wars
Hyperspace Theories
Hyperspace Theories kicks off 2024 with a new episode analyzing recent developments that appear to chart a new course for the future of Star Wars. Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester begin with the November 2023 news, first revealed in a Vanity Fair article by longtime Star Wars and entertainment journalist Anthony Breznican, that Dave Filoni has been promoted to the position of Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm. We discuss what a CCO role entails and how Filoni’s position compares to other CCO roles within The Walt Disney Company overall. Filoni also now holds the title of Executive...
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Ahsoka and the Allegories of Mortis
Hyperspace Theories
The epilogue montage of the recently concluded Ahsoka series on Disney+ included a surprising and exciting image: former Jedi turned antagonist Baylan Skoll standing amid colossal statues of the Father, Son, and (partially destroyed) Daughter of Mortis. These mysterious and powerful “Force Wielders” have a long connection to Ahsoka mastermind Dave Filoni: they interacted with Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Mortis trilogy (2011) in the third season of The Clone Wars animated series, for which Filoni served as supervising director under...
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AHSOKA Tackles the Jedi, the Force, and the Future of Star Wars
Hyperspace Theories
The Ahsoka series on Disney+ has reached its finale. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester analyze the storytelling in Part Six “Far, Far Away,” Part Seven “Dreams and Madness,” and Part Eight “The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord” and consider what Ahsoka establishes for the future of Star Wars tales. We begin by examining the conclusions to the character arcs of Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren, and their relationship as master and apprentice. With Ezra Bridger reunited with his old friends, the series portrays three different...
info_outlineAhoy, mateys! Pirates, pirate ships, and a search for lost treasure have returned to Star Wars – and so has the familiar story structure, complete with a boring home planet (A New Hope) and ten-year-old (The Phantom Menace) protagonists flung into a very unexpected adventure in the wider galaxy. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester examine the first four episodes of Skeleton Crew to unpack the story structure, character arcs, and themes unfolding in the first half of the new Disney+ streaming series.
Although the story structure of Skeleton Crew draws from the monomyth that undergirds much of Star Wars, the series also draws inspiration from other 1980s films that followed a similar pattern with younger protagonists, including The Goonies and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Initially the schoolchildren simply want to get back home right away, but soon find themselves jumping repeatedly through hyperspace from one destination to the next. The four kid leads – Wim, Fern, Neel, and KB – have clearly drawn personalities and motivations, seemingly inspired by the varying common experiences of Gen-X youths in the ’80s, such as the latchkey kid fending for himself, the academically demanding mother, single-parent families and two-parent households, and only children or larger families. Their adult ally and guide, Jod Na Nawood (if that is even his real name …), presents his own puzzle of goals and dreams as he helps the kids chart their journey back to At Attin, while further reinforcing connections with more piratical source material like Treasure Island.
We also discuss the world-building developed in Skeleton Crew through four episodes. Much remains mysterious about At Attin, the Jewels of the Old Republic, the Great Work and the Supervisor, and the connection between the children’s homeworld and SM-33’s long-buried pirate ship and long-lost captain. Drawing upon the pirate fiction and real-world pirate history, we speculate about how these questions might be answered in the latter half of the series.
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