Force Material: A Star Wars Podcast

Is Boba Fett a Mandalorian? Is Jango Fett a Mandalorian? Is anyone a Mandalorian? This week, we take a deep dive into the head-scratching lore of Mandalore!

With The Mandalorian just under two months from debuting on Disney+, it's the perfect time to delve into this fascinating — but often confusing — corner of the galaxy.  

From the origins and earliest appearances of Boba Fett and Mandalore to the current status quo heading into the new series, we attempt to explain it all in under an hour!

Take a wild ride with us back to 1969, as a young George Lucas comes of age as a filmmaker, starts a rebellion with Francis Ford Coppola, and crosses paths with the Hells Angels!

From his marriage to Marcia Lucas, to the rise and fall of American Zoetrope, to the notorious Altamont Free Concert, 1969 was a wild year in the life of George Lucas.

This week, we take a trip back in time to this formative year for the Maker — and take a detour to share our thoughts on the new film from Quentin Tarantino set in this time period, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood!

Skywalkers and Mandalorians and Kenobis, oh my! We're breaking down all the news that's fit to pod from D23!

From a shot-by-shot dissection of the new Rise of Skywalker footage to our thoughts on The Mandalorian trailer, Ewan McGregor's return as Obi-Wan Kenobi and the rest of the Disney+ slate, we're celebrating all the Star Wars announcements from Disney's wild weekend!

Our look at the history of space opera continues with John Carter's journey from the page to the big screen.

He’s the grand-daddy of them all. The man who not only inspired Star Wars, but also Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon - and, in a roundabout way, even cleared the path for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. 

Join us as we meet the wild west hero who went to Mars, and handed Disney one of their biggest box office flops ever...

He'll save every one of us! Our deep dive into the history of Flash Gordon continues with the cult classic 1980 movie (and Queen soundtrack), animated adventures, and the future of the franchise!

From the troubled production of the film to Stan Lee's contributions to the Flash Gordon mythos, we break it all down.

Finally, we peer into our (faulty) crystal ball and try to guess what Taika Waititi has in store for us with his animated Flash Gordon reboot! 

This week, we begin exploring the most important Star Wars influence of them all — Flash Gordon!

Our deep dive into the creation and legacy of a sci-fi icon begins with an examination of the Flash Gordon newspaper strip and movie serials, and how they eventually inspired a young George Lucas to make Star Wars. 

Next time, we'll be back with a look at the history of Flash Gordon after the release of Star Wars — including the infamous 1980 film!

Take a trip to the 25th century with Buck Rogers, one of the pioneering heroes of science fiction!

Before Luke Skywalker, before Flash Gordon, there was Buck Rogers.

This week, we explore how Buck Rogers shaped the space opera genre and influenced Star Wars — and how Star Wars influenced Buck Rogers! 

Are there two Luke Skywalkers? Is the Emperor a dad? Was Obi-Wan a clone? This week, we're breaking down the best and worst Star Wars fan theories of all time!

As we build towards The Rise of Skywalker, the speculation is reaching fever pitch — so this episode, we're diving into the history of Star Wars fan theories!

We talk about our favourite and least favourite theories; the ones that came true and the ones that definitely didn't come true; and the most likely outcomes heading into The Rise of Skywalker! 

In a galaxy far, far away, no one can hear you scream. This week, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ridley Scott's masterpiece by explaining how Star Wars influenced Alien!

This week's episode is a special crossover event, as we're joined by Brandon Wainerdi — host of the great Talking Bay 94 podcast, and the VP of Marketing at legendary horror and cult film magazine Fangoria — to explore the connections between Star Wars and Alien.

We also break down all the other influences that make up Alien's recombinant DNA, from Dune and The Dark Star to HP Lovecraft and The Who!

Finally, we rank our favourite Alien films — and our lists might surprise you. 

Pop culture writer Alex Kane joins us to discuss the development and legacy of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic!

Alex Kane has written for Rolling Stone, Variety, Polygon, StarWars.com and more, but for his first book, he's taken a deep dive into the making of one of the most beloved Star Wars video games of all time, Knights of the Old Republic.

This episode, Alex joins us to talk about how KOTOR bridged the gap between film and tabletop role-playing games; the influence of KOTOR on contemporary Star Wars storytelling; and how the characters and settings of KOTOR could be brought to the big screen!

Alex's book, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, is available now through Boss Fight Books.