Lucasfilm's New Era Officially Begins
Hyperspace Theories
On January 15, 2026, Lucasfilm that Kathleen Kennedy is “stepping down” as president of the company. Dave Filoni will take on the role of President and Chief Creative Officer. Lynwen Brennan, who for the past two years has held the title of “President & General Manager, Lucasfilm Business” alongside Kennedy, will continue in that role as “Co-President” with Filoni. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, recorded days later, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss the implications of this long-anticipated transition in the highest levels of Lucasfilm’s leadership. We...
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Two 2025 Superhero Movies Show Star Wars' Missed Path
Hyperspace Theories
The year 2025 marked the sixth without a new Star Wars movie in theaters since The Rise of Skywalker concluded the Sequel Trilogy. In the past few years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC superhero films have struggled with consistency at reaching their prior levels of box-office earnings and fan satisfaction. We found it interesting, then, that two 2025 superhero movies – the MCU’s rebooted The Fantastic Four: First Steps and DC’s new iteration of Superman – showcased several prominent storytelling elements that we wish Lucasfilm had been able to...
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Wicked For Good
Hyperspace Theories
A year after Part I, the Wicked movie franchise returns with For Good, an adaptation of the second act of the Broadway musical. In this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester examine how Wicked: For Good takes advantage of the movie format, and the passage of time since the original musical was written, to strengthen the character arcs of Elphaba, Glinda, and Fiyero in tandem with the story’s themes. Like Part I, For Good also maximizes the opportunity to include locations, action sequences, and other visual elements which...
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K-Pop Demon Hunters: Evolving Myth
Hyperspace Theories
In a matter of weeks, the Sony-produced animated movie K-Pop Demon Hunters became the all-time most-viewed original title on Netflix. A limited-release theatrical run of the sing-along version of the film, for two days on fewer than two thousand screens after it had been available on streaming for two months, was the #1 movie at the box office for that weekend. With four songs in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including “Golden” reaching #1, K-Pop Demon Hunters has attained soundtrack feats not seen since Purple Rain (1984) and Saturday Night...
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ANDOR's Point of View
Hyperspace Theories
For our third episode of Hyperspace Theories podcast discussing the second season of Andor, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester examine how the series portrays characterization through the use of point of view in its writing and visual imagery. Although prose fiction Star Wars usually relies upon third-person limited storytelling, only revealing to the reader what the characters themselves know or understand, cinematic Star Wars sometimes gives the impression of a third-person omniscient perspective, with the audience as an external observer watching a "true" version of events unfold. In Andor,...
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Bad Luck Ghorman: ANDOR & History
Hyperspace Theories
On the latest episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester continue their analysis of Season Two of the Disney+ streaming series Andor: A Star Wars Story with a discussion centered on the Ghorman storyline heavily featured across Episodes 4 to 8 and culminating in the eighth episode focused entirely on the the tragedy of the Ghorman Massacre. One major theme of this storyline is the power of propaganda, introduced in the first Imperial scenes of the season’s first episode. We then consider other forms of Imperial manipulation of the events on Ghorman, and the...
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One Year Later: ANDOR Kicks Off Season 2
Hyperspace Theories
Beginning immediately on the heels of Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025, the second season of the Disney+ streaming series Andor, now carrying the same A Star Wars Story subtitle as Rogue One, kicked off its four-week run with its first trio of episodes. The premiere and its title, "One Year Later," sets the framework for Season Two: as each "a movie a week" batch of three episodes brings us a year closer to Rogue One, several interweaving plots advance the characters arcs of Andor's expansive cast. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories podcast, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester analyze the...
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Star Wars Celebration Japan
Hyperspace Theories
On the latest episode of Hyperspace Theories podcast, hosts Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester report from Star Wars Celebration Japan on the latest news and happenings. Highlights from key panels - The Mandalorian and Grogu, Andor Season 2, Ahsoka, Star Wars Animation 25th Anniversary - are discussed. Let's celebrate Star Wars!
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The Curious Case of Kathleen Kennedy's Retirement
Hyperspace Theories
On this episode of Hyperspace Theories podcast, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester detour from our usual focus on fictional storytelling to discuss an instance of real-world events and surrounding narratives in the form of journalistic coverage of the upcoming retirement of Kathleen Kennedy from her current role as president of Lucasfilm. On February 24, 2025, experienced Hollywood journalist Matt Belloni at Puck reported that “Kathleen Kennedy has informed Disney, as well as friends and associates, that she will exit as Lucasfilm president by the end of the year, per three sources.”...
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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...
info_outlineIt’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 Hibberd’s lengthy essay in The Hollywood Reporter asks “Is Disney Bad at Star Wars?” offers a fair assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the past decade of the franchise, ultimately concluding that it’s not bad but it could do better. The timing of the article’s publication also is notable for two reasons. First, although it studiously avoids placing blame on particular named individuals, it renders an unusually critical perspective on Star Wars after years of the trades avoiding doing so. Second, it follows an unannounced but publicly visible change to Lucasfilm’s leadership structure: the elevation of Lynwen Brennan from Executive Vice President to President, a change with significance beyond simply a promotion in her title. We consider the implications of these developments for what further changes can be expected at Lucasfilm.
We then discuss Adam B. Vary’s article “Toxic Fandom: How Hollywood Is Battling Fans Who Are ‘Just Out for Blood’ — From Social Media Boot Camps to Superfan Focus Groups,” which was published in Variety on the same day. Among other franchises mentioned in the article, Star Wars has a mixed record in this area, too. Vary’s article wisely distinguishes between criticism (or praise) of a work by fans based on the substance of the story on the one hand, and abusive behavior driven by agendas (and monetization) unrelated to the merits of quality or stewardship – although the article also makes clear that studios and their executives may not consistently pay attention to this distinction.
We conclude by looking ahead to some of the topics for discussion on future episodes of Hyperspace Theories, including The Bad Batch Season Three, Agatha All Along, the Wicked movie, Skeleton Crew, and more.
Related Links:
- Is Disney Bad at Star Wars? An Analysis (The Hollywood Reporter; Oct. 3, 2024)
- Toxic Fandom: How Hollywood Is Battling Fans Who Are ‘Just Out for Blood’ — From Social Media Boot Camps to Superfan Focus Groups (Variety; Oct. 3, 2024)