Force Material: A Star Wars Podcast

This week, the Mando teams up with a rookie bounty hunter — and we've got four grizzled veteran podcasters here to talk about it.

Be warned — this episode is chock-full of spoilers for 'The Gunslinger', the fifth 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 John and Ryan, listen to The Blockade Runner podcast and follow @blockaderun on Twitter!

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.

The Lone Wolf and Cub in space get themselves caught up in a classic Seven Samurai story, and we're here to talk about it with DorkLair host Bill Drewnowski!

Be warned — this episode is chock-full of spoilers for 'Sanctuary', the fourth 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 Bill, you can follow @DorkLair on Twitter, listen to the DorkLair podcast and subscribe to his YouTube channel!

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.

It's time to witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station, as Disney+ launches in Australia and we've got three episodes of The Mandalorian to discuss!

Be warned — this episode is chock-full of spoilers for the first three chapters 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!

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.

Two of our favourite Star Wars podcasters, Jason Gibner (Blast Points) and Brandon Wainerdi (Talking Bay 94), join us to put our predictions for The Rise of Skywalker on the record!

We’re asking and answering all of the big questions, including: 

• How will the crawl begin? 
• What’s the deal with Dark Rey? 
• Why are C3PO’s eyes red? 
• Is Matt Smith in The Rise of Skywalker? 
• Is Hayden Christensen in The Rise of Skywalker? 
• Will Kylo Ren be redeemed, and will he survive?
• Who are Rey’s parents?
• Reylo?
• And much, much more!

We’re laying it all on the line — so if you want to make fun of us for how wrong we were about everything when the movie drops in December, this is the episode to listen to now! 

For more of Jason and Brandon, listen to Blast Points and Talking Bay 94!

Warning: This episode contains minor spoilers for Resistance Reborn, the new book by Rebecca Roanhorse.

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.

This week, we descend into the Underworld for a look back at the unmade TV series that set the table for The Mandalorian!

Star Wars: Underworld would have explored the seedy underbelly of the Galaxy Far, Far Away, covering the early years of Sheev Palpatine, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and more in an an ambitious series from George Lucas and the writers of The Favourite, Broadchurch, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Lucas worked on the series for years, but it never came to be — although elements of the show found their way into The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Clone Wars and more.

Now, with a slew of upcoming Disney+ shows on the way that seem to share DNA with Underworld, we thought it was the perfect time to look back at what might be the best TV series never made!   

 

YouTube sensations Galactic Empire tell us how they turn classic John Williams themes into heavy metal bangers!

Galactic Empire are bringing their fully armed and operational battle station to Australia in November, so we got frontman Dark Vader (aka Chris Kelly) on the phone to talk about the band's unique Star Wars covers and music videos; how the music of the sequel trilogy compares to the scores we grew up with; the future of Star Wars music after John Williams; and his fan expectations for The Rise of Skywalker. 

Galactic Empire will play the following dates in Australia:

Friday 1 November — Supanova (Adelaide)
Sunday 3 November — 170 Russell (Melbourne)
Tuesday 5 November — The Basement (Canberra)
Thursday 7 November — Factory Theatre (Sydney)
Friday 8 November — Supanova (Brisbane)
Sunday 10 November — Coolangatta Hotel (Gold Coast)

For tickets, visit tickets.destroyalllines.com.

Ready or not, the end of the Skywalker Saga is almost here. From the Emperor's new groove to the Reylo bait, we break down every shot in the final Rise of Skywalker trailer!

Earlier this week, tragedy/idiocy struck when I forgot to hit 'record' on our live Rise of Skywalker trailer reaction, and we talked into the void for an hour and a half without realising. 

But it's not all bad news — now we've had some time to cool off, mull the trailer over and come up with a more measured response. Think of this as our 'delayed reaction' episode, as we break down every shot in the trailer and try to figure out what it's all going to mean in December!  

This week, we explore how Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars could influence The Mandalorian!

Leo Tolstoy once said there are really only two plots — "a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town".

Most of the Star Wars stories we've seen have been variations on the "man goes on a journey" story, but in The Mandalorian, it looks like a stranger is coming to town.

Pedro Pascal, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have said that the work of Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone is set to have a major influence on The Mandalorian.

This week, we're looking back at two of their most iconic films — Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Leone's A Fistful of Dollars — to discuss their relationship to each other; how they've influenced Star Wars; and how they might influence The Mandalorian.

Was Disney right to reject George Lucas' sequel trilogy story treatment? This week, we compare what George had planned to the films we got!

Disney CEO Bob Iger has written about George Lucas’ disappointment in The Force Awakens in his new memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company. 

Of course, that's not new information — we've known George had his misgivings ever since he called Disney "white slavers" in 2015 — but we thought it was a good opportunity to pull together everything we know about the Lucas story treatment that Disney moved away from, and compare it to what ended up on screen. 

From shocking differences (like a central role for forgotten EU femme fatale Darth Talon) to fundamental elements that were present from initial conception to execution, it's a look at how the story of the sequel trilogy has evolved — and how there might be more of Lucas' DNA in the sequel trilogy than you think!

We discuss the blockbuster Kevin Feige news and everything we learned from the Triple Force Friday reveals on this week's episode of the Force Material podcast!

We begin this week's show by discussing The Hollywood Reporter's 'Star Wars shocker' — Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige is taking his talents to a galaxy far, far away!

Then, we share our favourite announcements from the Triple Force Friday live stream event, as new toys and details were revealed for The Rise Of Skywalker, The Mandalorian and Jedi: Fallen Order. In particular, we attempt to piece together all the new information we gleaned about The Rise Of Skywalker — is Kylo Ren on a mission to turn back time and resurrect Han Solo? Maybe! (I mean, probably not, but maybe!)

Let us know what you think of the Kevin Feige news and tell us your favourite Triple Force Friday reveals by emailing [email protected] or hitting up @ForceMaterial on Twitter and Facebook!