Force Material: A Star Wars Podcast

It's the Episode IX we'll never get to see. This week, we look at Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly's unproduced script for the finale of the Skywalker Saga!

Colin Trevorrow was announced as the writer-director of Star Wars: Episode IX in August 2015, with writing partner Derek Connolly in tow. At the time, Lucasfilm was riding high on the success of The Force Awakens, and Trevorrow and Connolly had hit a home run at the box office with Jurassic World. But in September 2017, they were removed from the project, and JJ Abrams returned to direct what would become The Rise of Skywalker.   

A leaked script purporting to be an early draft of Trevorrow and Connolly's Episode IX, which would have been called Duel of the Fates, has been doing the rounds online for the last few months, but Baz and I hadn't taken the time to read it – until now.

Now, with nothing but time on our hands, we sat down to read this alternate version of Episode IX and discuss what we liked, what we didn't like, and what we would have missed the most if The Rise of Skywalker didn't exist.

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Journey with us back to 1980, as we revisit one of the most notorious Star Wars rip-offs of them all – Roger Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars!

To celebrate the new season of The Clone Wars, we're taking a look back at some of our favourite Star Wars clones – the films that tried their hardest to recreate the magic and replicate the success of Star Wars, even if they didn't always succeed.

A blatant attempt by B-movie mastermind Roger Corman to cash in on the success of Star Wars, 1980's Battle Beyond the Stars essentially takes Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai – which had, of course, already been remade for the West in The Magnificent Seven – and sets it in space.

This week, we discuss how this relatively obscure 'classic' helped launch some of the biggest names in film, and how the movie holds up today against Baz's starry-eyed childhood memories. 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

This week, we look back at JJ Abrams' first Star Wars movie: 2009's Star Trek.

To celebrate the new season of The Clone Wars, we're taking a look back at some of our favourite Star Wars clones – the films that tried their hardest to recreate the magic and replicate the success of Star Wars, even if they didn't always succeed.

In our first 'socially distanced' episode, we explain how Abrams infused his Star Trek reboot with the style and storytelling tropes of Star Wars, and how the highs of Abrams' Star Trek and the lows of Star Trek Into Darkness should have prepared us for the trajectory of his Star Wars movies.

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Long before Disney bought Star Wars, it tried to make its own. This week, journey with us into the heart of 1979's The Black Hole!

To celebrate the new season of The Clone Wars, we're taking a look back at some of our favourite Star Wars clones – the films that tried their hardest to recreate the magic and cash in on the success of Star Wars, even if they didn't always succeed.

Our series begins with a controversial entry, as Baz is adamant The Black Hole is a Star Wars clone and Rohan isn't convinced – hit us up @ForceMaterial on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to let us know where you stand! 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Journey back with us to a time before 2002, as we explore everything we thought we knew about the Clone Wars before Attack of the Clones!

It may be hard to believe now, when we’ve had 7+ years worth of animated content and ancillary material covering a three-year-long war, but for a long time, the Clone Wars were a mystery.

We know now that they were a conflict staged by Chancellor Palpatine for his gain, with the Separatists and their droid army on one side and the Republic, the Jedi Order and an army of clone troopers on the other side. 

But was that the plan when the Clone Wars were first mentioned on screen in 1977? What did people think the Clone Wars were before the truth was revealed in Episode II? This week, we’re exploring the history of the Clone Wars… before The Clone Wars.

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

We explore the history of Mustafar and Fortress Vader, from Ralph McQuarrie to The Rise of Skywalker.

Did you know The Rise of Skywalker’s first scene opens on the volcanic planet of Mustafar? Did you know the Sith Wayfinder was apparently found by Kylo Ren in the ruins of Darth Vader’s Castle? 

We didn’t — until we read the TROS Visual Dictionary. And that inspired us to get into the details behind Fortress Vader in this week's episode. 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Somehow, Force Material has returned. This week, we delve back into The Rise of Skywalker and talk about our favourite films of 2019!

Last time we talked about The Rise of Skywalker, we had just stumbled out of a midnight screening — so now that we've had a few weeks to think about it, how have our opinions changed?

We also break down our favourite films of 2019. Will The Rise of Skywalker make the list?

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

The first season of The Mandalorian has come to a close! Can we offer you a libation to celebrate the closing of our shared narrative?

Be warned — this episode is chock-full of spoilers for 'The Reckoning' and 'Redemption', the seventh and eighth chapters of The Mandalorian. We also discuss spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker. So if you haven't seen The Mandalorian or The Rise of Skywalker and you're trying to remain unsullied, skip this episode for now. It'll still be here waiting for you when you're ready!

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Finally! No more theories and speculation — The Rise of Skywalker is here, and we’re here at 3am to talk about it! 

Recorded straight after the midnight screening, here's our frantic and feverish discussion of the film we've all been waiting for. 

We're talking about EVERYTHING, so there will be MAJOR SPOILERS — proceed at your own peril!

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

This week's episode of The Mandalorian is part-heist, part-horror movie, and all awesome. Acclaimed sci-fi novelist Mike Chen joins us to discuss 'The Prisoner'!

Be warned — this episode is chock-full of spoilers for 'The Prisoner', the sixth chapter of The Mandalorian, so if you don't have access to Disney+ and you're trying to remain unsullied, skip this episode for now. It'll still be here waiting for you when you're ready!

For more of Mike's work, follow @MikeChenWriter and order his books, Here and Now and Then and the upcoming A Beginning at the End, at mikechenbooks.com!

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.